| Carry On | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Gerald Thomas |
| Produced by | Peter Rogers |
| Written by | Norman Hudis 1958–1962 Talbot Rothwell 1963–1974 |
| Starring | Kenneth Williams Joan Sims Charles Hawtrey Sid James Kenneth Connor Peter Butterworth Bernard Bresslaw Hattie Jacques Jim Dale Barbara Windsor Jack Douglas Terry Scott Frankie Howerd and others. |
| Distributed by | Anglo-Amalgamated Rank Organisation |
| Release date(s) | 1958–1978, 1992 |
| Running time | Estimated at 2700 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
The Carry On films are a series of low-budget British comedy films, directed by Gerald Thomas and produced by Peter Rogers. They are an energetic mix of parody, farce, slapstick and double entendres.
Twenty-nine original films and one compilation were made between 1958 and 1978 at Pinewood Studios, with an additional movie made in 1992.
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The films featured a regular cast of comedy actors. The mainstays of the series were Kenneth Williams (26 films including presentation of the compilation That's Carry On), Joan Sims (24), Charles Hawtrey (23), Sid James (19), Kenneth Connor (17), Peter Butterworth (16), Hattie Jacques (14), Bernard Bresslaw (14), Jim Dale (11), Barbara Windsor (10 including That's Carry On) and Terry Scott (7). Comedian Frankie Howerd is also associated with the Carry Ons, but only appeared in two films (Doctor and Up The Jungle) and the 1969 Christmas TV special.
The films' humour was in the British comic tradition of the music hall and seaside postcards. Many of them parodied more serious films — in the case of Carry On Cleo (1964), the Burton and Taylor film Cleopatra (1963).
The stock-in-trade of Carry On humour was innuendo and the sending-up of British institutions and customs, such as the National Health Service (Nurse, Doctor, Again Doctor, Matron), the monarchy (Henry), the Empire (Up the Khyber), the military (Sergeant) and the trade unions (At Your Convenience) as well as the Hammer horror film (Screaming), camping (Camping), foreigners (Abroad), beauty contests (Girls), and caravan holidays (Behind) among others. Although the films were very often panned by critics, they proved very popular with audiences.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]
The series began with Carry On Sergeant (1958), about a group of recruits on National Service, and was sufficiently successful that others followed. A film had appeared the previous year under the title Carry On Admiral; although this was a comedy in a similar vein (with Joan Sims in the cast) it has no connection to the series. There was also an unrelated 1937 film Carry On London, starring future Carry On performer Eric Barker.
The cast were poorly paid — around £5,000 per film for a principal performer.[8] In his diaries, Kenneth Williams lamented this and criticised several of the movies despite his declared fondness for the series as a whole.[9] Peter Rogers, the series' producer, acknowledged: "Kenneth was worth taking care of, because while he cost very little [...] he made a very great deal of money for the franchise."[8]
From 1958 to 1962 the films' screenplays were written by Norman Hudis and mostly shot in black and white. Set in institutions of various types, the bungling protagonists usually fail, then eventually triumph in the face of some adversity.
The phrase "Carry on, Sergeant" was commonly used by a British officer telling a sergeant or other NCO to continue with his duties, and it was indeed so used several times in the first film. (The American equivalent is, "As you were.") It provided the title for the first film, and the template for the series. There is also a colloquial expression "What a carry-on!", meaning "What a fuss (about nothing)!", or "What a load of nonsense!"
A black-and-white film, Carry On Spaceman, was planned for release after Carry On Regardless, but was abandoned. Plans for a revival of the film in 1962, under Denis Gifford, also failed.
In 1963 Talbot Rothwell took over the role of screenwriter. The settings became more ambitious, often parodying well-known films or genres. In keeping with the changing times, they featured more risqué sexual jokes and situations. The films made in colour in the '60s remain among the most popular of the series.
At one point, Talbot Rothwell sought and received permission to borrow several one-liners and quotes that Frank Muir and Denis Norden had written for the successful radio comedy series Take It From Here. Rothwell was a friend and colleague of Muir and Norden.
Don't Lose Your Head and Follow That Camel were originally released without the "Carry On" prefix due to the change of distributor from Anglo-Amalgamated (who claimed rights to the "Carry On..." titling) to Rank. When ownership of the titling was later resolved the films were re-issued with a Carry On... prefix.
The series continued to be popular in the 1970s. British society was becoming more accustomed to seeing sexual content on screen, and the innuendos typical of the series no longer had the impact they once had had. The films evolved in line with this, including more direct references to sex, and increased nudity. Rothwell continued as writer.
Rothwell ended his run as writer (due to ill health) in 1974. Fewer of the established cast were now appearing in the films; Abroad had been the last Carry On film appearance for Charles Hawtrey and Dick the last for Sid James, Hattie Jacques.
In 1992, an attempt was made to revive the series with Carry On Columbus, coinciding with the production of two serious movies on the subject and the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' first landing in the Americas. The producers managed to persuade a number of alternative comedians such as Rik Mayall, Alexei Sayle, Peter Richardson, and Julian Clary to appear in the film as well as the comic actress Maureen Lipman. It was heavily panned by most critics, but achieved fair commercial success, actually taking more at the UK box office than the other two Columbus-inspired movies that were also released that year.
