646f9e108c The time of the French revolution, and Citizen Robespierre is beheading the French aristocracy. When word gets to England, two noblemen, Sir Rodney Ffing and Lord Darcy take it upon themselves to aid there French counterparts. Sir Rodney is a master of disguise, and becomes &quot;the black fingernail&quot;, scourge of Camembert and Bidet, leaders of the French secret police… Having been replaced by Harry H. Corbett for Carry On Screaming following a heart attack, Sid James rejoins the Carry On line-up for Don&#39;t Lose Your Head and puts in one of his funniest performances everBritish dandy Sir Rodney Ffing, who, along with his good friend Lord Darcy Pue (Jim Dale), travels to France to rescue French aristocrats from the guillotine. Whether camping it up in powdered wig and make up while affecting a lispthe effete Ffing, or cutting a dashhis daring alter ego The Black Fingernail, James can do no wrong, milking every gag for all its worth, wringing laughs from even the corniest double entendre. Sid&#39;s most definitely back and he&#39;s loving every minute!<br/><br/>The rest of the regulars are also on fine form: Dale is delightfulFfing&#39;s foppish pal Darcy, Williams plays the part of French Chief of Secret Police Camembert with gusto, Hawtrey is hilariouswimpish aristocrat Duc de Pommfrit, Peter Butterworth does bumbling brilliantlyCitizen Bidet, and the lovely Joan Sims (my favourite Carry On performer) is utterly charmingample-bosomed Désirée Dubarry. Of course, it doesn&#39;t hurt that they&#39;re working with such a wonderful script, which is sharper than the blade on Madame la Guillotine: the gags flow thick and fast, with fantastic puns, impeccable innuendo, cheesy one-liners, and even a couple of wonderful moments where the characters break the fourth wall to address the audience.<br/><br/>After much hilarity, viewers are treated to a rousing finale featuring a surprisingly well choreographed sword-fight scene involving James, Hawtree and Dale (Sid seems remarkably sprightly for a man whose recently had a heart attack!) and lots of knockabout stunts, including copious chandelier swinging. It&#39;s a great way to conclude what proves to be one of the most enjoyable entries in the series. This film is set during the French Revolution in 1789, where public executions were carried out efficiently and, seemingly, for entertainment. Basically, in order to stop all these rampant executions, two British noblemen, played by Sid James and Jim Dale (of course) travel to France and use various ways to thwart them. This is very amusing, in that their symbol of valiance is the &quot;Black Fingernail&quot;, a funny send up of the &quot;Scarlet Pimpernel&quot;. As it is a Carry On film, you&#39;re going to get one liners, slapstick, sight gags etc. You also get some pretty decent swashbuckling, that was a surprise. Also, you get a lot of speaking to the camera, also funny. Not perfect, but an amusing film. I&#39;d recommend it, especially if you&#39;re a Carry On fan.
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