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The 'Carry On' films are the most successful series of British films ever made. Being peculiarly British, they particularly delighted in poking fun at British institutions such as Trade Unions, The National Health Service, The British Empire and The Monarchy, as well as sending up other cinematic successes such as Hammer Horror and James Bond. Like Hammer and Bond, their roots lie in an earlier decade but in the minds of many they all blossomed and reached their heyday in the Sixties, becoming as much a part of the swinging decade and embedded in the British culture as mini skirts, Mini Coopers and The Beatles. The 'Carry On' films evolved almost as a celluloid form of pantomime, relying on a variety of contrived situations, visual slapstick and a constant flow of verbal one-liners for their humour, almost refining the pun to an art form. The reduction in sexual inhibitions and taboos triggered by the 'new freedom' of the Sixties allowed the series to blossom, using increasingly more risque visuals and double-entendres to become the cinematic equivalent of saucy postcards. The Sixties films pushed the boundaries of film censorship further forward in both sound and vision, but still mainly relied on the interpretation by their audience to extrude the humour of the situations in whatever way they found to be most acceptable which is why, although not very 'PC' today, they are still well-loved. |
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The series was born in 1958 with Carry On Sergeant which was adapted from the wartime stories of R.F. Delderfield and produced by Peter Rogers, who continued producing the entire output of Carry On films right through into the 21st century - 31 of them to date. The equally long-term responsibility for film direction lay with Gerald Thomas and the original aim of this remarkable partnership was to produce low-cost high-profit films, which therefore had to be completed as cheaply as possible. |
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It was always intended that the films were to be a 'collective' performance
with no individuals taking starring roles, thereby keeping the over-all
cost of the acting cast to a reasonably low level but as the collection
grew, the more regular performers inevitably became 'type-cast' as the 'Carry
On team'.The leaders in this respect were Kenneth Williams (26 films), Joan
Sims (24), Charles Hawtrey (23), Sid James (19), Hattie Jacques (14) and
Barbara Windsor (10). It is interesting to note that the average wages for
the regular 'top earners' in the Sixties was somewhere in the region of
£3k to £5k per film, whereas 'guest stars' might earn three
or four times as much. Michael Nightingale (13) made more Carry On appearances
than any other member of the supporting cast, 4 of which were uncredited,
and he appeared in two of the TV shows as well. Although markedly different in subject matter, the regular actors became well-known for a particular type of 'persona' in each storyline. Another aspect of the humour was in the naming of the characters and over the course of the series we were introduced to unlikely participants such as Rodger De Lodgerly, Hengist Pod and his wife Senna, The Khasi of Kalabar, Inigo Tinkle, Esme Crowfoot, Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond, Inspector Bung, Doctor Nookey, Socket the Butler, Bungit Din, Marshal P. Knutt and many others. Most of the scripts were written by Talbot Rothwell who also wrote scripts for Frankie Howerd's hit TV series and film 'Up Pompeii!", in which the similarity of style can clearly be seen. |
Director: Gerald Thomas Producer: Peter Rogers Screenplay: Norman Hudis Music: Bruce Montgomery Made at Pinewood Studios and on location in Ealing Shooting began 9th November 1959 Debut: Sid James (replacing Ted Ray due to contractual issues) |
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A sort of
British 'Keystone Cops' with sound. Anarchy and disorganised but inspired
lunacy down at the local nick. Funny
how nothing changes - or is it just life imitating art? Sid James stars
as the long-suffering Sergeant Wilkins who has been given the job of
training four new cadets fresh from the police academy.
