Carry On Watching: Tonight on Talking Pictures TV

 

Talking Pictures TV is showing a couple of very interesting and sadly, rarely seen British films later on this evening. Both feature strong, mostly dramatic performances from two leading ladies who we know best for their comedy work.

First up is the 1972 film, The Best Pair of Legs in the Business. This film tells the rather sad story of an ambitious, yet pretty talentless entertainer at a holiday camp. His obsession with the business and still having a chance to make it in the profession means that he's blind to the fact the rest of his life is falling apart. The lead in the film is On the Buses favourite Reg Varney. This was a very brave role to take on following several years as the star of one of the most popular knockabout sitcoms on British television of the time. Not surprisingly, the public didn't take to the change of pace and the film performed poorly. However The Best Pair of Legs does feature a wonderful co-starring role for Diana Coupland as Varney's wife Mary. Diana is of course best known for her role as Jean, long-suffering wife of Sid James in the long running ITV comedy series, Bless This House. I've always been a big fan of Diana's and it's great to see her take on a different kind of role in this film.

 

The Best Pair of Legs in the Business will be on Talking Pictures TV this evening at 10pm.

Now to a better known film perhaps, although you may need to set your recorders for this showing! I'm a big fan of A Taste of Honey, however the tone and content of the film means I have to be in the right mood for it. The film features extremely strong performances from its small cast of excellent actors, including a young Rita Tushingham, Maggie Smith's first husband Robert Stephens, the great Paul Danquah and Theatre Workshop and Stratford East regular, Murray Melvin. A Taste of Honey was the first play by the British dramatist Shelagh Delaney, written when she was just 18 years old. The play was first produced by Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop and was premiered at the Theatre Royal Stratford East in May 1958. 

 

A Taste of Honey is set in North West England in the 1950s. It tells the story of Jo, a seventeen-year-old working class girl, and her mother, Helen, who is presented as crude and sexually indiscriminate. Helen leaves Jo alone in their new flat after she begins a relationship with Peter, a rich lover who is younger than her. At the same time Jo begins a romantic relationship with Jimmy, a black sailor. He proposes marriage but then goes to sea, leaving Jo pregnant and alone. She finds lodgings with a homosexual acquaintance, Geoffrey, who assumes the role of surrogate father. Helen returns after leaving her lover and the future of Jo's new home is put into question.

A Taste of Honey was and remains a really important film for the way it tackled issues such as race, class and sexual orientation head on at a time when, while these issues existed and affected the people of Britain, they were not yet openly discussed in film. The film features a stunning dramatic (albeit with comedic edges) performance from the wonderful Dora Bryan, again probably best known for her comedy roles. Three years after her role as Norah in the first ever Carry On, Carry On Sergeant, Dora proves what a capable, strong and truthful dramatic actress she could be in the role of Helen.

 

A Taste of Honey will be on Talking Pictures TV tonight at midnight.



You can watch Talking Pictures TV on: Virgin 445 / Freeview 81 / Sky Channel 343 / Freesat 306 / Youview 81

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Down the 'Gate with Dilys Laye

 

In the mid-1970s sitcom legend Reg Varney branched out in a new direction. Over two series he played Billingsgate Market porter Reg Funnell in the comedy series Down the 'Gate. His co-star and onscreen wife was played by none other than Carry On actress Dilys Laye. Further support came from Carry On Jack and Cowboy actor Percy Herbert.

The series proved less than a success, coming in the wake of Varney's big hit On The Buses. Perhaps the television audiences of the day could only identify with his bus driver cheeky chappy character. Anyway, sadly although twelve episodes were produced over 1975 and 1976, only the 1976 episodes remain. 

The 1976 episodes are available from Network. According to their site, the episodes only survive because they are copies Reg Varney made himself. That's quite something! Here is one of the few episodes that survive. Look out for an appearance from the late Shirley Stelfox too.

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June Whitfield at 90: Rose Garvey in Beggar My Neighbour

I have been profiling some of June Whitfield's most legendary roles on screen in the run up to her 90th birthday on 11 November. I have chosen eight of her most well-known performances, which you can vote for in my special poll - details on that below. As we prepare to celebrate the milestone birthday of this national treasure, let's continue to look back at her career.

One of June's earliest sitcom successes came in 1966 with the now little remembered series, Beggar My Neighbour. Three series were made and broadcast on the BBC between May 1966 and March 1968. The show was written by Ken Hoare and Mike Sharland and June co-starred with fellow legends of sitcom Reg Varney, Peter Jones and Pat Coombs. 

The basic premise of Beggar My Neighbour was quite simple. Based on the age old British obsession with class. June plays Rose Garvey, married to Gerald (Peter Jones, later Desmond Walter-Ellis). They live next door to Rose's sister Lana and her husband Harry (Pat Coombs and Reg Varney). While Gerald is a junior executive and Harry just a fitter in a factory, the tables are turned as Gerald is badly paid while Harry does very well for himself.

