The Star of … Carry On Nurse

I have decided to dedicate a new series of blogs to what I consider to be the very best performances in each of the thirty original Carry On films. As ever, it's a purely personal take on these films from yours truly and of course you are welcome to agree or disagree as you see fit! 

Since I started the blog in 2015 I have often championed the underdog or the under appreciated. The Carry On series employed hundreds of cracking comedy actors during their twenty year lifespan and while I've done my best to celebrate as many of them as possible, there is still much to do to preserve their legacy. Some of the actors featured in this new series will be household names and leading lights, others perhaps not so well known. Whoever they are, I hope you enjoy reading about my chosen few.

The first in this series saw me write about my love for Kenneth Connor's role as Horace Strong in Carry On Sergeant and today, moving forward to later in 1958, we focus on another Kenneth. Kenneth Williams, along with Connor and Joan SIms, was one of the true stalwarts of the Carry Ons and his memorable appearances spanned the entire original run of films. Kenneth was one of the core team members from the off and while some of his later turns in the series were wildly camp and full of obvious innuendo, Williams earlier roles, scripted by Norman Hudis, offered something a little bit different. Always recognisably Kenneth and always hilariously funny, but these early roles offered depth and a touch of pathos.

Carry On Nurse takes much from the success of Sergeant and follows a similar story pattern. Hudis, buoyed by his previous tale of national service recruits, plonked several familiar faces in not an army barracks but a hospital ward. There are much the same high jinks and low comedy but this time around the film gently targets the National Health Service and not the army. The film also benefits from a greater number of female characters bolstering the returning Hattie Jacques, playing her formidable Matron for the very first time. The addition of nurses in the shape of Shirley Eaton, Joan Sims, Susan Stephen and Ann Firbank and visitors such as Marianne Stone, Jill Ireland and June Whitfield takes the film in a refreshing new direction.

It's another case of the everyman against authority as the film pokes fun at some of the potentially ridiculous aspects of staying in hospital. In amongst a cast of actors which boasts Bill Owen, Charles Hawtrey, Terence Longdon, Leslie Phillips, Brian Oulton, Cyril Chamberlain and Kenneth Connor, Williams shines as the most interesting character and also possibly the funniest. As the bookish intellectual Oliver Reckitt, Kenneth is not quite the effete loner Hawtrey plays, but is definitely a stand alone character who looks down both on many of his fellow 'inmates' but also many of the bureaucratic medical men (and women). Upper class, fussy and sneering, Oliver takes pleasure in pushing back against regulation and regularly takes on Hattie's fearsome Matron. Seeing these two pros come face to face for the first time in a Carry On is an absolute joy to behold.

I love the interaction between the two Kenneths in Carry On Nurse. Connor is the working class, easygoing and down to earth boxing champ Bernie Bishop in the next bed. The two neighbours couldn't be any different in character. Bernie constantly misunderstands Oliver's highfaluting command of the English language and cannot understand why he's so stuck up, serious and removed from real life. In turn, Williams' Reckitt is curious about Bernie but clearly views his occupation as 'savage' and does not understand many aspects of his way of life. There is an earthy, if occasionally coy sexual awareness about Connor's character - happily married with a child and interested in the young nurses who tend to him. Oliver on the other hand is completely unaware of the various charms of Susan Stephen or Shirley Eaton. Which brings me to the most interesting part of the film where Kenneth's character is concerned.

Oliver is visited several times by Jill Ireland's character Jill. The sister of one of his friends, Jill takes an obvious interest in Oliver although it's all very coy and cosy 1950s romantics. Oliver meanwhile is totally oblivious and is merely interested with the books she has brought in for him. Connor's boxer in the next bed spots Jill and her clear fondness for Oliver which leaves the academic in a delightful fluster. What makes the scenes between Kenneth and Jill Ireland so charming is that in amongst the usual frothy Carry On comedy, their scenes are genuine and played for real. There is lovely chemistry between Kenneth and Jill and it's rather a unique experience to see Williams playing it straight (no pun intended) and developing an on screen romantic relationship. Compare these scenes with Hattie Jacques forcing her way into Kenneth's tent ten years on in Carry On Camping and it's light and shade. There is a place in the Carry On cannon for both but I have such an affection for these early scenes.

