Carry On Up the Khyber

Carry On Up the Khyber
Original UK quad poster by Renato Fratini
Directed byGerald Thomas
Written byTalbot Rothwell
Produced byPeter Rogers
StarringSid James
Kenneth Williams
Charles Hawtrey
Roy Castle
Joan Sims
Angela Douglas
Terry Scott
Bernard Bresslaw
Peter Butterworth
CinematographyErnest Steward
Edited byAlfred Roome
Music byEric Rogers
Distributed byThe Rank Organisation
Release date
  • 28 November 1968 (1968-11-28)
Running time
88 minutes[1][2]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget£235,637[3]

Carry On Up the Khyber is a 1968 British comedy film, the 16th in the series of 31 Carry On films (1958–1992).[4] It stars Carry On regulars Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Bernard Bresslaw and Peter Butterworth. It is the second of two Carry On film appearances by Wanda Ventham; and Roy Castle makes his only Carry On appearance, in the romantic male lead part usually played by Jim Dale.[5]

Angela Douglas makes her fourth and final appearance in the series. Terry Scott returned to the series after his minor role in the first film of the series, Carry On Sergeant a decade earlier. The film is, in part, a spoof of Kiplingesque movies and television series about life in the British Raj, both contemporary and from earlier, Hollywood, periods. The title is a play on words in the risqué Carry On tradition, with "Khyber" (short for "Khyber Pass") being rhyming slang for "arse".[6] The film was followed by Carry On Camping 1969.

  1. ^ Ross 1998, p. 77
  2. ^ Rigelsford 1996, p. 163
  3. ^ Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945-1985. Edinburgh University Press p 205.
  4. ^ "Carry On... Up the Khyber (1968)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012.
  5. ^ Angelini, Sergio. "Carry On... Up the Khyber (1968)". BFI Screenonline.
  6. ^ "The meaning and origin of the expression: Khyber pass". The Phrase Finder. Retrieved 11 April 2021.