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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 84501" data-attributes="member: 23">Last night I watched Cowboy and enjoyed it more than ever. Cleo and Screaming have long been favourites of mine but this time round I feel I've appreciated the greatness of Jack and Cowboy more than ever (I rewatched the Bernard Cribbins audio commentary for Jack yesterday, which has deepened my enjoyment still further). It's very difficult to rank them (if you'll pardon the pun) because a Carry On from the mid-Sixties is an entirely different animal to an early-Sixties film. But this possibly has the best production values yet. The titles, with the credits in red font over a panoramic view, look very authentic. The sets and costumes too are impressive. The juxtaposition of the terribly British Carry On films and actors taking on Americana is a little odd on paper but somehow it all fits. It helps that the actors are so recognisably playing familiar characters, albeit with a slightly different accent. Casting feels very fresh. Watching last night it felt like this was the film which ushered a new era in. Gone (for now) is Kenneth Connor. It's also Brian Rawlinson's last Carry On film. But it's also the first film for a number of faces who would go on to recur in the series: Angela Douglas, Peter Butterworth, Bernard Bresslaw and Margaret Nolan. Douglas in particular hits the ground running and feels like a natural successor to English roses Shirley Eaton and Juliet Mills. Balancing out the charm, I was struck by how much attitude she has in this. Much like Mills in Jack, Angela plays one of the most capable characters in the film. She's is also effortlessly sexy here, but never feels aggressively or exploitatively so. The more slattern sexuality in the film comes in the forms of Margaret Nolan and Edina Ronay (this was her only series proper appearance, but Ronay was fresh from sub-Carry On The Big Job). The farcical scene where Douglas, Joan Sims and Edina Ronay get into a hair pulling catfight over Dale made me laugh more than I perhaps should have. Joan Sims is also very sexy here. If I remember correctly this is one of her personal favourites and it's easy to see why. She's never looked more voluptuously glamorous.Jim Dale has settled in as romantic lead. All the Dale trademarks are here - the twitchiness, the naïveté and the physical comedy. But he seems a little more reigned in than in previous films. It's my favourite of his performances in the series so far.Following on from scenes in Jack and Cleo, Hawtrey's penchant for imbibing is once again written into his character. This time with far less subtlety. Perhaps art imitating life is the reason he does it so well. Even by his usual standards, he steals scenes without even trying. His gleeful, throaty, manic laugh as he's carried off the set by a heavy set man still resonates and perhaps also shows that Rothwell knew him just a little too well. Of course, he plays Native American Big Heap with no variation at all to his usual performance, which makes the role far funnier than it could possibly have been in anyone else's hands. Each time I watch the series I grow to appreciate the second tier team a little more. Peter Gilmore is very reliable and with great presence on screen (it doesn't hurt that he's easy on the eye). Michael Nightingale is another familar face. Jon Pertwee makes his second of three appearances. Once again it's brief but memorable. He's one of the actors I wish had done more with the team.</blockquote>

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