One of my favourite scenes from Nurse involves Kenneth taking on Hattie's Matron. During one of her rather tense, authoritative rounds of the ward with Joan Hickson's chastened Sister bowing and scraping behind her, Kenneth dares to question Matron's rule that male patients shouldn't lie on top of the bedclothes! Bruce Montgomery's music swells to a dramatic climax as these two legendary actors square off in the hushed ward! Williams wins through as he cuts Matron dead, returns his spectacles to his face and reclines on his made up bed to read one of his lofty tomes. It's a brilliant set piece which balances comedy, reaction shots, a cracking script and real proper acting! 

Kenneth also excels in the climatic scenes of Carry On Nurse. After downing a fair quantity of champagne with his fellow male patients, Kenneth boldly claims that he could easily operate of Leslie Phillips' troublesome bunion, therefore allowing him to go off for a naughty weekend with girlfriend Meg. With the help of a book of practical surgery, the tipsy Kenneth leads his band of men through the sleeping hospital to one of the gleaming operating theatres for rather a dramatic and beautifully lit scenes. As Leslie's Jack Bell (Ding Dong) sobers up and changes his mind, his mates use brute strength to hold him down as Surgeon Williams scrubs up and camps up! 

Kenneth is in full on toffee-nosed intellectual mode as he larges it over the rest of the men but unfortunately the laughing gas has been left on and slowly but surely the men all begin to feel the effects! Kenneth Connor's giggles are pretty infectious to the audience but it's the unmistakable campy cackle of Kenneth Williams which rules the scene as, nostrils flaring, he almost takes the turn into Hammer Horror. Scalpel in hand, he refuses to let go of Leslie's foot! It's one of the few times in the film that Kenneth loses grip of the subtle acting I so enjoy in the film. However given these moments are few and far between the instances of high camp and almost 'snide' character are refreshing, hilarious and an utter joy. Sadly as the films found their footing, Kenneth's 'snide' began to grow legs and take over. But for now, there's plenty to enjoy in his excellent performances.

Kenneth's character gets a happy ending as Nurse concludes. Discharged from hospital, Jill's character is there to meet him and the pair walk off, arm in arm. There aren't many other instances of this kind of thing in a Carry On, at least where Kenneth Williams is concerned. Yes, he joyously camped about down Brighton Pier with Patsy Rowlands, crushed Gail Grainger's itinerary in Carry On Abroad and dug up all kind of artefacts with Elke Sommer in Carry On Behind, but the screen partnership with Ireland is one of Kenneth's finest moments in a Carry On. So Kenneth Williams is my star performer in Carry On Nurse … stay tuned for my next blog in this series, looking at the star turn from Carry On Teacher.


You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram 

Happy Birthday Ann Firbank!

A very Happy Birthday to the actress Ann Firbank who celebrates her birthday today. Ann is probably best remembered to Carry On fans for her appearance as Staff Nurse Helen Lloyd in the second Carry On film, Carry On Nurse, in 1958. However Ann has enjoyed a long, diverse career across all mediums and is still very active in the profession today.

Born in India in 1933, Ann Firbank first started appearing on screen in the UK in 1956, mainly on the small screen in series such as Kenilworth, The Adventures of Robin Hood and the ITV Play of the Week. Ann's first film was Behind the Mask in 1958, playing Mrs Judson. Carry On Nurse quickly followed. Eschewing typecasting as a Carry On actor, Ann went on to appear in an incredible mix of productions over the next few decades.

On television there have been roles in Emergency Ward 10, from 1960 to 1963, playing Mary  Nesbitt, The Plane Makers in1964, as Pamela and in 1971 Ann played Anne Elliot in an adaptation of Persuasion. In complete contrast, Ann played Varda in Space 1999 in 1977 and the following year took on the role of Queen Alexandra in the serial, Lillie. More recently Ann has been seen in Kavanagh QC, Elizabeth I and New Tricks.

On film, Ann Firbank has played Sybil Martin Darling (1965), Miss Nolan in A Man Could Get Killed (1966) and Laura in Accident the following year. She had a small role in Sunday Bloody Sunday n 1972 and the following year played Anna in Asylum. In 1984 Ann played Mrs Callendar in the classic A Passage to India and more recently starred as Lady Bradley in Anna and the King.

Acting on stage for many years, Ann's most recent credits have included Billy Liar at the West Yorkshire Playhouse; The Golden Dragon at the Jagrit Theatre in India and The Crucible at the Old Vic in 2014.

Still active in the acting profession in 2018, you can catch Ann in the short film Molly and Me, as Aunt Cissie in The Little Stranger and in the first episode of the BBC's brand new adaptation of the epic Les Miserables, playing 'Old Lady'.