Of all the original Carry On stars, only Jim Dale (playing the title role) and Jack Douglas appeared in the film – many of the others had either died or didn't wish to be involved. A handful of other actors who had played a few roles in the original films, such as Peter Gilmore, Bernard Cribbins and Jon Pertwee returned, as did June Whitfield and Leslie Phillips, who played the King and Queen of Spain. The roles were originally intended for Joan Sims and Frankie Howerd, but Sims turned it down and Howerd died before production commenced.
The script, by Dave Freeman, included comment on colonialism as well as the obligatory innuendo and slapstick.
Several other films were planned, scripted (or partly scripted) or entered pre-production before being abandoned:[13][14][15]
Carry On Spaceman was to be released shortly after Carry On Regardless, in 1961. It was scripted by Norman Hudis, and was to satirise interests in the space race from the Western world's point of view, and was to have been shot in black and white.
The cast was to consist of three would-be astronauts who constantly bungled on their training and their mission into outer space - most likely the trio would have been played by the trinity of Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor and Leslie Phillips that had been established in Carry On Constable.
Attempts to revive Carry On Spaceman in 1962 under Denis Gifford, again by Hudis, failed, and the project was subsequently abandoned.
Three scripts were written for an intended sub-sequel to the successful Carry On Nurse film, the second installment of the Carry On series. All three attempts failed, and so the film has never been made.
The first attempt to create Carry On Again Nurse came in 1967, but was later released as Carry On Doctor. It is unclear why the film was renamed, though it is possibly because Anglo-Amalgamated Ltd owned the first 12 Carry On films, and Rank did not wish to enter a lawsuit. Despite all this, Carry On Nurse was alluded to twice in Carry On Doctor, firstly with the sub-titles (one reading Nurse Carries On Again and Death of a Daffodil), and again in a later scene with Frankie Howerd commenting on a vase of daffodils in his ward.
A second attempt at Carry On Again Nurse came in 1979, after the franchise left Rank Films and moved to Hemdale. A completed script had been written by George Layton and Jonathan Lynn in 1977. It was cancelled due to the financial loss of Carry On Emmanuelle.
The final attempt to create Carry On Again Nurse came in 1988, with a script written by Norman Hudis (the script is included in the book The Lost Carry Ons), but with a budget of 1.5 million was deemed too expensive.
A new film, Carry On London, was announced in 2003 by producer Peter Rogers and producer James Black but remained in pre-production well into 2008. The script was signed off by the production company in late March 2008, and "centred on a limousine company ferrying celebrities to an awards show."[16] The film had several false starts, with the producers and cast changing extensively over time. Only the rather unknown Welsh actress Jynine James remained a consistent name from 2003 to 2008.[17] Daniella Westbrook, Shaun Williamson and Burt Reynolds were also once attached to the project. In May 2006, it was announced Vinnie Jones and Shane Richie were to star in the film, which was to be directed by Peter Richardson, though Ed Bye later replaced him as the named director.[18] At the 50th anniversary party held at Pinewood Studios in March 2008, Peter Rogers confirmed that he was planning for a series of Carry On films after London, subject to the success of the first.
In early 2009, Carry On London or Carry On Bananas was once again 'back on', with Charlie Higson attached as director, and a different more modern cast list involving Paul O'Grady (as the acidic Kenneth Williamsesque character), Jynine James, Lenny Henry, Justin Lee Collins, Jennifer Ellison (as the saucy Barbara Windsor type), Liza Tarbuck (Hattie Jacques), Meera Syal, James Dreyfus, and Frank Skinner (filling in the Sid James role). Despite new media interest and sets being constructed at Pinewood film studios the film once again was put on hold. Following the death of series producer Peter Rogers the project was shelved.[19] The company set up to produce the film Carry On London LTD was undergoing liquidation proceedings as of February 2010.[20]
Please Turn Over (1959), Watch Your Stern (1960), No Kidding (1960), Raising the Wind (1961), Twice Round the Daffodils (1962), Nurse on Wheels (1963), The Big Job (1965) and the television programme spin-off Bless This House (1972) were all also directed by Gerald Thomas and produced by Peter Rogers and utilised the same writers and some of the same cast and crew of the Carry On films. They are not part of the Carry On series.
Carry on Admiral (1957), which has Joan Sims in the cast, predates the Carry On series.
In 1971, Music For Pleasure released a long playing record Oh! What A Carry On! (MFP MONO 1416) featuring songs performed by Kenneth Williams, Jim Dale, Kenneth Connor, Frankie Howerd, Bernard Bresslaw, Joan Sims, Barbara Windsor, and Dora Bryan.
The characters and comedy style of the Carry On film series were adapted to a television series titled Carry On Laughing, and several Christmas specials.
There were three Carry On... stage shows.
A 50-minute television documentary What's a Carry On? was made in 1998 for the 40th anniversary of the first film. It included archive clips, out-takes and interviews with surviving cast members. It was included as an extra on the DVD release of Carry On Emmannuelle .
A two-hour radio documentary Carry On Forever!, presented by Leslie Phillips, was broadcast in two parts on BBC Radio 2 in two parts on 19–20 July 2010.
The success of the Carry On series occasionally led to affectionate parodies of the series by other contemporary comedians:
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