Carry On Faces of 1971

This is part of a new series of blogs on Carry On Blogging. I plan to blog each year of Carry On, featuring photos of the most prolific actors for each year. Hopefully it will provide an interesting overview of the changing face of Carry On during the series' original mammoth twenty year run. 

It will turn the spotlight on the familiar faces who endured over the decades as well as those artists who came and went along the way. We are continuing today with 1971. Two films were produced that year, first of all At Your Convenience in the spring and then the final medical Carry On, Matron, in the autumn of the same year.

Pictured above we have the most prolific actors to appear in 1971. They are as follows: Sidney James as Sid Plummer in Convenience; Kenneth Williams as Sir Bernard Cutting in Matron; Hattie Jacques pictured above as Matron in Matron; Charles Hawtrey as Charles Coote in Convenience; Joan Sims as Chloe Moore in Convenience; Jacki Piper pictured as Myrtle Plummer in Convenience; Patsy Rowlands as Miss Withering in Convenience; Bernard Bresslaw as Ernie Bragg in Matron and finally, Kenneth Cope as Cyril Carter in Matron.

Of those featured above, four actors (Hawtrey, Williams, Connor and Jacques) were original cast members from the very first film, Carry On Sergeant in 1958. All the actors featured above appeared in both films produced in 1971. This year was also the last year that saw two Carry On films produced in one year. From this point on only one film per year would go into production.

Despite appearing in nine Carry Ons, this year would be the only time Patsy Rowlands would be billed as part of the main team (in Convenience). Kenneth Cope, already a big star thanks to Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and Coronation Street, guest starred in both films this year. Jacki Piper, the only actor to sign a contract with Peter Rogers Productions, made the last of her four Carry Ons in 1971 with her supporting turn as Sister in Matron. Having played Matron regularly throughout the Carry Ons, Hattie Jacques would play the character for the final time in Carry On Matron.


Stay tuned for the Carry On Faces of 1972 coming up soon!

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