Joan Sims Movies

This well-animated version of Dickens' classic Christmas story stays quite faithful to its source as it chronicles the painful lesson learned by a bitter old miser whose money lust alienates him from humanity. His lesson comes in the form of ghostly intervention from a trio of spirits who force him to reassess the direction of his life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In this drama, two young attorneys working for their uncle, find themselves facing off in court. One of the is defending a wife; the other, her husband who is suing for conjugal rights. As both lawyers are fresh from law school, things in court are often chaotic, and they suffer several fiascoes to the point where the judge is ready to disbar them. At the end of the tumultuous case, it looks as if the wife will win, when the other lawyer learns that the wife was afraid her husband would blackmail her if he found out that she was already married to a millionaire. Finally all is resolved and justice served. The two lawyers then decide to get married. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

In the second season of As Time Goes By, author Lionel Hardcastle (Geoffrey Palmer) and businesswoman Jean Parteger (Judi Dench) are still toying with the notion of resuming their romance which had been interrupted years earlier. In the course of the season's half-dozen episodes, Jean expresses surprise upon meeting Lionel's widowed father, Rocky (Frank Middlemass), who is as eccentric and boisterous as Lionel is persnickety and patronizing. Later on, the couple is put in a variety of situations wherein they must deny that they are still very much attracted to one another. At season's end, Lionel's latest book is published, whereupon he embarks on an autograph tour -- with Jean not far behind, despite her own professional duties. ~ All Movie Guide

The fourth season of As Time Goes By finds acerbic author Lionel Hardcastle (Geoffrey Palmer) upset over the fact that his sweetheart, Jean Parteger (Judi Dench), with whom he has moved in as a means of rekindling their romance from four decades earlier, has invited lovelorn employee Sandy (Jenny Funnell) to move in with the couple as well. Later on, Lionel and Jean are forced to play host to Jean's tiresome sister-in-law Daisy (Zoe Hilson). Publisher Alistair (Philip Bretherton) insists that Lionel "sex up" the TV-movie script based on Lionel's latest novel and to that end hires a troublesome secretary, Gwen Flack (Vivienne Martin). Despite innumerable quarrels and personal and professional travails, Lionel and Jean decide to get married. The wedding goes off as well as possible considering the amount of nervousness and family meddling surrounding it, but things do not bode well for the senior-citizen "newlyweds" when Jean refuses to retire, even though she'd implicitly promised Lionel that she would do so. ~ All Movie Guide

The sixth season of As Time Goes By finds senior-citizen newlyweds Lionel Hardcastle (Geoffrey Palmer) and Jean Parteger (Judi Dench) more or less adjusted to their marital status. Still, Lionel remains a blustery blowhard, the better to make a fool of himself when trying to prove that he's just as capable of doing things as well today that he did forty years earlier. Meanwhile, the implacable Jean blithely forgets her many promises to retire from running her secretarial service -- in fact, she's now working harder than ever. In other developments, Jean's wearisome sister-in-law, Daisy (Zoe Hilson), incurs Lionel's wrath when she considers moving next door to the couple; and having broken up with Jean's daughter Judy (Moira Brooker), Lionel's publisher Alistair (Philip Bretherton) becomes engaged to another woman -- an arrangement Jean hopes to rend asunder for her daughter's sake. The season closes with a typically hilarious situation as Lionel stumbles in his efforts to inject some "surprise" in his marriage. ~ All Movie Guide

The eighth season of As Time Goes By finds golden-age sweethearts Lionel (Geoffrey Palmer) and Jean (Judi Dench) fretting over the breakup of the romance between Lionel's publisher Alistair (Philip Bretherton) and Jean's daughter Judy (Moira Brooker). At the same time, Jean's employee Sandy (Jenny Funnell) calls it quits with her policeman boyfriend Harry (David Michaels). Midway through the season, Alistair has linked up with Sandy, and Judy is going out with Harry. Fun and games of a different nature occur when Lionel and Jean make a foredoomed effort to build a second bathroom in their house. On a more serious note, a financially strapped Lionel is faced with the possibility that he may have to sell his beloved country house. Things brighten up considerably by season's end, as Alistair returns to Judy and Sandy patches things up with Harry. ~ All Movie Guide

