Follow That Camel (1967)
This was the 14th film in the "Carry On ..." series (franchise) of 31 British comedy films that were produced between 1958-1978, and once again, in 1992. "Carry On Up the Khyber" (1968) is generally considered the best of them all. "Follow That Camel" is commonly ranked 14th to 16th. It is the only one of the series that starred an American actor, Phil Silvers.
An aristocrat (played by Jim Dale) decides that joining the French Foreign Legion (FFL) is the only way to redeem his honor after lying during a polo game altercation. His valet signs up with his master. His promiscuous lady love follows him to North Africa and ends up in the Shaikh's harem. The sergeant (Silvers) treats them well because they have discovered that he is secretly a womanizer at the local cabaret. An evil Arab Shaikh (Bernard Bresslaw) and his evil cronies use a belly dancer to kidnap the two of them and take them to a desert encampment. Anita Harris performs a notable belly dance. Bresslaw was the best actor in this film. The rest of the film is the attempts of the four captives (joined by the valet) to escape and save the fort from imminent attack.
It had been over 40 years of FFL movies, and Western moviemakers continued to think that the Riffians were Arabs! The garb is also wrong. For headdress, the costume people used the modern kufiyyeh of Eastern Arabs, mainly with the Palestinian black-lined, white, head scarf! It took Harris three weeks to learn belly dancing. It would have taken the costumes people 30 minutes to discover the correct headdress.
Overall, the "Carry On ...." series was good British comedy that paved the way for Benny Hill, Monty Python, and John Cleese going solo. A type of comedy that combines bawdy sexual innuendo; with one-liners and a play on words; with a pinch of neo-slapstick; all wrapped in satirical parody. When well-executed, British comedy is simply hilarious. This specific film was flat. Not really funny. Silvers was not funny. The material was simply not there. It's as if the writers wrote the script in two evenings over dinner. Twice I had to pause my watching only to find out that it took me days to pick up where I had left off. Once I started watching "Carry On Up The Khyber" instead.
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