Carry On Cleo - Background Notes

Background Notes

Kenneth Williams' line as Caesar ("Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!") when in fear of his life before the conspirators and their drawn swords, is frequently voted among the funniest lines in British comedy. It has also been voted the all-time funniest one-liner in a film. However, it was not an original Carry On joke at all: scriptwriter Talbot Rothwell requested the use of the gag from its creators, Frank Muir and Denis Norden, who had written it for BBC radio comedy show Take It From Here. In one scene at Caesar's palace, when Mark Antony demands Hengist to describe his "fight" with the conspirators, he accidentally chops the arms off a statue of the goddess, Venus, apparently creating the Venus de Milo in doing so. At one point, in a vision of the future, we see Caesar stabbed with a dagger, and he says "Is this a dagger I see before me?" This is a quote from Shakespeare, but is actually spoken by Macbeth.

The costumes and sets used in the film were originally intended for Cleopatra (1963) before that production moved to Rome and rebuilt new sets there. Carry on Cleo was filmed between 13 and 28 July 1964.