The grass is always greener.... In this British comedy, two drunken comrades find out the truth of that saying when they decide to trade places for a while. One of the boozers is a public relations man who knows nothing about sailing, while the other is a captain for the Royal Navy. Riotous comic mayhem ensues as the hapless "captain" tries to run his ship and follow orders. When the bumbling fellow's inadvertence sinks one of the fleet's own ships, he ends up locked in a rubber room until the two manage to extort someone into helping them resume their rightful identities. The film was originally titled The Ship was Loaded, and bears no relation to the popular "Carry On" series. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

The British comedy group chalks up another few laughs as some folks attempt to camp out on the location of an archaeological dig. Unfortunately, the dig in question happens amid the busyness of the holiday season; matters grow more complicated when a sexy female Russian woman (Elke Sommer) joins in, and soon an oversized wolfhound and a mynah bird with a naughty turn of phrase become implicated, creating additional panic and chaos. ~ Kristie Hassen, All Movie Guide

The multi-million dollar film extravaganza Cleopatra was too convenient a target for Britain's "Carry On" funsters to ignore. The plot of Carry on Cleo, if one can discern a plot amidst the sight gags and outrageous puns, involves the attempts by a bungling slave (Kenneth Connor) to rescue Julius Caesar (Kenneth Williams) from assassination. Instigators of the plot are Cleopatra (Amanda Barrie) and Mark Anthony (Sidney James), who comport themselves like a couple of Liverpool pub owners. The best bit involves Mark Anthony's "beheading" of the legendary asp. Filmed on a tight 160,000 pound budget and utilizing leftover sets from the Taylor/Burton epic, Carry On Cleo's reputation rests chiefly on a legal brouhaha involving its advertising artwork, which was deliberately patterned after the ads for the "real" Cleopatra. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In one of the best of the long-running Carry On series, Western clichés are run through the Carry-On wringer. The film takes place in wild and woolly Stodge City, a town held in thrall to the nasty dealings of The Rumpo Kid (Sidney James). The Rumpo Kid holds the town in such abject terror that Judge Burke (Kenneth Williams) compels Sheriff Albert Earp (Jon Pertwee) to run The Rumpo Kid out of town. But when Earp confronts The Rumpo Kid, Earp is shot dead for his troubles. Burke puts out a call for a new lawman for the town and, due to a series of misunderstandings, an English custodian, Marshall P. Knutt (Jim Dale) is hired for the job. Arriving at the same time as Knutt is Annie Oakley (Angela Douglas), who has come to town to get vengeance for her father's murder (her father being the deceased sheriff). Events simmer and boil to a final confrontation between The Rumpo Kid and Nutt, who utilizes his custodial skills to defeat The Rumpo Kid and his evil gang. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The producers of the popular British "Carry On" series aren't going to fix something if it is not broken. This workable, slapstick comedy returns to a hospital setting and benefits from the same gags that made Carry On, Nurse a top draw in Britain. Instead of Dr. Kildare, this emergency unit has Dr. Kilmore (Jim Dale), the usual curmudgeon supervisor (Kenneth Williams) and a bedpan full of quirky quacks and petulant patients. The hospital staff is plagued by bathroom humor, romance, medical mistakes and beautiful nurses who distract the doctors and patients alike. Sight gags and comedy ensues, and this film is just what the doctor ordered for those in need of some laughs. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

The long-running series of British "Carry On" comedies was nearing the end of the line when this 28th film in the cycle was released in 1976. Set in World War II, Carry On England explores what happens when the British military decides to set up an experimental mixed-gender anti-aircraft battery. While commanding officer Captain Melly (Kenneth Connor) is a stickler for military discipline, it soon becomes obvious that the interaction of male and female soldiers doesn't lend itself to a crack fighting unit, though it makes for plenty of broad physical comedy, especially with Major Bloomer (Windsor Davies), Melly's second-in-command, on deck. Judy Geeson, Patrick Mower, Jack Douglas, and Joan Sims lead the supporting cast. This feature was followed by That's Carry On (1977), a "greatest hits" collection of highlights from the series, and Carry On Emmanuelle (1978), which marked the end of the series until 1992's Carry On Columbus. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide