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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 84321" data-attributes="member: 23">With the rich technicolour costume pieces that the Carry Ons have become in the last leg of the Anglo-Amalgamated films, The Big Job - which I watched last night - is an intimate black-and-white treat. Made between Cleo and Screaming from the familiar team of Rogers-Thomas-Rothwell, familiar faces from their other films of this era include Sid James, Joan Sims, Lance Percival, Jim Dale, Michael Ward and Brian Rawlinson. Wanda Ventham follows up her wordless Cleo appearance with a small but memorable role here, while Frank Thornton - playing his usual officious suited type in the form of a bank manager - would go on to appear in the team's next production, Screaming. Two lead roles that set this film apart are Sylvia Syms and Dick Emery. Both make a nice addition. I'd forgotten Emery was in this one and missed his name when watching the credits. Not being familiar with his roles past the camp catchphrase "Ooh you are awful... but I like you", he was a very pleasant surprise here, playing his role for truth and giving a nice, sweet role. Syms plays the kind of character - somewhat innocent but with a touch of guile when cornered - that would perhaps have been played by Liz Fraser had it been made two or three years earlier. Put Hattie Jacques in Sylvia's part (something that is easy to imagine) and the film becomes Carry On Cabby. Certainly, the romantic imbroglios (particularly Syms's desire for Sid to settle down) and an element of the battle of the sexes give this a similar "kitchen sink" feel. And that's no bad thing, since Cabby is one of my favourites in the series. I actually watched The Big Job back-to-back with the audio commentary for Cabby, and they really do feel like a pair well matched. There are hints of future Carry Ons too. Sid playing a loveable rogue with a penchant for disguises (a part he'd played plenty of times even by this point) foreshadows films like Matron and Dick. Even Eric Rogers' score for the criminal activity here is similar to the music he'd use in Matron at times. It's very easy to imagine the foursome here made up of Sid, Bernard Bresslaw, Peter Butterworth and Barbara Windsor or some similar combination. Jim Dale is a bit of an irritant here as dopey Constable Harold. It feels like he's trying too hard to prove himself a comedy actor and his face gets stretched every which way as he delivers his lines out of one side of his mouth then the other which is just overkill. Joan Sims's "tart with a heart" characterisation seems very familiar in retrospect, having been used numerous times in later Carry Ons, but this would have been an early outing and I found myself thinking how novel it would have been for 1965 audiences. Edina Ronay provides the film's sex appeal by oozing out of some very tight outfits (and doing very little else). Towards the end of the film there's a Widows vibe as the women become more proactive and make their own move. Tantalisingly, the film ends with a hint of a sequel. I would definitely have returned for Another Big Job, had they gone that route. But I'm kind of glad they didn't as this is perfect as a one-off.</blockquote>

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