Dave from Ottawa In a series that often stretches audience credulity with things like casting Sidney James as Henry VIII and other nonsense, this is a very smart and very funny period comedy, set during the British Raj in India. The running gag is that the local garrison, Scotland's 'Devil's Own' Regiment is so tough that they wear nothing under their kilts, and it is this very reputation for toughness which keeps potentially unruly insurgent elements from rising up. A compromising photograph of what they REALLY have under their kilts surfaced, however, and if such evidence ever made it to the local bandit chiefs, disaster would follow. To keep this from happening, a few of the Devil's own are dispatched to overtake the incriminating photo and a wild chase begins, which takes up most of the movie's running time. This movie, despite the familiar Carry On farcical tone, is actually a very convincing period picture with excellent production values and good-looking outdoor period cinematography. And for once a Carry On story line features an actual plot to move the story along, rather than a string of vaguely related gag sequences in search of a comedic crisis (which conveniently shows up 20 minutes from the end, just in time to provide opportunity for a chase-style resolution). A real atmosphere of intrigue is created, with truly nasty local villains, and the result is a smart and exciting, and rather atypical entry in this popular and long running series.

Spikeopath Disaster strikes in the Raj when it's revealed that the famed British Devils In Skirts who occupy India, wear underpants under their kilts. The absence of which was something that kept the natives living in fear.Awards and high praise for the "Carry On" franchise is like a dog that speaks Irdu, extremely rare. Granted, few of them rise above "titter me this madame" like comedy, and some are not fit to be used as coasters. But look inside this 31 film run and you find a handful of gems, a couple of which are fit to be on any list of Great British comedies from the 60s. One such film is Carry On Up The Kyber, which arguably is the best of the bunch. Directed and written by the usual Thomas/Rothwell team, Up The Kyber is a genuinely funny, knowing and original comedy.It's pretty much a given that the best "Carry On's" were the costume spoofers. So here we be in India in 1895, in the company of The Third Foot And Mouth Regiment {snicker snicker} and Emma Walker's fabulous costumes. Innuendo is kept to a bashful level as opposed to smutty overkill, the humour more concerned with taking pot shots out Imperialism and upper crust ignorance and snobbery. Officer's chain of command and the stiff upper lip in the face of certain death, oh yes the band really will play on. There's also smart jokes such as the one in my title, and watch out for a sly Rank Organisation gag. All dealt with cunningly and sharply by the likes of Sid James, Joan Sims, Kenneth Williams and Peter Butterworth. Character names remain ridiculously charming, Rhandi Lal, Private Jimmy Widdle, Bungit Din {leader of the Burpas} and Brother Belcher. While the set pieces, crowned by the now famous dinner party finale, are excellently constructed.Subtitled "The British Position In India," this is not your standard saucy seaside postcard picture {try saying that fast three times}. Hugely entertaining for a myriad of reasons, it's actually something of a British treasure that's still delighting newcomers to it each decade. 8.5/10

w22nuschler Almost every Carry On fan thinks this is the best Carry On has to offer. I disagree. I would have to place it 10th to 15th best in the series. I am just not a big fan of the "period piece" films that Carry On did with a few exceptions(Carry on Jack/Cleo). With that said, this is still a solid film. Sid James plays Sir Sidney Ruff Diamond, head of the British forces and Joan Sims plays his wife. Charles Hawtrey plays one of his better parts as a private for the British. Terry Scott plays the sergeant for the British. This is one of his best characters as well. Roy Castle rounds out the British cast as the Captain. On the the other side we have Princess Jelhi played by the second(Jacki Piper is first) most gorgeous women in the Carry on series, Angela Doulgas. She goes brunette this time around. Kenneth Williams is her father, The Khasi of Kalabar. He is the leader of India's side. Bernard Bresselaw plays the part of Bungdit Din. He does a great job. The trouble starts when Bungdit finds out that the British wear nickers under their kilts. This is looked on as not begin manly. Joan takes a photo of the others caught wearing nickers. She likes Kenneth and gives him the photo. Angela likes Roy and she warns him to leave India because her father is planning to kill the British. She tells him she loves him. Sid decides to send his crew in to retrieve the photo. They get help from a Peter Butterworth. They are caught while romancing some harem women. Angela helps them escape. They end up fighting each other in the end as the British and Angela have dinner. The British are about to lose when Sid tells his side to lift their kilts. The other side runs in fear. Again this is a solid film, but not my favorite.

ianlouisiana Never mind those dour" slices of working - class life" epics with ex -miners/dockers/railway workers coughing their lungs into their handkerchiefs before lighting another Woodbine/pipe/roll - up and taking their whippet/bull terrier/cringeing cur into the local rec/disused pit/ dark satanic mill while the "Hovis" voice - over goes on about the good old days when you could take the "Daily Herald" into the outdoor privvie for a bit of peace and fill the tin bath with coal for ninepence,any "Carry on" will give you a truer picture of the British as they really are rather than the guilt - ridden imaginings of the North London Taliban. We are,and I say this quite proudly,vulgar,sexist,defiantly non PC,fiercely patriotic (an attribute apparently fine for everybody else),good - humoured and tolerant.We treasure the eccentric (Charles Hawtrey,Esma Cannon),love the camp(Kenneth Williams,Dick Emery),deflate the pompous(Hattie Jacques and Kenneth Williams again).What we most certainly are not is dour,humourless narrow - minded and filled with class hatred.From "Carry on Sergeant" to the less than magnificent "Carry on Columbus",we have a social history of 30 - odd years in the life of this island race .Nowhere is this reflected more strongly than in "Carry on up the Khyber".From Sir Sidney Ruff - Diamond to Private Widdle we have a microcosm of British Society,ostensibly a Victorian one but in fact timeless.In one of the funniest and truest scenes in UK cinema,Sir Sidney and his dinner guests blithely ignore a native(can you still say that?) uprising as the house is destroyed about them,determinedly clinging on to the familiar rather than accepting the inevitable.It is,in a strange way,rather moving. For those who would see racism in a box of Dominoes the sight of Kenneth Williams blacked up might offend,but,hey,this is Kenneth Williams we're talking about,not Heinrich Himmler.And if there is a distinct lack of black Asian faces in the cast that might just be because there weren't that many black Asian actors about 40 years ago. The whole movie is a Bumper Fun Book of puns,double entendres,lavatory and willy jokes and silly names.It is,in short,excruciatingly funny,played by an expert cast at the absolute top of their game,and, dare I say it,more representative of the real Britain than any Ealing Comedy.