Monday 24 September 2018

Watch: Phil Silvers Rare Interview from 1974


I have been trawling the BBC South Today archives of late and they have turned up quite a number of classic, little seen interviews with some of our favourite Carry On favourites. So far I have brought you clips of Kenneth Williams, Terry Scott, Harry H Corbett, Jack Douglas and Warren Mitchell. And today it's the turn of that most American of Carry On guest stars, Phil Silvers.

The clip comes from an interview Phil gave back in 1974, several years after his one and only Carry On appearance. The actor and comedian, best known for his 1950s success in American television as Sergeant Bilko, spent six weeks in the Spring of 1967 working with the Carry On team at Pinewood Studios. His role as Sergeant Knocker in Follow That Camel saw Phil appear alongside series favourites such as Peter Butterworth, Joan Sims, Charles Hawtrey and Bernard Bresslaw. 

Phil also, along with Elke Sommer, remains the highest paid actor ever to appear in a Carry On. While I love his Sergeant Bilko and think he gives a fun performance in Camel, I'm not quite sure the addition of Silvers really did set the Carry On team on fire on the other side of the Atlantic, as the Rank Organisation had hoped.


Anyway the clip, which hasn't been seen since it was recorded back in 1974, can be viewed right here 

I hope you enjoy it! 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

No comments:

Post a Comment