Whatever Ann is up to today, I hope she has a wonderful birthday. 



You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Five Reasons Why I Love … Carry On Nurse

2018 has seen us celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the Carry On films. A great deal of the focus has been both on the series as a whole and on the very first film in the series, Carry On Sergeant. Just as it should be as we wouldn't have the legacy of laughter we have today without that national service comedy. However the second film in the series also went into production that year. On 3 November, the fledgling team of wonderful comedy actors were back at Pinewood to begin work on Carry On Nurse.

Nurse saw the return of several key faces from Sergeant with Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques and Charles Hawtrey chiefly amongst them. It saw the same writer, Norman Hudis, produce the script and many of the same names behind the camera, including of course Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas. Nurse also featured a group of ordinary Brits stuck together in a communal environment and also tackled the subject of a national institution. From an army barracks and the army to a hospital ward and the NHS. You can see the pattern forming and the idea for a series of popular, low cost, quickly made comedies was off and running.

Carry On Nurse has always been a favourite of mine and features in My Top Ten Favourite Carry On films countdown for this very blog. So why do I love this film? Well, here are five reasons to get us started.

The film that confirmed a series was possible

Carry On Sergeant was produced as a stand alone feature, cheaply made and quickly turned out to cinema audiences. Sergeant was meant to be no different than the other films Peter and Gerald were making at around that time. However it caught the attention of the public and performed better than expected at the box office. While it was the first, Nurse was the film that brought together thoughts of both a team and a series which could run and run. Carry On Nurse confirmed Kenneths Connor and Williams, Hattie Jacques, Charles Hawtrey and Shirley Eaton as star turns and most importantly of all, topped the British box office when it was released in 1959. It made the Rogers and Thomas a tidy profit and even did well in the United States of America where in some places it played to packed houses for three years. It guaranteed a future for the Carry Ons.

Carry On Joan

She's always been my favourite. Joan Sims became a stalwart of the Carry Ons, making 24 films in total over a twenty year period. Joan was the most prolific actress in the series and only Kenneth Williams made more Carry Ons. Carry On Nurse saw Joan make her series debut as accident prone but well intentioned young nurse Stella Dawson. Joan is in excellent form and is eye catching throughout the film in a brilliantly funny supporting turn. Joan was making lots of films by the late 1950s and had already appeared several times for Peter's wife Betty Box in the Doctor films and beyond. She would have been a recognisable face to keen cinema goers but it was Nurse which saw Joan achieve true star power as one of the country's best known and best loved comedy actresses.

Hudis at his best

Talbot Rothwell has become known as the most prolific Carry On script writer and was responsible for many of the series' best loved films. However we must not overlook the talent and skill of Norman Hudis, writer of the first six films in the franchise. Norman wrote different stories to Rothwell - his films were less naughty perhaps and the innuendos a little less blue. Instead he told stories with depth, heart and feeling and while the situations were often very real and instantly identifiable for the working class audiences, humour and delightful sight gags were never far away. Norman's finest screenplay for the series was Nurse, in my humble opinion anyway. He brought to life many stories told to him by his wife Rita, who worked as a nurse in real life. This gave the film authenticity amongst the earthy humour and for me, Norman's ability to blend tender romance and genuine emotion with laugh out loud humour was his strongest skill of all.

A talented ensemble 

Nobody is the outright star of Carry On Nurse and this makes it a very equal film and a joy to watch. From Carry On Constable on, Sid James and Kenneth Williams were the top team's leading actors and this rarely changed over the next fifteen years or so. In the early days, and Nurse is a prime example, lots of beautifully funny comedy actors are given their fair share of screen time. A firm team was yet to be established with core team members appearing only being Kenneths Williams and Connor, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques and a debuting Joan Sims. This allows a host of other people their moment to shine. The cast features the likes of Joan Hickson, Irene Handl, June Whitfield, Marianne Stone, Bill Owen, Leslie Phillips, Ann Firbank, Jill Ireland, Rosalind Knight, Terence Longdon, Harry Locke, Cyril Chamberlain, Brian Oulton and Susan Shaw. Not to mention a great guest role for lauded actor Wilfrid Hyde White. What a cast!

It's Matron's first round, and mine's a pint!