Wilkins' long-suffering colleagues are girlfriend Sergeant Moon (Hattie Jacques), WPC Passworthy (Joan Sims) and station commander Inspector Mills (Eric Barker). The eager-to please cadets comprise of upper-class Constable Potter (Leslie Phillips), the highly superstitious Constable Constable (Kenneth Connor), know-it all Constable Benson (Kenneth Williams) who has his own unique theories about face structures of 'criminal types' and not-so-Special Constable Gorse (Charles Hawtrey) who applies his usual machismo to the character role. Despite displays of supreme incompetence and ineptitude, there is a happy ending when, despite their best efforts, they succeed in capturing a much-wanted gang of wage-snatchers. Although usually strictly sticking to a script, the occasional ad-lib sometimes crept in and was allowed to stay. In the scene where Charles Hawtrey rises from bed talking to his budgie, he kicks a chamber pot which refuses to stay still and shouts at it "Be quiet!". |
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Sidney James, Eric Barker,
Kenneth Connor, Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Williams, Leslie Phillips, Joan
Sims, Hattie Jacques, Shirley Eaton, Cyril Chamberlain, Joan Hickson,
Irene Handl, Terence Longden,
Jill Adams, Freddie Mills, Brian Oulton, Victor Maddern, Joan Young, Esma
Cannon, Hilda Fenemore, Noel Dyson, Robin Ray, Dorinda Stevens, Tom Gill,
Frank Forsyth, John Antrobus, Michael Balfour,
Diane Aubrey, Ian Curry, Mary Law, Lucy Griffiths, Eric Corrie, Peter
Bennett, Jack Taylor, Eric Boon, Janetta Lake
Director: Gerald Thomas Producer: Peter Rogers Screenplay: Norman Hudis Music: Bruce Montgomery Made at Pinewood Studios and on location in Ealing Shooting began 2nd January 1961 Debuts: Liz Fraser, Fenella Fielding, Tom Clegg |
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The
incompetent, unemployed 'Carry On' team are hired by Bert Handy and
his assistant Miss Cooling (Esma Cannon) to form 'Helping Hands' -
an odd-job agency who are willing to do anything for ( or is that
' to' ) anyone
with their usual unchecked enthusiasm. In a series of linked sketches
the very odd jobs include being an escort to a wine-tasting where
Lily (Joan Sims) has more than a 'taste', ends up doing a lot of the
tasting, a 'second' at a boxing match, inter-spouse interpreter for
a marital bust-up and companion for a chimpanzee, with some of the
situations being confused even further, if possible, by confused messages
that result in situations such as Sam (Kenneth Connor) travelling
to a rendezvous on the Forth Bridge instead of making up a fourth
at bridge. Their landlord, the wonderful Stanley Unwin and his gobbledegook language, wants to evict them and they are hired to clean up the house which ultimately leads, via a train of accidents, to the property getting demolished. However, it all ends well when he finds that their incompetence has resulted in an increase in the value of the remaining land. Their star-studded clientele includes Fenella Fielding, Nicholas Parsons, Patrick Cargill, Sidney Tafler and boxer Freddie Mills. Next time you see it, watch Joan Sims' face during the wine-tasting sketch - she was absolutely unaware that Gerald Thomas had secretly switched the non alcoholic liquid in her glass for neat gin! |
CAST
LIST
Sidney James,
Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor, Bill Owen,
Liz Fraser, Terence Longden, Esma Cannon, Hattie Jacques, Fenella Fielding,
Stanley Unwin,
Eleanor Summerfield, Ed Devereaux, Ambrosine Phillpotts, Cyril Chamberlain,
Joan Hickson, Terence Alexander, Norman Rossington, Sydney Taffler, Molly
Weir, June Jago, Eric Pohlmann,
Jerry Desmond, Jimmy Thompson, Howard Marion Crawford, Tony Sagar, Fred
Griffiths, Bernard Hunter, David Lodge, Nicholas Parsons, Patrick Cargill,
Michael Nightingale, Ian Curry,
Kynaston Reeves, Fraser Kerr, Douglas Ives, Maureen Moore, Ian Whittaker,
Betty Marsden, Tom Clegg, Freddie Mills, Julia Arnall, Joe Robinson, Jack
Taylor, Lucy Griffiths, Cyril Raymond,
George Street, Ian Wilson, Michael Ward, Madame Yang, Nancy Roberts, Judith
Furze, David Williams, David Stoll, Victor Maddern, Carl Conway, Charles
Julian, Denis Shaw, Carol Shelley
Director: Gerald Thomas Producer: Peter Rogers Screenplay: Norman Hudis Music: Bruce Montgomery Made at Pinewood Studios Shooting began 9th January 1962 Debut: Dilys Laye |
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Captain Crowther (Sid James), the captain of the luxury cruise ship
SS Happy Wanderer, is on his 10th voyage in charge and is hopeful
of promotion, expecting a routine trip with his usual officers and
staff but is beset, bothered and bewildered by a variety of manic
tourists and, due to illness, an influx of incompetent new crew-members