Gerald is a snob and makes Rose keep up the pretence that they are doing well even though they are not while Harry's good fortune gives Lana airs and graces. What follows is a classic 1960s sitcom that allows these brilliant comedy actors to do what they do best. It's not earth shattering stuff but it once again demonstrates a kind of series and a kind of comedy that just doesn't feature much anymore. 

Sadly only seven episodes of the original twenty three have survived. I think it's also a shame that this series has never really been repeated, other than brief clips in tribute shows or documentaries. Probably because it was filmed entirely in black and white, television schedulers today have decided not to give it the air time, which I think is a silly mistake! There is still an audience for this kind of comedy today and many people actually like black and white series or films. I think it's time to add this to some of the most frequently repeated telly classics.

If you agree, you can vote for June's role as Rose Garvey here 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan

What a Carry On at Fenner's Fashions!

The Rag Trade was another one of those popular, early 1960s sitcoms just bursting with recognisable Carry On faces. It is also, rather sadly, one of those legendary shows that we hardly ever see broadcast nowadays. The series originally ran on the BBC between 1961 and 1963 (three series) and then came back, this time on ITV for two further series between 1977 and 1978. So let's have a look back at this comedy classic.

The main premise of The Rag Trade was the ongoing battle between the management and the workers at Fenner's Fashions, a textile factory in London. The boss at the factory was Harold Fenner, played by Peter Jones, most well remembered these days for his long running appearances in Radio 4's Just A Minute alongside Kenneth Williams. Peter Jones was a reliable character actor who appeared in two Carry Ons, Doctor and England. Starring alongside Jones was a pre On The Buses Reg Varney as Reg, the works foreman and the legendary Miriam Karlin as the militant shop steward Paddy. Karlin gained herself a catch phrase still familiar today (and borrowed by Kenneth Cope and Bernard Bresslaw in Carry On At Your Convenience) - "Everybody Out!"

Miriam Karlin was a formidable presence off screen as well as on. Interestingly, she became a good friend of Kenneth Williams, despite the fact that while she was incredibly left wing politically, Williams was quite far to the right. They often met at Equity Union meetings and their exchanges were recorded in Kenneth's wonderful diaries.

While Jones, Varney and Karlin were the leads in The Rag Trade, some of the real stars of the show came in the form of the assorted workforce that graced the original 1960s series. The wonderful Sheila Hancock (Carry On Cleo) led the pack as Carole. Joining her were Esma Cannon (Constable, Regardless, Cruising & Cabby) in a rare television role and none other than Carry On leading lady Barbara Windsor as Gloria. Esma stayed for the first two series and was on reliably twittery form while Barbara featured in just series one. Other actresses to join the ranks included Wanda Ventham (Cleo, Up The Khyber, The Big Job), Gwendolyn Watts (Doctor, Again Doctor, Matron) and Carmel Cryan who was married to Roy Kinnear and is the mother of the very successful actor Rory Kinnear.

While The Rag Trade boasted a strong cast of reliable character actors, it also featured a glut of familiar Carry On faces in one off guest roles. Over the course of the first three series the likes of June Whitfield, Irene Handl, Terry Scott, Dilys Laye, Judith Furse, Brian Oulton, Frank Thornton and Peter Gilmore all appeared. With top acting talent like that on board how could the series be anything other than a roaring success?

While many modern day viewers might look back at this black and white curiosity from fifty years ago with disinterest, the show was actually breaking new ground. At the time comedy on television was mostly dominated by middle class, middle aged men. For the first time, The Rag Trade put working class women at the centre of the action. It also dealt with themes that had not previously been seen on television, let alone a situation comedy. While strikes were perhaps more of an issue back then than they are today (although maybe not!) there is a definite social and political context to this comedy that makes it interesting viewing even today.

There was an attempt to bring The Rag Trade back to our screens by London Weekend Television in 1977. LWT secured the original writers, Ronald Chesney and Ronald Woolfe, and two of the original stars, Peter Jones and Miriam Karlin, and produced two further series. Sadly, times had moved on and the rebooted Rag Trade was less of a success. As with the BBC sitcom Sykes, the new, colour version of The Rag Trade used many original 1960s scripts on its return. 

Joining Jones and Karlin in the 1970s series were Anna Karen, reprising her role as Olive from On The Buses. Writers Chesney and Woolfe also created On The Buses so simply transported Olive to Fenner's Fashions. Also starring was Diane Langton, who had most recently appeared in several episodes of the ATV series Carry On Laughing and played the Barbara Windsor type role in Carry On England. The series also featured the likes of Christopher Beeny and Gillian Taylforth. By all accounts the series lacked the impact and charm of the original.

Although I believe the LWT series has been released on DVD, sadly many of the original BBC episodes have long since been wiped. It would be lovely to see those that do remain receive an airing, either on BBC2 or perhaps on one of the many stations that now exist to show classic programmes from times gone by. Surely given the fact The Rag Trade starred the likes of Sheila Hancock, Barbara Windsor and Miriam Karlin, there would still be an audience for repeats?

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