I recently caught up with the lovely Odysseas from Art & Hue, the company which has created the wonderful Carry On pop art prints you may have seen on the blog. I asked Odysseas all about the Carry On films, the inspiration for the brilliant pop art and what it's like to work at the legendary Pinewood Studios...
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First of all what made you want to become an artist and can you tell me a little more about the inspiration for your Art and
Hue pop art?
My
background is graphic design, mainly in the fashion industry and most
recently on a freelance basis for small to large businesses. Whilst
it's always satisfying to work on a client's brief and successfully
interpret their feelings into a solid brand identity, I felt I needed
a creative outlet through which I could concentrate on art that was
driven by my own personal interests and aesthetic. I'd been creating
halftone designs since 2006 for various projects and in 2014 decided
to create and launch Art & Hue as a collection of pop art that
spoke to me, and hopefully other people! At the moment I'm focusing
on Mid-Century subjects such as Jet Set travel and architecture and
more recently, classic and retro film and TV.
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I have blogged about your Carry On collection - why did you choose to
focus on the earlier films in the series?
Whilst
it's before my time, I
feel drawn to the 1960s which seemed an incredibly exciting era of
tremendous change and innovation, from the birth of modern music and
fast fashion, to social upheaval and progress. One of my favourite
shows from the era was The Avengers with Patrick Macnee as John Steed
- it was a thoroughly modern show, ahead of it's time, with a female
equal who could compete with, and out-do, men. I had the pleasure of
going through the archives of the show at Pinewood Studios which is
where I spotted posters of the earlier Carry On films. The first 12
Carry On films were produced by Anglo Amalgamated before the
franchise moved to Rank - I have a soft-spot for the earlier films as
they're charming, gentler, and with a far less blatant innuendo than
the later films. Plus they're important to show the progression of
the films development as well as societal changes as to what humour
was deemed acceptable at the time. The writing on the earlier films
had to be more subtle to get around the censors.
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You recently launched a new set of prints based on Joanna Lumley's
career. Can you tell me more about that project?
I've
always been an admirer of Joanna's work, from her Bond film
appearance and The New Avengers to Sapphire & Steel and of course
Absolutely Fabulous. After
launching The Avengers pop art collection, I considered taking a look
at The New Avengers as Joanna Lumley was fantastic as Purdey but then
I discovered that there were images of Joanna in the Pinewood
archives of her appearance in a little-known film called "The
Breaking of Bumbo". Never released in cinemas at the time, it
was filmed after her appearance in the Bond film "On Her
Majesty's Secret Service" but before "The New Avengers. She
looked great with back-combed 60s hair and I've nicknamed the pop art
collection "Andy Warhol meets Patsy Stone" as you could
imagine Patsy scaring Warhol into creating pop art of her.
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As part of your research you have often mentioned using the archives
at Pinewood Studios - what is it like to work at Pinewood?
It's
wonderful to visit the archives at Pinewood as you can feel the
history in the walls of the place. You can walk down Goldfinger
Avenue, where the Aston Martin sped around in the film, see where the
cab forecourt was in Carry on Cabby (where the cabs drove around in a
circle) and the Carry On hospital corridors, as well as seeing
gardens from Carry On Henry and the grand white building that
featured in Up The Khyber and as Dr Nookie's clinic in Carry On Again
Doctor. The archives themselves are in a heavily secured building
with climate controlled rooms to preserve the original film cans and
documents so it can be quite chilly, even in July!
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You recently created art work based on the classic comedy film School
for Scoundrels, even presenting the star of the film (Janette Scott)
with one of your prints. What was that like?
Elstree
Studios arranged a screening of School for Scoundrels at the actual
location where the original iconic tennis matches, between
Terry-Thomas and Ian Carmichael, were filmed. It used to be a private
members club but became a hotel which is now owned by Laura Ashley
Hotels. The screening was outdoors on the very spot where the tennis
court used to be, and after the screening there was a Q&A between
Janette Scott and Morris Bright. Morris is the chairman at Elstree
Studios and organised the whole event. He's been good friends with
Janette Scott for many years (as well as her mother Thora Hird who he
wrote a book about). It was wonderful to meet Janette, who was
absolutely adorable, and it was great to hear how the hotel was
exactly the same as she remembered it from 1959 when School for
Scoundrels was filmed.
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Why do you think the Carry Ons are still so popular after all these
years?
I
suppose there's obviously a nostalgia in remembering simpler times
but I think we all grow up with the Carry Ons and pleasantly discover
more about them as we age. When we're young children, we enjoy the
slapstick but as we get older we can appreciate the innuendo and
humour that would have gone straight over our heads as kids. Each new
viewing can reveal a fresh detail, even if it's having fun spotting
locations or continuity mistakes. Ultimately, I think the Carry Ons
endure because of the performances - sometimes the script wasn't THAT
funny, but Sid, Joan, Kenneth, Charles, Hattie, Babs, the whole gang
were such great performers they could make any line work. Looking
back it's a shame they weren't as well looked after as they could
have been by the production as it really was the great cast that made
the films the lasting successes they've become.
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As an artist, why do you think the original Carry On poster art was
so successful?
I
adore the first few posters of the Carry On films with the
Mid-Century graphic illustrations on Carry On Nurse, Teacher,
Cruising, etc but no-one knows who the illustrator was - if any of
your readers know, do let me know! There's no record apparently of
who was commissioned to illustrate the original posters which is a
shame. It was a pleasure to be able to work on them to then offer the
artwork in a choice of three sizes and 16 colours, so a Carry On fan
can have artwork of their favourite films in colours to suit their
home.
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Do you have any more projects in the pipeline? Can you tell me
anything about them?
There
are several collections on the way, either in the planning stages or
ready to launch once all the paperwork's in place. I can't say what's
coming just yet other than there are some new 1960s-inspired
collections on the way that I'm excited to share, featuring iconic
film, TV, and cultural influencers from the era.
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Who is your favourite Carry On star and why?
That
really is an impossible question to answer! It's the combination of
Sid, Joan, Hattie, Charles, Kenneths, Babs, Bernard, the whole cast,
that makes the films so successful. If I had to choose just one, I'd
have to say Joan Sims - she was wonderful at whatever age in every
Carry on film she was in, from the young nurse onwards.
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Finally, which is your favourite Carry On film in the series and
why?
Another
tricky question! I have to say Carry On Cleo - I loved the film as a
child and it still stands up to repeated viewing with great lines and
performances, plus who could resist the lavish Pinewood sets
originally intended for Liz Taylor!
Thanks again to Odysseas for taking the time to answer my questions! You can visit the Art & Hue website here
And a big thank you to Odysseas for letting me share these wonderful photos from Pinewood:
And you can also follow Art & Hue on Twitter