including a sea-sick chef (Lance Percival), a rather snotty first
officer (Kenneth Williams) and a doctor who is beset with paralysing
shyness. Wishing
for a miracle, he hopes it will all sort itself out before the company
V.I.P.s arrive on the night of the ship's Grand Ball. As if the situation wasn't bad enough already, two of the passengers, Glad Trimble (Liz Fraser) and Flo Castle (Dilys Laye), have come on a husband-hunting voyage and they are both attracted to the ship's fitness trainer. However, Flo is later serenaded and won over by the shy ship's doctor when he eventually finds the courage to ask her out. It's enough to turn anyone to drink, but therein lies another problem as the barman is new as well, and only the old one knew how to put together the captain's favourite tipple. The cruise ship never got anywhere a sea of any description as it was a full-sized replica that was constructed at Pinewood Studios and included the decks, cabins, bars and even the swimming pool. Carry On Cruising was the first 'Carry On' film made in colour, the last screenplay by Norman Hudis and the last music score by Bruce Montgomery. |
CAST
LIST
Director: Gerald Thomas Producer: Peter Rogers Screenplay: Talbot Rothwell Music: Eric Rogers Made at Pinewood Studios Shooting began 25th March 1963 Debuts: Jim Dale, Peter Gilmore, Amanda Barrie Last 'Carry On': Bill Owen |
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Peggy, the
bored and frustrated wife of 'Speedee Cabs' taxi firm owner Charlie
(Sid James) decides to fight back against his obsession and starts up
a rival company of her own. Charlie suddenly finds himself up against
serious competition when a new firm, Glamcabs, with pink-coloured modern
cars driven by attractive young women in minimalistic uniformsglamorous
women, starts operating and stealing all his business. Charlie's cab
drivers include Ted (Kenneth Connor), Pint Pot (Charles Hawtrey), Len
(Milo O'Shea) and Smiley (Bill Owen), while Peggy's rival outfit contains
her assistant Flo (Esma Cannon), driver Amanda Barrie and Liz Fraser
as Sally, who is carrying out a spying operation on their behalf behind
the canteen counter at Speedee.
The black cab 'knights of the road' contest the new, highly successful, competition in a slightly less than gentlemanly manner. Things get so bad that they eventually carry out a 'commando' raid on the Glamcab offices with Ted, wearing a Glamcab uniform, trying to provide a distraction which he chickens out of when faced by the ladies' changing room. When Peggy's cab is hijacked, the rival firms work together to hunt down and surround the villains. Not originally intended to be a 'Carry On' it was made in black and white with the title: 'Call Me A Cab' (actually the last line spoken in the film). This was the first 'Carry On' to be made without Kenneth Williams. |
Director: Gerald Thomas Producer: Peter Rogers Screenplay: Talbot Rothwell Music: Eric Rogers Made at Pinewood Studios Shooting began 2nd September 1963 Debuts: Bernard Cribbins, Juliet Mills Percy Herbert, Donald Houston |
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This was the first historical 'Carry On', filmed
in period costume, and was originally titled 'Carry On Sailor'. 'Twas on the good ship Venus…or some closely related vessel, where the bumbling buccaneers board the nincom-poop deck in this parody of 'Mutiny On The Bounty'. The frigate Venus of the British Navy is the setting but only a few of the previous regular cast members signed on. Juliet Mills, disguised as a young midshipman who has run away to sea, is the cause of some understandable confusion amongst the not-so-able seamen. Following a tactical 'mutiny', Captain Fearless (Williams) is cast adrift in a boat with three of the crew. At the point of starving, the hopeless Albert Poop-Decker (Cribbins) jumps overboard to get help and finds himself in six inches of water and they become 'castaways', although actually on the mainland. Things, if possible, somehow take a turn for the worse on the Venus when they end up at the mercy of the Spanish Inquisition due to a 'minor navigational error'. Both sets of stupid sailors manage to extricate themselves from their situations, acquiring ships and setting sail for England, but when Walter (Hawtrey) accidently sets the Venus on fire, it leads to an increasingly unlikely chain of events resulting in the castaways becoming the victorious heroes of a battle they didn't even know they were in. |
CAST LIST
Director: Gerald Thomas Producer: Peter Rogers Screenplay: Talbot Rothwell and Sid Colin Music: Eric Rogers Made at Pinewood Studios Shooting started 3rd February 1964 Debut: Barbara Windsor |
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Jim
Dale played six different roles in this film which featured the songs: 'Too