Hattie Jacques was a Carry On original, appearing as Captain Clark in Sergeant, although it was a fairly small role. It was Nurse which turned Hattie into a Carry On icon and it was the first of several outings for her legendary character - the bombastic harridan of the wards, the dreaded Matron. In the hands of other actresses, Matron would have been purely a one dimensional character. And while it has been prone to cliche in the years since the series ended, each of Hattie's turns as Matron, in Nurse, Doctor, Camping, Again Doctor and Matron, blended the fearsome authoritarian character with a gentler more human side. There isn't much of this on show in Nurse although we are given a tantalising glimpse of the woman behind the starched apron and high standards in the closing moments as she discovers Wilfrid Hyde-White's Colonel and a certain daffodil. Her delicious little smile as anger turns to fun brought the film to a close in a memorable, cheeky fashion and created one of British film comedy's greatest ever characters, played by one of our finest comedy actresses.

So I hope that's convinced you to give Carry On Nurse another outing as we celebrate sixty glorious years since this film went into production at Pinewood Studios. 


You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Nurse v Girls: How Times Changed

This weekend Film4 and ITV3 are showing two very different Carry Ons. While 4 are putting on the second film in the series, Carry On Nurse, written by Norman Hudis, ITV3 are showing Talbot Rothwell's penultimate effort, Girls. The two films, although part of the same comedy series, couldn't be more different. Yes, there are fifteen years between them and times had clearly changed, but the Carry On series had almost altered beyond recognition.

The 1959 release Carry On Nurse was a relatively coy, black and white film mixing social comment and real life medical scenarios with gentle comedy put across by a cast of seasoned pros. There is even a spot of tender romance for Kenneth Williams and Jill Ireland and a few tear jerking scenes featuring the likes of Kenneth Connor as down to earth boxer Bernie Bishop. Hudis was a master of blending all manner of thematic threads together and presenting a film of surprising depth. 

Carry On Girls was very much of a contrast. Made in 1973, all vestiges of sentimentality or gentle comedy were lost. It was panto humour all the way and while that's still very funny, Girls lacked a great deal of the old fashioned charm. It's clear, in retrospect, that Rogers and Thomas had instructed Rothwell to join the trend of more near the knuckle humour which matched changes in box office demands from a more liberal British audience. It's still relatively tame by today's standards but there's been a noticeable shift in content and tone.

The two films do have some things in common. Both are proudly British - I can't imagine another country producing films like these! They also feature a certain degree of social commentary with Nurse looking at the goings on in the National Health Service and Girls examining the tradition of the beauty contest. Girls touches on the politics of these contests as well as the rise of feminism and even features an albeit very broad, basic portrayal of a lesbian character. Despite this Sid is still very much Sid and Barbara still very much Babs. The two films also feature several actors who appeared in both the 1959 and 1973 films and I think the true picture of how the series had changed can be seen by the characters they played.

Joan Sims
(Carry On Nurse - Nurse Stella Dawson / Carry On Girls - Connie Philpotts) 

Joan, a stalwart of 24 Carry Ons, made her debut in Nurse in 1959. Stella Dawson was a young, accident prone junior nurse and pretty much a picture of innocence. She was keen but slightly gobby and learning the tricks of the trade as she went along. The bottom rung of the ladder, she was still a cheerful character full of hope. By 1973, Joan was on full on middle-aged harridan mode as frustrated hotelier Connie Philpotts. Forever being given the runaround by Sid's Councillor Fiddler, she's quickly passed over in favour of nubile Hope Springs (Barbara Windsor). Connie was a one dimensional character and one of Joan's weakest in the series.

Kenneth Connor
(Carry On Nurse - Bernie Bishop / Carry On Girls - Mayor Frederick Bumble)

An original cast member, Connor was the main star of the early Norman Hudis era films. He usually played bumbling working class men with big hearts and big dreams. In Nurse he was the everyman of the piece, brought in with a broken hand after a boxing match and separated from his wife and child (Susan Shaw and Jeremy Connor). He views all around him with gentle humour and bonds with upper class, well-educated Kenneth Williams. By Girls in 1973, Connor's characters were frustrated little men of middle years and middle management. Girls is possibly the finest example of this - head of a crumbling local council and stuck in a dreary loveless marriage, it's a portrayal full of quiet desperation that life hasn't turned out as he'd hoped.

