Taste Me You Will See: What A Carry On....

I am a Carry On fan and proud of it, there is no scoffing or proclaiming it a guilty pleasure like on SKY’s EPG. The series became a British institution pretty early on, in its run of 29 films (1958-78). Produced by Peter Rogers and Directed by Gerald Thomas. The series of films starred a band of familiar faces like Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Barbara Windsor, Hattie Jacques, Joan Simms, Charles Hawtrey and Kenneth Conner. Because of the Carry On films they became comedy legends.

My recent Carry On mini-marathon includes

Carry On Camping (1969)
Carry On Matron (1972)
Carry On Cruising (1962)
Carry On Admiral (1957) *
Carry On Regardless (1961)
Carry On Spying (1964)
Carry On Up The Khyber (1969)
Carry On Doctor (1967)
Carry On Screaming (1966)
Cor Blimey! (2000) **

* Is not an official Carry On film, it was made a year before Peter Rogers 1st film Carry On Sergeant (1958)

** Is a TV drama about the Carry On actors, films and specifically Sid James and Barbara Windsor’s affair.

My introduction to this great institution probably came in the early 80’s with the highlights series What A Carry On (1983). Often dismissed by long time fans and hated by the actors themselves as it represented the death nail in the coffin for the Carry On franchise. This series however made me want to check out all the Carry On films.

I have a deep fondness for Carry On Camping and Carry On Behind (1975) not because of Barbara Windsor loosing her bikini top, but because they were set in campsites. During our school holidays we would always go away caravaning to The Lakes, it rained quite a bit in The Lakes. So I have fond recollections of rain pitter-patting on the caravan roof whilst trying to get to sleep. I think that’s why I love a good down poor, especially in the middle of a heatwave.

These two particular Carry On films help create a certain amount of nostalgia for when I was young and I guess a snapshot of England of yesteryear. I can even remember seeing Carry On Screaming on a camping holiday. I was quite surprised when I saw the film a second time some years later and that it was in colour. Our caravan TV was an old portable b/w TV. It kind of enhanced it and gave it the feel of the old Universal monster movies or Abbott & Costello spoofs, rather than the Hammer films that it was trying to recreate. This is probably my favorite Carry On, in part because I love the old Hammer Films, Fenella Fielding is smoking hot and the script is tight. Kenneth Williams is excellent as Dr.Watt, which leads to a great scene with Harry Corbett, Jim Dale and Peter Butterworth and a play on words of Dr Watt and Dr. Who. Carry On Screaming even features a small role from future Dr.Who Jon Pertwee, ironically as Dr. Fettle. Although you need to look past the make up, dark hair and you might spot him, to see what I mean check out the clip below. And of course you cannot forget Charles Hawtrey as Dan Dann. Poor old Fenella Feilding is quite a sight now although she is 80, how accurate that is I am not sure as between IMDB and Wikipedia there is a 8 year gap between birthdates. I hate to say it, but with her hairdo and eyes she reminds me of the lead from Eyes Without A Face / Les Yeux Sans Visage (1960)

Carry On Screaming starred Harry Corbett from Steptoe & Son as Sid James was recovering from a mild heart attack at the time. In fact he missed Carry On Follow That Camel (1967) because of his health, so Phil Silvers took the role. In Carry On Doctor, Sid James was recovering from another heart attack, so he took a less physical role and so Frankie Howard has top billing. Sid James heart problems eventually caught up with him in 1976 as he died on stage of the opening night of a play (The Mating Season).

My mini-marathon began a couple of months back with The BBC’s Carry On evening of films and Cor Blimey!. The final film I watched fittingly was Carry On Screaming, over the bank holiday. I have roughly watched about a quarter of films from the franchise. Sadly I missed Carry On Jack (1963) recently so I will have to keep my eyes peeled for the rarer Carry On films.

Whilst in the Post Office a month or two ago, an advertisement for these stamps caught my eye. I have to say, as two British film institutions The Carry On films and Hammer Films you would think they have both earned the right to be honoured separately and not just 3x films each in a set of 6. These are some glorious film posters.