Late' by Alex Alstone and Geoffrey Parsons and 'The Magic Of Love' by Eric
Rogers. This an undisguised
Bond spoof (and also takes a pop at a few others for good measure) which
globe-trots its way, at least on screen, from Vienna to Algiers and was
the last Carry On film shot in black and white. The villains of the evil S.T.E.N.C.H. (Society for the Total Extinction of Non-Conforming Humans) organisation more than meet their match when they come up against a team of dysfunctional British trainee spies. Agent Desmond Simpkins (Williams) - codename Red Admiral, Agent Harold Crump (Cribbins) - codename Blue Bottle, Agent Charlie Bind (Hawtrey) - codename Yellow Peril and Agent Daphne Honeybutt (Windsor), 36-28-36' - codename Brown Cow, more 'Blonde' than Bond, bumble their way around the world in the unlikely hope of finding and recovering a stolen secret formula. As you might expect, a plethora of Bond-style gadgetry is available to them, including radios concealed in brassieres. Although captured, their escape is assisted by exotic dancer Lila (Dilys Laye) who turns out to be an agent for S.N.O.G (Society for the Neutralisation of Germs) and they eventually proceed to destroy the enemy with a huge bang! |
CAST LIST
Bernard Cribbins, Kenneth Williams,
Charles Hawtrey, Barbara Windsor, Eric Pohlmann, Eric Barker, Dilys Laye,
Jim Dale, Richard Wattis, Victor Maddern, Judith Furse, John Bluthal, Renee
Houston,
Tom Clegg, Jack Taylor, Gerton Klauber, Bill Cummings, Norman Mitchell, Frank
Forsyth, Derek Sydney, Anthony Baird, Jill Mai Meredith, Patrick Durkin, Angela
Ellison, Hugh Futcher, Norah Gordon,
Virginia Tyler, Judi Johnson, Gloria Best, Audrey Wilson, Vicky Smith, Jane
Lumb, Marian Collins, Sally Douglas, Christine Rodgers, Maya Koumani
Director: Gerald
Thomas |
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The
film industry produced some huge biblical and historical epics and Cleopatra
was a natural target for the Carry On team and they even had the luxury
(and cost savings) of using the actual Cleopatra sets at Pinewood Studios. lRomans make life a misery for the Ancient Britons, but the soldiers' hard-earned denarii could be used to buy a square wheel direct from the manufacturer, Hengist Pod (Kenneth Connor) and his wife Senna (Sheila Hancock). They are taken to Rome as slaves and sold at Markus and Spencius, the cut-price slave traders run by Warren Mitchell but a confused case of mistaken identity leads to Pod being taken for a top Roman swordsman and as a result Sid James, as Mark Anthony who is trying to keep his boss out of the reaches of assassination attempts, employs him as Caesar's personal bodyguard before his trip to Egypt to meet Queen Cleopatra. Meanwhile Mark Antony, who has been sent on ahead to negotiate an alliance, is concentrating more on trying to chat up a very camp and scat-brained (but gorgeous) Cleopatra, played with amorous asp-irations by Amanda Barrie. Despite the warnings of a Catweazel-like soothsayer (Jon Pertwee) and his guards, Caesar succumbs to the Ides of March. No wonder Kenneth Williams is reduced to declaring 'Infamy, infamy . . .they've all got it in for me . . .' |
CAST
LIST
Sidney James,
Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor, Jim Dale, Amanda
Barrie, Sheila Hancock, Jon Pertwee, Victor Maddern, Julie Stevens, Francis
de Wolff,
Michael Ward, Brian Oulton, Tom Clegg, Tanya Binning, David Davenport, Peter
Gilmore, Ian Wilson, Brian Rawlinson, Gertan Klauber, Warren Mitchell, Michael
Nightingale, Peter Jesson, Christine Rodgers,
Gloria Best, Joanna Ford, Virginia Tyler, Judi Johnson, Gloria Johnson, Donna
White, Jane Lumb, Vicki Smith, Thelma Taylor, Norman Mitchell, Sally Douglas,
Wanda Ventham, Peggy Ann Clifford, Mark Hardy
Historical narration
was by E. V. H. Emmett
Director: Gerald Thomas
Producer: Peter Rogers Screenplay: Talbot Rothwell Music: Eric Rogers Made at Pinewood Studios and on location at Black Park, Fulmer, Bucks and Chobham Common, Surrey Shooting started Autumn 1965 Debuts: Bernard Bresslaw, Angela Douglas, Margaret Nolan, Peter Butterworth |
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Carry
On headed out to the Wild (well, slightly annoyed) wild west with its
latest offering. Stodge City which is being terrorised by the Rumpo Kid
(Sid James with a remarkably decent American accent) so the local town
council led by Judge Burke (Kenneth Williams) call for help. With a first
name like his it's hardly surprising when, on arrival, sanitary engineer
Marshall P. Knutt (Jim Dale) is accidentally mistaken for the lawman they
expect to clean up the town, especially when they also think that he saved
the stagecoach, on which he was travelling, from an Indian attack. In
fact, the fancy shooting was surreptitiously carried out by Annie Oakley