Joan Hickson
(Carry On Nurse - Sister / Carry On Girls - Mrs Dukes)

The Carry Ons were lucky to have Hickson in five eye catching supporting roles. A scene stealing actress who like many was above the material she was working with, Joan made her first appearance as the rather severe, yet fair Sister in Haven Hospital. Feared by the nurses beneath her, Sister in turn looked up to and was frightened of Hattie Jacques' bombastic, humourless Matron. Hickson's Sister did have a human side though when she encouraged Shirley Eaton's Nurse Denton to follow her heart with one of the male patients, recently discharged of course. Fast forward 15 years and Joan was back one final time to play a rather batty old dear staying in the hotel who ends up with her unmentionables flying from a flag pole…

June Whitfield
(Carry On Nurse - Meg / Carry On Girls - Augusta Prodworthy)

June was already a well-known voice by the time she made Carry On Nurse thanks to her radio work in Take It From Here. June's small role as Leslie Phillips' straight-laced girlfriend Meg was very 1950s post-war values. June really came into her own with her return to the Carry Ons in the early 1970s. And militant feminist Augusta Prodworthy was a pretty extreme version of her earlier character. And that sums up the change in the Carry Ons - all the characters were bigger, more extreme and more outlandish. 

So there you have it. A lot had changed during the making of the Carry Ons, that we know. Both in the country at large as well as in what film producers churned out and audiences demanded. Looking back nearly sixty years after Carry On Nurse and 45 years on from Carry On Girls, I know which I prefer. 

What about you?

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Two Classic Carry Ons on Television this weekend!

This weekend, once again there are two classic Carry On films being broadcast on the small screen. As always these days, Film4 seems to opt for the early black and white films from the Norman Hudis era while ITV3 plump for some of the later Rothwell efforts from the late 1960s and 1970s. 

Whatever you prefer, you can find out what's on and when below:

Saturday 29 September, 16.35, Film4 - Carry On Nurse (1959)

Following hot on the heals of the surprise film hit of 1958, Carry On Sergeant, Rogers and Thomas launched into the production of Carry On Nurse, a medical-themed sequel. The overwhelming success of Nurse, particularly in America, undoubtedly laid the groundwork for a series to take shape, so us fans must always be grateful to this film. Added to that, it's also a classic! Norman Hudis again pitches the everyman against authority and this time its the first outing for Hattie Jacques' severe Matron. The male patients in the hospital ward are brought to life by a collection of wonderful actors including Kenneths Williams and Connor, Charles Hawtrey, Terence Longdon, Bill Owen, Cyril Chamberlain and Leslie Phillips. The film licks along at a cracking pace and blends social comment with slapstick, brilliant set pieces and moments of real pathos. The large supporting cast includes a debuting Joan Sims, Joan Hickson, Irene Handl, June Whitfield and Michael Medwin. And of course there's that infamous daffodil...

Further reading - Carry On Blogging: Hattie Carries On As Matron 
Carry On Blogging Interview: Christine Ozanne

Sunday 30 September, 12.55, ITV3 - Carry On Girls (1973) 

So bad it's almost brilliant, this has beauty contest comedy has never been one of my favourites and is the first Carry On not to feature either Kenneth Williams or Charles Hawtrey. Sid James plays a rather dubious local councillor who attempts to cheer up his dreary seaside town with a controversial beauty contest. High spots for me are Kenneth Connor's deliciously pitiful little man Mayor and his gloriously awful, put upon wife played by the always good value Patsy Rowlands. Joan Hickson also puts in a gem of a supporting role as Mrs Dukes, despite limited screen time and I can't go any further without mentioning June Whitfield as the superbly named feminist Augusta Prodworthy! However Joan Sims is given a woefully underwritten role and turns up for a middle aged nag-a-thon while there is far too much Barbara Windsor and Jack Douglas for my liking.

Further reading: Carry On Blogging: Whatever Happened to the Carry On Girls?
Carry On Blogging: Barbara Carries On as Hope Springs
Carry On Blogging Interview: Robin Askwith Part 1 and Part 2

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Carry On Nurse! Celebrating 70 years of the NHS

It's been all over the news for a while and rightly so. Today marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the National Health Service. Normally you can't mention the NHS without the conversation turning achingly political but we're going to keep it nice and light on the blog as we commemorate this wonderful milestone.

I listened to a discussion on the radio not long ago about a special BFI season of films looking at how television and film has portrayed the NHS. Well for me, you need look no further than the Carry On films. The Carry Ons have become synonymous with the National Health Service and some of the most famous, best loved films in the series have been set in hospitals. Peter Rogers, lauded producer of the series, once said the hospital comedies were so popular as everyone knows what it's like to be in hospital and it really does help to have a jolly good laugh.

