Carrying On … on a Last Holiday

A couple of weeks ago I had the great good fortune to catch a lovely little film on Talking Pictures TV. Last Holiday, made way back in 1950, is a darkly comic tale of an everyman character who is told by a under pressure doctor that he has weeks to live. Shocked by the news, George Bird takes steps to make sure his last few days on earth are lived as fully as possible.

What's the film about?

George Bird, an ordinary, unassuming salesman of agricultural implements who inexplicably speaks with a posh public school accent, visits a physician for a routine check-up and is told he has Lampington's Disease, a newly identified condition which allows him only a few weeks to live. He accepts the doctor’s advice to take his savings and enjoy himself in the little time left to him. A bachelor with no family or friends, Bird decides to spend his last days at an up-market residential hotel among its elite clientele. By chance, a salesman in a used clothing store has acquired two suitcases, covered with international labels. The cases are full of a deceased Lord's bespoke tailored wardrobe, that perfectly fits Bird. Bird acquires the wardrobe and luggage that give him the appearance of a wealthy gentleman.

Bird’s unassuming attitude generates a great deal of interest among the hotel's residents because he wears the same expensive clothes as all the other guests wear. He is seen as an enigma to be solved, with wild speculations offered as to his identity and possible noble lineage. The hotel's housekeeper guesses the truth, and Bird confides his secret to her. Bird quickly acquires friends and influence, falls in love (possibly for the first time in his life), sets wrongs to right, and is offered lucrative business opportunities. But these successes only serve to make him reflect on the irony that he will have no time to enjoy them.

Who's in it?

Last Holiday stars the great Sir Alec Guinness in one of his earlier starring roles. As George BIrd, Alec is the heart and soul of the film and it's a tour de force. Co-starring is Beatrice Campbell, playing Sheila Rockingham, a woman who is married to a bit of a dodgy customer and the pair are down on their luck. And the brilliant Kay Walsh (once the wife of director David Lean) plays Mrs Poole, the hotel's down to earth and rather canny housekeeper. 

Also look out for Helen Cherry as Miss Mellows, Jean Colin as Daisy Clarence and Bernard Lee as Inspector Wilton. Bernard would of course go on to play M in the first eleven James Bond films.

Carry On Faces?

Last Holiday features a major supporting role for a rising star by the name of Sidney James. Playing a slightly rough around the edges wide boy with a heart of gold, Sid really shines as Joe Clarence and shares many lovely scenes with Alec Guinness. There are definite shades of the Sid we'd come to know and love in many comedies of the future, but as with many of his earlier screen roles, Sid is given more room to show his true acting chops in this film and it's lovely to see.

Also appearing in a satisfying supporting part is the inimitable Esma Cannon. The future star of Carry On Constable, Regardless, Cruising and Cabby as well as countless other films and television roles, Esma was a much in demand character actress in the 1940s and 1950s and she's a welcome addition to Last Holiday. Playing to type as a meek and mild little lady, Esma is Miss Fox, companion and rubbing rag to the wealthy yet common Lady Oswington (Muriel George). While Esma does play for laughs, there is a quiet desperation to the role and as with Sid's turn as Joe, Cannon gives a much more rounded role than many of her later comedy parts would allow.

Carry On Nurse guest star Wilfrid Hyde-White has a smaller supporting role here as a hotel guest, Chalfont. Many of Wilfrid's recognisable acting traits are visible here and the role isn't that far removed from his pesky Colonel in Nurse, which would come along over eight years later. 

There are also two smaller, yet eye-catching supporting turns by two actors who would grace several Carry Ons in the years ahead. The exceptional character actor Brian Oulton plays Prescott, Cabinet Minister Bellinghurst's assistant. It's a small role but Brian imbues it with clipped posh tones as only he could. Oulton went on to appear in Carry On Nurse, Constable, Cleo and Camping. And keep your eyes peeled for an early screen appearance from future television and radio great Peter Jones as an uncredited Travel Agent, seen early on in the film. Peter had cameos in Carry On Doctor as the deaf chaplain who marries the characters played by Joan Sims and Frankie Howerd and returned in 1976 to play the dreadfully unfunny Brigadier in Carry On England.

Did you Know?

Last Holiday was written and co-produced by J.B Priestley, perhaps best known for his 1945 play, An Inspector Calls.

