Trivia / Carry On Up the Khyber

• Banned in China: When the first Gulf War started, this film was banned from being shown on British television.
• California Doubling: The Khyber Pass was a set of hills and quarries in North Wales.
• Completely Different Title:
  • Denmark: Carry On Gunga Din.
  • Hungary: Continue in the Khyber Strait!.
  • Poland: Argument in the Khyber.
• Corpsing:
  • Julian Holloway's laughter in response to Joan Sims' ad-libbed "plastered" line was genuine.
  • There are no close-up shots of Princess Jelhi during the dinner party scene because Angela Douglas couldn't stop laughing. She recalled in 2005:
    There isn't one shot of me in close-up because I couldn't stop laughing. There were tears of laughter running down my face.
• Creator's Favorite Episode:
  • This was Kenneth Williams' favourite Carry On. He thought that of all his Carry On appearances, the Khasi of Kalabar will be the one that the audience will never forget.
  • This and Carry On Camping were Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas' favourites because they topped the box-office takings for 1968-9.
• The Danza: Sid James and Joan Sims as Sir Sidney and Lady Joan Ruff-Diamond.
• Deleted Scene:
  • The Khasi and Princess Jelhi discussing the curiosities of the English language:
    Princess Jelhi: "A pair of drawers"? But there is only one of them.
    Khasi of Kalabar: Who can understand the absurd language of the British? They refer to this one thing as a pair, yet call something which is obviously a pair, a "bosom".
  • The Khasi telling Bungdit he'd like seven more underpants stolen from the Devils in Skirts:
    Khasi of Kalabar: There is a wise saying I learnt at Oxford. With eight drawers you cannot lose.
  • Sir Sidney getting sprayed by an elephant.
  • The Khasi ordering one of his wives to set up the ludo board, followed by Sir Sidney, Captain Keene and Sergeant Major MacNutt meeting the Fakir.
  • Captain Keene, Sergeant Major MacNutt, Private Widdle, and Brother Belcher meeting the Fakir when trying to get into the Khasi's palace.
• Distanced from Current Events: At least one TV rerun during The Gulf War was seen as too sensitive and was replaced with a showing of Carry On Cowboy.
• DVD Commentary: With Carry On historian Robert Ross talking to producer Peter Rogers.
• Edited for Syndication:
  • A 2019 airing removed Bungdit Din's "Fakir, off!" line.
  • When the film was shown on ITV 4 in 2020, the joke about banning turbans on buses was removed for some reason.
• Fake Brit: The South African-born Sid James plays the British Sir Sidney.
• Fake Nationality:
  • Kenneth Williams and Angela Douglas play the Indian Khasi and his daughter, the Princess Jelhi.
  • Bernard Bresslaw played Bungdit Din, an Arab.
• Hey, It's That Place!: Bungdit's palace shares an exterior with Baron Bomburst's castle that appeared in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang that same year.
• Hostility on the Set: Kenneth Williams completely ignored Wanda Ventham on the set.
• Recycled Set: The town sets from Follow That Camel were reused.
• Referenced by...:
  • The Spitting Image novelisation mention a new entry in the Carry On... Series called Carry On Up the Rectum, poking fun at the film's title.
  • The novel When It's a Jar mentions a film called Carrion Up the Khyber from a popular low-budgeted film series called Carrion.
• Throw It In!:
  • Peter Butterworth improvised submerging himself in the pool during the harem sequence and his wink to the sky before the famous dinner party scene.
  • Lady Ruff-Diamond's line, "Oh dear! I seem to have got a little plastered" was an ad-lib by Joan Sims which was kept in. Julian Holloway's reaction to the line was genuine.
• Uncredited Role: Valerie Leon as a hospitality girl.
• What Could Have Been:
  • Talbot Rothwell's original script had to be severely cut down as in the book The Lost Carry Ons, Peter Rogers described the original as "epic in proportions" and "akin to a David Lean production".
  • Jim Dale was supposed to play Captain Keene but was unavailable due to a stage commitment, so Roy Castle took his place.
  • The role of the Fakir was originally much bigger and was meant for Frankie Howerd, but he had a stage commitment. It was then offered to Tommy Cooper (hence the magic tricks), but he was also unavailable.
  • Instead of Lady Joan calling the Khasi of Kalabar a "turban job", the originally scripted line was "brown job". The line was changed out of fear of causing offense.
  • Bundgit's line "Fakir, off!" had a blatantly offensive alternative ("He's just a fucking cunt") filmed so the original line could make it past the BBFC.
• Working Title: Carry On the Regiment and Carry On... Up the Khyber. A Sikh-making Saga of the North-West Frontier Dramatized from the best-selling Book "The Handyman's Kama Sutra" otherwise known as "The British Position in India".

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