Even now, more than half a century after Hattie Jacques first donned the famous Matron uniform, most newspapers can't resist using an image of the actress alongside articles calling for the return of Matron's discipline. Such is the strength of the Carry On brand and the imagery of Hattie, Kenneth, Barbara and that daffodil. The Carry Ons went behind the scenes and provided a humorous, touching and affectionate take on the health service which was never cruel or mocking. Thankfully they didn't go down to the gory Casualty route and medical procedures were relatively few and far between, apart from Leslie Phillips' pesky bunion! 

It was writer Norman Hudis who first brought the idea of a medical comedy to the attentions of Peter Rogers. Norman was to produce a script as a follow up to his national service comedy Carry On Sergeant, so why not focus on yet another great British institution? The authentic feel to Carry On Nurse was provided by Norman's wife who was a nurse at the time. She provided some of the best set pieces and Norman gagged it all up gently. 

That first medical Carry On gave us some deliciously seductive nurses in Shirley Eaton, Ann Firbank and Susan Beaumont; Joan Sims as the accident prone junior nurse; fearsome authority in Hattie Jacques and Joan Hickson; a wide range of sneaky, awkward, down to earth patients in the likes of Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Cyril Chamberlain and Charles Hawtrey and some delightful hospital visitors in June Whitfield, Marianne Stone, Jill Ireland and Irene Handl. What a cast!

Almost ten years later Talbot Rothwell brought us a wonderful tribute to Norman's iconic Carry On when Carry On Doctor was released in 1967. A swinging sixties follow up to Nurse, all the familiar stereotypes are present and correct - Kenneth Williams' big headed surgeon, Hattie's bombastic Matron and Jim Dale's kindly, human and put upon doctor. Doctor also gave us Barbara Windsor's iconic Nurse Sandra May, wiggling her bottom and fancying a bit of Peter GIlmore's pear. The patients enjoying or enduring a stay in hospital eventually revolt against the hierarchy, headed by Bernard Bresslaw, Peter Butterworth, Sid James and the amazing guest star Frankie Howerd. It is Frankie's Francis Bigger who is subjected to the resurrection of the delicious Carry On Nurse sight gag involving that infamous daffodil. This time it's not Joan Sims and Wilfrid Hyde White, it's Frankie and the gorgeous nurse Valerie Van Ost. What confidence the series had to be so self-referential!

Two years later, we were Carrying On Again Doctor, which focussed less on the NHS, throwing in a trip to a tropical medical mission and a private weight loss clinic. Despite this, all the familiar characters are there - Jim Dale's handsome yet accident prone doctor (yes, that hospital trolley); Hattie Jacques' as a slightly more kindly Matron and Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey as rather conniving senior doctors. By now the Carry Ons were forever interlinked with the NHS, doctors and nurses. 

The final Carry On with a medical theme came along in 1971 when Talbot Rothwell scripted a tribute to Hattie's iconic character - Carry On Matron. Based around a Too Many Crooks attempt to rob vast quantities of the pill from Finisham Maternity Hospital, much of the action centres around the hospital misfits of Hattie, Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey (playing Dr F. A Goode!) Patients are few and far between this time apart from an ongoing side story of Joan Sims' never-ending pregnancy and never-satisfied appetites! Kenneth Connor is amazing as the put upon nervy father to be while the nursing staff are glamorously represented by Jacki Piper, Barbara Windsor again and Kenneth Cope in drag (it's a long story). And who can forget Terry Scott's rather grim, grotty Dr Prodd. An aptly named character if ever there was one.

Hospitals did feature in other Carry Ons, albeit to a lesser degree. In 1960 there was an extended sequence set in a hospital during Carry On Regardless. This involved Helping Hands boss Bert Handy (Sid James) being involved in a case of mistaken identity which caused much chaos in the wards. In a throwback to Nurse, Joan Hickson and Hattie Jacques were both present although this time Joan was the Matron and Hattie the Sister. June Jago is also there as a nurse, six years before she played Hattie's rather duplicitous Sister in Carry On Doctor. And in Carry On Loving ten years on from Regardless (indeed Loving was a modern tribute to the content and form of Regardless) we again return to the wards as Richard O'Callaghan's Bertie is knocked on the bonce by Bernard Bresslaw's Gripper Burke. When Jacki Piper goes hospital visiting Eric Rogers even resurrects his incidental music from Carry On Doctor. I just loved when the Carry Ons provided nods to the past.

