What a Carve Up! (1961)
Directed by Pat Jackson

Film Review

The Cat and the Canary (1927) and The Ghoul (1933) are likely sources of inspiration for this 'old dark house' spoof, one of the most enjoyable and spirited films of its kind.  Starring two of the Carry On regulars, Sid James and Kenneth Connor, and part-timers Shirley Eaton and Esma Cannon, What a Carve Up! feels like it must belong to the Carry On canon, particularly as the humour is of a similar hue (thankfully without the tedious innuendo).  The added bonus is the addition of a distinguished crowd of character actors, including Donald Pleasence, Michael Gough and Dennis Price, who do their utmost to out-stage and out-sinister each other (Pleasence naturally winning hands down).  The plot is woefully familiar - several colourful characters meet up in an old house and are routinely bumped off - but the cast have great fun sending it up for all it is worth.  Atmospherically photographed in eerie black-and-white, the film manages to be as spine-tinglingly creepy as it is funny - a wholesome treat for any aficionado of classic British comedy.  If the Carry On films hadn't been such a hit with the British public, Kenneth Connor and Sid James may well have gone on to make it as a great double act - their bedroom scene, the highlight of What a Carve Up!,  testifies as much.

Film Synopsis

Ernest Broughton is a proof reader for pulp fiction publisher.  One evening, whilst absorbed in his latest penny dreadful, he is visited by a solicitor who informs him that he must attend the reading of the will of his Uncle Gabriel, who has just past away.  Accompanied by his best friend, Sid Butler, Ernest hastens to his uncle's old country mansion, where an odd assortment of deranged relatives have assembled in anticipation of inheriting a share of the dead man's estate.  There is consternation and disgust aplenty when it is revealed that Uncle Gabriel has left nothing to his relatives.  Disappointed, the guests retire to their bedrooms, intent on leaving the house the next day.  In their midst is a murderer who plans to kill every one of them - but for what motive...?