A loose remake of Last Holiday was released in 2006 and it starred, amongst others, the French film actor Gerard Depardieu. 

The film split critics on release. While some praised it for being "simple and modest in structure but delightfully rich in character" another called it "shabby" and its ending "disastrously inappropriate". Can't please 'em all!

Never mind them. I was charmed by this film and if you haven't seen it, I urge you to hunt it down and give it a go. After all, you can't go wrong with a bit of Sid James and Esma Cannon!

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Whatever Happened To ... Brian Oulton?

Brian Oulton will be a familiar face to many Carry On fans. He appeared in several of the films, often as slightly snobbish, upper class figures who were really no better than they ought to be! In this blog, I will take at look at both Brian's roles in the Carry Ons and his wider career.

Brian first joined the Carry On team in November 1958 for what would be his most substantial role in the series. He played Henry Bray, one of the patients in the ward in which the film was based. Henry was a snobbish character who actually had rather humble origins as the regular visits from his wife Rhoda (Hilda Fenemore) would reveal. Although restricted to bed for most of the film, it is an effective performance from Oulton and no doubt the success of this role resulted in future call backs from Rogers and Thomas.

He next appeared in Carry On Constable in 1959, playing a brief role as the department store manager constables Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey visit during an outbreak of shoplifting. This sets up the glorious scene of Williams and Hawtrey undercover and in drag as Agatha and Ethel! Brian Oulton then returned to Pinewood for the role of Brutus opposite Kenneth Williams' Julius Caesar in Carry On Cleo. In the famous scene where Kenneth gives a speech in Churchillian tones, you can see Oulton visibly corpse and break into giggles!

Brian Oulton's last big screen outing with the gang came in late 1968 with the classic Carry On Camping. Brian appears near the beginning of the film in the role of another shop manager, this time the camping shop where Sid Boggle and Bernie Lugg visit to find out more information about Paradise Camp. Brian shares a funny scene with Charles Hawtrey and the glamorous Valerie Leon. While this marked Brian's last role in the film series, he did return to the world of Carry On once more, for the Carry On Christmas special in 1972. In this episode, entitled Carry On Stuffing, Brian played the "Oriental Orator". 

So what else did Brian get up to during his long acting career? He worked for Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas in several other films away from the Carry On franchise. Oulton appeared in No Kidding (1960); Raising The Wind (1961) and The Iron Maiden (1962). Other films included a diverse range of titles: Doctor in the House (1954); The 39 Steps (1959); The Bulldog Breed (1960); The Kiss of the Vampire (1963); The Intelligence Men (1965); On the Buses (1971); Ooh You Are Awful! (1972); Gandhi (1982) and Young Sherlock Holmes (1985). 

On television Brian Oulton popped up in a myriad of supporting roles over the years. These included parts in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1958); Hancock's Half Hour (1960); The Army Game (1960); The Rag Trade (1961); Steptoe and Son (1962); The Saint (1963); Coronation Street (1964); George and The Dragon (1967); two different roles in The Avengers (1964; 1969); a regular role in Mr Digby Darling (1969); Crown Court (1975); Brideshead Revisited (1981); Lenny Henry Tonite (1986) and his final screen credit in American Playhouse in 1988.

On radio, Brian Oulton is best remembered for playing the role of Cyril in the long running series of Richmal Crompton's Just William. On stage, Oulton wrote and starred in several plays included Births, Marriages and Deaths in 1975 and For Entertainment Only in 1976. 

Brian Oulton was born in Liverpool in February 1908 and made his acting debut in 1939, just before the outbreak of the Second World War. He served in the army during the conflict and on returning to Britain in 1945, resumed his career on the stage. Brian was married for many years to the actress Peggy Thorpe-Bates, probably best remembered for her role as the wife of Rumpole in the television series Rumpole of the Bailey. The couple lived in Stratford Upon Avon until her death in 1989 at the age of 75. 

Brian Oulton died at the age of 84 in April 1992. 


You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan 

Jason King Carries On with Liz Fraser

I admit I am quite unfamiliar with the 1970s television series Jason King and with its star, Peter Wyngarde however YouTube regularly turns up fascinating finds, I couldn't help but share this one.

