Monday 25 July 2016

Carrying On with British Pathe - Barbara Windsor

 

Some more wonderful old British Pathe newsreel footage has appeared on the interweb and I feel that it's my duty to share some of these gems with you! Right up until the mid-1960s, British Pathe presented regular short films and features on a wide range of subjects, promoting businesses, the best of British events and updating cinema-goers on the latest news from both near and far.

A good many of these brilliant shorts featured some very familiar faces from the world of British comedy and in particular, the Carry On films. I have tracked down a fair few and plan to share them in a series of blogs. They present a fantastic glimpse back into possibly simpler times, to a Britain that probably no longer exists and gives a precious, fleeting glance at some of our comedy heroes still on duty but away from the familiarity of Pinewood. 

Today we're going all the way back to Christmas 1963. The year before Barbara Windsor became a Carry On star through her role as Daphne Honeybutt in Carry On Spying, Babs was promoting another film, Crooks in Cloisters. Windsor was already a rising star by '63, working alongside theatrical legend Joan Littlewood and appearing in the television sitcom, The Rag Trade. The film below sees Barbara doing a bit of publicity for Pathe as she lights up their building in Wardour Street in London's Soho.

Enjoy!




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