His big break in the films was in the Gene Kelly musical "Les Girls" (1957). Although the film was a critical success, he decided against a move to Hollywood, in part as he considered himself primarily a theatre actor. Soon after he appeared in three of the early "Carry On" films; "Carry On Nurse", "Carry On Teacher" (both 1959) and "Carry On Constable" (1960), which cemented his reputation for playing upper class fools and lecherous smoothies. After "Constable", he told producer Peter Rogers that he did not wish to do any more Carry Ons, though he did return much later for "Carry On Columbus" (1992). In the 1960s, he took over from Dirk Bogarde in several of the "Doctor" film comedies.