Jason King was a follow on series from the original Department S in the late 1960s. King was one of the lead characters and obviously thought worthy of a spin off show. Jason King is flamboyant, fairly louche and incredibly glamorous in an early seventies kind of way at least. As with many other shows of the era, Jason King is light hearted, adventurous (for its time) and full of lovely ladies, exotic locations and a delightful mix of high drama and camp comedy.

Peter Wyngarde is like no other leading man I've ever seen! He carries it all off with a certain aplomb though and if you're game, it makes for a diverting piece of nostalgic entertainment. It also features a host of familiar faces, none more so than the gorgeous Liz Fraser in a guest spot. Liz's character acts as a kind of sidekick to King in this episode, and as always she looks terrific and is generally fantastic value. 

Other co-stars include the wonderful comedy actor Roy Kinnear and the glamorous Ipcress File star Sue Lloyd. And keep your eyes peeled for another couple of veteran Carry On supporting actors in Brian Oulton (Nurse, Constable, Cleo and Camping) and Alan Curtis (Henry and Abroad).

Well worth a look if you fancy a wallow in the telly of yesteryear! 

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Carry On Avenging!

What else do you do on a rain soaked day on holiday in England? No, you don't stage a beauty contest and take on Augusta Prodworthy! You sit indoors and watch back to back episodes of The Avengers, that's what. 

I love classic British television series from the 60s and 70s. Even when they are a bit cheap, a bit rubbish or just downright weird, they are nearly always jam packed with recognisable character actors and well-known faces from the acting world, often years before they became big names. Britain has always had a wonderful tradition of producing reliable character actors, something the Carry Ons cashed in on frequently! The Avengers, featuring crime fighting gent Steed (the late great Patrick Macnee) and an assortment of female assistants (Honor Blackman, Diana Rigg, Linda Thorson and much later, Joanna Lumley). Together they took on a range of weird and wonderful assignments. There is always a sense of the absurd about The Avengers and it's all joyously camp swinging sixties nonsense!

So how many Carry On actors appeared in The Avengers? Well as it happens, loads! 

We must start with Julie Stevens, who played Gloria in Carry On Cleo. Cleo was Julie's only film role, however she would make her name as a star of many children's television shows. Julie was one of the original Avengers side-kicks, playing Venus Smith opposite Steed between 1962 and 1963. Julie alternated for a year with Honor Blackman as Cathy Gale. 

Fenella Fielding appeared in the 1964 episode The Charmers, playing the role of Kim Lawrence. It was rumoured that Fenella had been considered for the role of Cathy Gale, which eventually went to Honor Blackman. Fenella co-starred with another actor who appeared in a Carry On, Warren Mitchell. Mitchell, who had a cameo in Cleo, appeared in a total of four episodes of The Avengers. Also appearing in this episode was regular Carry On supporting actor, Brian Oulton.

Carry On favourite Angela Douglas also appeared in two episodes of The Avengers. Angela first appeared as Beth Wilkinson in the very first series back in 1961 and then returned in 1969 to play Miranda. Co-starring alongside Angela in that 1961 episode was regular Carry On character player Norman Chappell, who clocked up a total of six Avengers appearances.

In 1965, Carry On legend Liz Fraser guest starred as Georgie Price-Jones in The Avengers episode The Girl From Auntie. Liz played Steed's assistant for one week, although Diana Rigg's Mrs Peel did make an appearance. This episode also co-starred the wonderful Bernard Cribbins, in the first of two cameo roles in the series. 

Patsy Rowlands, a beloved star of nine classic Carry On films, played the guest role of Thelma in the 1969 episode Love All. Patsy co-starred with a couple of other well-known Carry On faces in Terence Alexander (Regardless) and Brian Oulton (Nurse, Constable, Cleo, Camping).

There are just far too many Carry On actors to name in one blog but here are a few more who cropped up in the weird and wonderful world of The Avengers: 

Anthony Baird (Spying & also Joan Sims' boyfriend); Eric Barker; John Bluthal; Ray Brooks; Patrick Cargill; Kenneth Cope; David Kernan; Gertan Klauber; David Lodge; Terence Longdon; Victor Maddern; Michael Nightingale; Jon Pertwee; Anthony Sagar; Carole Shelley; Frank Thornton; Wanda Ventham; Brian Wilde and Ian Wilson. 

And that's not an exhaustive list!

So go on, check out some classic British television and look out for some familiar Carry On faces! If you spot any get in touch and let me know! 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and also Facebook

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