The Carry Ons have become a part of British life. In many ways they presented a view of a Britain which never really existed. It was an inflated, stereotypical version of our beloved country, packed full of eccentrics. The series' treatment of the National Health Service was also far from reality - all jolly high jinks, sexy nurses and outlandish Matrons. True some of the stories stemmed from real events but us fans are happy with the Carry Ons staying clear of proper reality. I think we should be ever so proud of the Carry Ons' regular NHS tributes as that's what they were - affectionate, warm and full of appreciation. 

Happy 70th birthday to the NHS. 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Classic Comedy with Carry On Faces this weekend

Keep your eyes peeled for three classic British comedy films showing across different channels this coming weekend. I thought it was worth highlighting the scheduling of these films as they are not shown all that often, mores the pity!

What A Carve Up! - Movies4Men - Saturday 2nd June - 6am

This wonderful comedy horror from 1962 capitalised on the contemporary success of the Carry On series, boasting a brilliant cast including Sid James, Kenneth Connor, Shirley Eaton and Esma Cannon - all names well known for appearing front and centre in recent hits such as Carry On Nurse, Constable and Regardless. The film also features the likes of Michael Gough and Donald Pleasance. 

The relatives of Gabriel Broughton are summoned to Blackshore Towers, an old, isolated country house in the middle of moorlands in Yorkshire, to hear the reading of his will. Gabriel's nervous nephew Ernest brings along his flatmate Syd for support. At the large, gloomy mansion, they meet Guy Broughton, Ernest's cousin; Malcolm Broughton, a piano player who claims everyone is "quite mad"; Janet Broughton and Dr Edward Broughton, Guy's sister and father, respectively; Emily Broughton, a dotty old woman who believes the First World War is still on; and Linda Dixon, Gabriel's nurse. To their surprise, the solicitor Everett Sloane reveals that they have all inherited nothing, except for Linda, who is bequeathed Gabriel's medicines and syringe, much to her amusement.

The Big Job - Talking Pictures TV -  Saturday 2nd June - 8.15pm

 

In 1950 a gang of robbers led by the self-proclaimed George the 'Great' Brain rob a bank, stealing £50,000. However, due to a mix-up, they are pursued and caught by the police. He manages to stash away the money in the trunk of a hollow tree, before he is collared. The gang are then sentenced to serve fifteen years in Wormwood Scrubs prison.

Upon their release in 1965, the gang go back to the spot where they had left the money, only to find it is now a new town, and a housing estate has been built around the tree. To their chagrin they find that the tree is now in the grounds of the local police station, invitingly close to the wall. George and his gang take up rooms in a nearby house rented by a widow and her daughter. In order to provide a respectable front, George is forced to marry his longtime girlfriend Myrtle Robbins who is not so enamoured about the idea of recovering the loot, and wants George to settle down with her. 

The incompetent criminals fail in their numerous attempts to get over and under the wall, all the while trying to conceal their true activities from their landlady, her daughter and a local police constable who also stays there. Eventually when the men have botched an attempt to tunnel into the grounds, the frustrated women hatch their own plot to gain the money.

The Big Job is a Carry On in all but name. Produced by Peter Rogers and directed by Gerald Thomas, the cast is headed up by series favourites Sid James, Joan Sims and Jim Dale with excellent turns from Sylvia Syms, Dick Emery and Lance Percival. Watch out also for eye-catching support from Edina Ronay (who also appeared in Carry On Cowboy the same year) and Please Sir and Sykes favourite Deryck Guyler. 

Carry On Nurse - Film4 - Sunday 3rd June - 5.10pm

Following hot on the heals of the surprise film hit of 1958, Carry On Sergeant, Rogers and Thomas launched into the production of Carry On Nurse, a medical-themed sequel. The overwhelming success of Nurse, particularly in America, undoubtedly laid the groundwork for a series to take shape, so us fans must always be grateful to this film. Added to that, it's also a classic! Norman Hudis again pitches the everyman against authority and this time its the first outing for Hattie Jacques' severe Matron. The male patients in the hospital ward are brought to life by a collection of wonderful actors including Kenneths Williams and Connor, Charles Hawtrey, Terence Longdon, Bill Owen, Cyril Chamberlain and Leslie Phillips. The film licks along at a cracking pace and blends social comment with slapstick, brilliant set pieces and moments of real pathos. The large supporting cast includes a debuting Joan Sims, Joan Hickson, Irene Handl, June Whitfield and Michael Medwin. And of course there's that infamous daffodil...

If you get the chance, do tune in for these brilliant films! 


