I really liked this Carry On entry. This is considered as Hattie Jaques's personal favourite of the Carry Ons and it isn't hard to see why. She seems to be having a ball as the neglected wife of cab driver Charlie Hawkins, who is played to perfection by the one and only Sidney James. Carry On Cabby has a very irreverent screenplay, that will leave you in tears of laughter, but what made this particular Carry On stand out for me was that the plot was one of the strongest plot lines in Carry On history. As for the other performances, Jim Dale is hilarious in a small role, and Kenneth Connor is his usual charming self. Charles Hawtrey is solid in his role too. The photography was skillfully done, and the music score was great. My only complaints are its length and its rather slow beginning, other than that, pretty darn good if you ask me. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Well almost! There is a real battle of the sexes in this carry on and if you don't mind the expression the women come out on top. This is not a very funny carry on, in fact quite the contrary. There are moments that are actually quite touching. THe marriage between Hatti and husband Sid is a troubled one and its nece to see real character development. Its actually quite poignant. Hatti is playing for truth rather than being cast as the fat funny lady.The climax of the movie when all the cabs start chasing the bad guys who are abducting Hatti Jacques and Liz Frazer is actually very exciting. Those taxis and other "relics" of the time look wonderfully nostalgic. The interior sets look cute too and its all in glorious black and white. The music is wonderful and the script is character driven but still has a strong story line. Although it may not be very funny it is extremely entertaining and its a fine movie. The script is excellent and the characters are beautifully developed. This is a good story. We are given a break from the fabulous Kenneth Williams but there is plenty of talent. Great to see Hatti Jacques get more to do and she gives a brilliant performance. The ever reliable Liz Fraser does great work too. Sid James is wonderful in this role and its easy to see why he became so popular. Jim Dale in a small role is great and later its interesting that he became so sexy. Charles Hawtry is in fine form and the normally annoying Kenneth Connor gives his best under stated performance without the annoying mannerisms that detracted from many of the carry on movies. Esma Cannon plays it quite straight for a change and as always still steals every scene she is in. The real star of this is Hatti Jacques who really makes this fine movie a totally enjoyable experience.

I have no hesitation in stating that Carry On Cabby as THE best of the early 'Carry On' movies, and if pushed I would say that it ranked as one of the best films of the entire series.

I think the main reason why this movie is one of the standouts of the series, was that both Composer Eric Rogers and writer Talbot Rothwell had joined the team, and it was Rothwell's unique brand of humour, that became synonymous with the bawdy risqué type of humour that was to become a trademark of all the future movies, (until 1974's Carry On Dick of course, which became notable for being the final Carry On film for Talbot Rothwell, Sid James, Barbara Windsor and Hattie Jacques). Rogers's music also had a comedy trademark all it's own, with Rogers regularly relying on the bassoon or oboe to good effect when trying to highlight comedic situations.

Jim Dale also appears in his first Carry On film, in a small but hilarious role as an expectant father that turns Sid James's cab into a temporary maternity ward. Dale soon became a mainstay of the team throughout the remainder of the 1960's, usually cast as the male romantic lead previously reserved for either Kenneth Connor or Leslie Phillips.

In 'Cabby' Sid James plays the manager of a local cab firm, who has trouble keeping a healthy balance between his beloved Taxi's and his home life, much to the chagrin of his neglected wife played brilliantly by Hattie Jacques, in what is regarded as her finest Carry On performance and certainly her own personal favourite. In order to teach him a lesson in love, she uses his money to covertly set up her own rival cab firm to pinch his customers, using only sexy female drivers as bait in what is destined to become not only a battle of the taxi's, but a real battle of the sexes.

Amanda Barrie, is cast as one of these 'cabbies in corsets' and on the strength of this performance, I'm sure it came as no surprise to anyone, that she was to be cast as the title character in 'Carry On Cleo', the following year.

Charles Hawtrey turns up as a well meaning but seriously inept and accident prone new recruit to Sid's fleet of drivers, while Kenneth Connor plays Sid's trusty and loyal right hand man. However, in this movie, Connor has his own love life to sort out in the form of Liz Fraser and while both are great in their roles, they do seem a bit mismatched, so I feel that maybe Dilys Laye, (Connor's Love interest in the previous movie 'Carry On Cruising'),would have been more suitable in the part.

Bill Owen also gives a fine performance in what would be his final appearance in the Carry On series. Ironically, soon after completing 'Cabby', Bill Owen and Sid James would virtually reprise their roles in a BBC sitcom called 'Taxi!' playing, cab drivers yet again.

The only thing missing from 'Cabby', is Kenneth Williams, who's absence is very noticeable as this was the first of only a handful of Carry On films in which he would not appear.

Like Watch Your Stern, (made three years previously and starred a myriad of Carry On 'regulars'),Carry On Cabby was not originally slated to be a part of the Carry On series, and was filmed under the working title of 'Call Me A Cab', however, to add some appeal at the box office, it was decided at the last minute to add the 'Carry On' Moniker and make it an official entry. Eric Rogers's music remained unchanged, however, so that's why the films theme tune, if sung, fit's perfectly to the words 'Call Me A Cab', (which incidentally is also Sid's final line in the movie).

For 'Carry On Cabby', Talbot Rothwell had merely adapted a previously written screenplay by Sid Green and Dick Hills (then best known as writers for Morecambe & Wise). It wasn't until the subsequent movies that Rothwell had full creative control of the screenplays which heralded a change of direction for the series, which makes Carry On Cabby, In my opinion, the last of the early Carry On's.

Carry On Cabby may have been the end of the beginning, but it certainly wasn't the beginning of the end.

Enjoy.