Carry On Cowboy
How the west was lost!
To start with a little known fact, Carry On Cowboy was the first film in the series to have it’s own theme song, which was sung and composed by Alan & Eric Rodgers. This tale is clearly a mickey-take of the old Stewart Granger and Randolph Scott movies of the 40’s & 50’s, set in Stodge City, (a clear spoof of Dodge City), where life is quiet and sweet until one day a notorious outlaw comes to Town. The Rumpo Kid, (Sid James), visits the town and within an afternoon it becomes his turf, much to the fear and frustration of the town’s residents including the Mayor, Judge Burke, (Kenneth Williams).
After a day of chaos, Judge Burke contacts Washington to ask for a Peace Marshall in order to dispose of Rumpo and his gang. The problem for Stodge City, is that there is a classic Carry On mix-up, instead of a tough Federal Marshall, they end up with a very nervous plumber, who happens to be called Marshall Peanut, (Jim Dale). This leads to the third act that is goofy and over the top, in the very best of the Carry On tradition, which is both fun and interesting to watch.
This script is incredibly creative, the character development of the leading cast is quite surprising as it was for so many of the Peter Rodgers and Gerald Thomas low-budget-films of the late 50’s, 60’s and early 70’s. In parts Carry On Cowboy does drag it’s feet, whilst the fake American accents are deliberately so bad that they are a wonderful blend of being very funny and in places almost cringe-worthy. This is still a good spoof western and far better than anything that could be produced today.
7/10 – Calum Roberts