(Angela Douglas) who has come to Stodge to avenge the death of the last
sherriff (Jon Pertwee). As if having to deal with the Rumpo Kid isn't bad enough, Knutt also has more than his fair share of trouble with a group of incompetent Indians on the warpath, led gormlessly by Chief Big Heap (Charles Hawtrey) and his son Little Heap (Bernard Bresslaw) who are not averse to the odd glass or ten of fire-water, as liberally dispensed by local saloon owner Belle 'call me Ding Dong' (Joan Sims). Despite not knowing his butt from his barrel, Marshall's reputation grows rapidly as he is ably extracted, unknowingly, from sticky situations by Annie, but ends up using his own speciality knowledge of sewer systems to defeat the Rumpo Kid in the final showdown. This was the only known 'Carry On' film to exceed the time set for its shooting schedule - and it was only a day late. |
Sidney James,
Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims, Jim Dale, Percy Herbert, Angela
Douglas, Bernard Bresslaw, Peter Butterworth, Jon Pertwee, Sydney Bromley,
Edina Ronay, Lionel Murton,
Peter Gilmore, Davy Kaye, Alan Gifford, Brian Rawlinson, Michael Nightingale,
Simon Cain, Sally Douglas, Cal McCord, Garry Colleano, Arthur Lovegrove, Margaret
Nolan, Tom Clegg,
Larry Cross, Brian Coburn, Hal Galili, Norman Stanley, Carmen Dene, Andrea
Allen, Vicki Smith, Audrey Wilson, Donna White, Lisa Thomas, Gloria Best,
George Mossman
The saloon dancing
girls were supplied by The Ballet Montparnesse
Director: Gerald Thomas Producer: Peter Rogers Screenplay: Talbot Rothwell Music: Eric Rogers Made at Pinewood Studios and on location at Fulmer, Bucks and Windsor, Berks Shooting started Spring 1966 This was Harry H. Corbett's only 'Carry On' appearance |
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The
Carry On team take on the Hammer House of Horror film franchise when the
barking mad Doctor Watt (Kenneth Williams) and his sultry sister, vampiress
Valeria (Fenella Fielding) terrorise the local countryside, using their
home-made monster, Oddbod, to kidnap young ladies and bring them back
to the mansion where they (the young ladies, that is) are turned into
rock-hard shop mannequins. No, I don't know why - but I suspect that you
probably do! Now, the other way round I could understand .... The disappearances lead to the introduction of the not-quite razor sharp detecting abilities of Detective Sergeant Bung (Harry H. Corbett) and his slovenly sidekick Detective Constable Slobotham (Peter Butterworth) who arrive hot-foot to investigate after finding a huge hairy finger at the scene of the latest crime. Bung closely interrogates Valeria, which he finds more than hair-raising, before discovering the gruesome goings on and Jekyll and Hyde transformations in the Doctor's lavatory, sorry laboratory. Bernard Bresslaw plays the menacing Lurch-like butler, Sockett, and Jim Dale gets more and more involved as the fiance of one of the victims, Doris Mann (Angela Douglas), in his attempts to help Scotland Yard's finest in solving the mystery. The featured title song 'Carry On Screaming' was by Myles Rudge and Ted Dicks and was credited as being sung by Anon. It was actually Ray Pilgrim but for years was thought to have been Jim Dale. |
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Director: Gerald Thomas Producer: Peter Rogers Screenplay: Talbot Rothwell Music: Eric Rogers Made at Pinewood Studios
and on location |
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The
year is 1789, the city is Paris and English nobleman Sir Rodney Ffing (Sid
James) alias the elusive 'The Black Fingernail' is busying himself saving
French aristocrats from the guillotine of the French Revolution. He is eagerly
hunted, in the best 'Scarlet Pimpernel' tradition, by the devilish but dense
Citizen Bidet (Peter Butterworth) and Citizen Camembert (Kenneth Williams)
who are keen to get ahead ....... his! After frequent cross-channel trips,
Sir Rodney falls in love with Jacqueline (Dani Robin), who helps him escape
from the French soldiers when Bidet and Cammembert close in. Oh, the history
and drama of it all, the duels, the rising masses and heaving bosoms - or
is that the other way around? It was the first Rank-backed 'Carry On' film, the previous ones being backed by Anglo-Amalgamated Films, although it was not retitled as a 'Carry On' for two years by which time other 'official Carry On' films had been made. The reason for this is that Rank did not, at that time, want to be associated with the name of a rival company by continuing to use the 'Carry On' tag. The film featured song: Don't Lose Your Head' by Bill Martin and Phil Coulter. and was also known as 'Carry On Pimpernel'. |
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Original Material
 SixtiesCity
2012 |