You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

My Top 20 Favourite Carry On Actors: Number 17 - Joan Hickson

This is part of a brand new series of blogs where I will take a purely personal look at my favourite Carry On actors. I will be doing a countdown of my top twenty actors and actresses in this, the sixtieth anniversary year of Carry On. So why top twenty? Well top ten didn't allow me to include all my favourites and any more than twenty and I'd be at it forever, as it were.

This top twenty will be a mix of regular top team actors and many of those instantly recognisable supporting actors who popped in and out of the series, adding superb cameos here and there. You will probably agree with some of my main choices and be vehemently opposed to others, but it's meant to encourage debate! 

So here we go with Number Seventeen: that instantly recognisable character actress who rose to fame relatively late in life - Joan Hickson.

 

Many years before Joan Hickson rose to lasting prominence as the definitive Miss Marple in those wonderful BBC adaptations of Agatha Christie's novels, she was a reliable character actress appearing in countless films and television. Joan regularly appeared in British films in an endless array of supporting roles from the 1930s onwards and as in demand as she always was, she still made time to appear in five Carry On films over a fifteen year period.

Joan remains one of my favourite Carry On actors because she was just such a joy to watch. No matter what the size of her role in the film, she always added a touch of class. Her first appearance in the Carry Ons was her largest supporting role, playing the brisk, authoritative Sister with a heart of gold in the classic Carry On Nurse in 1958. She returned for smaller roles in two more black and white Carry On epics - as the very merry Mrs May in Constable and then the role of Matron in the hospital sequence in Carry On Regardless.

Nearly a decade later Joan returned to Pinewood to play the cameo role of Mrs Grubb in the hilarious afternoon tea scene in Carry On Loving. The beautifully played, farcical comedy of errors scene features the first meeting of Terry Scott and Imogen Hassall and Joan is just superb as the Grubb matriarch. To be honest, her role in that sequence pretty much guarantees her a spot in my top 20 alone! Joan's final Carry On supporting role was as the hilarious, eccentric hotel resident Mrs Dukes in Carry On Girls in 1973. Despite this role being written for Renee Houston (who was too ill to play it) Joan makes the part her own, as only she could!

 

The Carry On films became well known for the quality of the actors they employed and surely Joan Hickson is near the top of the tree in this regard. One of our most accomplished actresses, her performances are timeless.

So Joan Hickson comes in at Number 17 in my top twenty list of favourite actors. Who'll be next?

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan on Facebook and on Instagram

My Top 20 Carry On Actors: Number 18 - Marianne Stone

This is part of a brand new series of blogs where I will take a purely personal look at my favourite Carry On actors. I will be doing a countdown of my top twenty actors and actresses in this, the sixtieth anniversary year of Carry On. So why top twenty? Well top ten didn't allow me to include all my favourites and any more than twenty and I'd be at it forever, as it were.

This top twenty will be a mix of regular top team actors and many of those instantly recognisable supporting actors who popped in and out of the series, adding superb cameos here and there. You will probably agree with some of my main choices and be vehemently opposed to others, but it's meant to encourage debate! 

So here we go with Number Eighteen: that instantly recognisable character actress who probably appeared in more films than anyone else - Marianne Stone.

Marianne Stone is one of the most fondly remembered Carry On supporting actresses. Stone appeared in countless films during a forty year career, many of the parts small cameos. In the Carry Ons though, Marianne found her niche. A close friend of producer Peter Rogers, Marianne popped up on screen in a total of nine Carry Ons (the same number as Barbara Windsor), overdubbed Lucy Griffiths in Carry On Constable and filmed a scene for Carry On Matron which was eventually cut from the final film. So quite an impressive, important Carry On contribution.

Marianne's appearances also almost spanned the entire run of the series, from her first role as Alice Able in Carry On Nurse in 1959 through to Mrs Rowan in 1975's Carry On Behind. Stone's most sizeable role was probably that of Maud, Joan SIms' colleague and mate in the 1971 toilet factory comedy At Your Convenience. My own favourite of all her roles was as the old crone Maggie, stealing scenes from Jack Douglas and Kenneth Williams in Carry On Dick.

Marianne Stone, much like Peter Gilmore who I've already featured in the series, took on any role Peter Rogers Productions threw at her at went for it. From the gobby landlady in Don't Lose Your Head and the exasperated Cockney mother in Carry On Doctor through to Maggie in Dick, Marianne was a highly skilled, trained actor who showed what she was made of when given the chance. 

Marianne Stone finds a place on this of of my favourite Carry On actors because she was a loyal Carry On player, who worked ever so well with all the regular team members. Her parts may have mostly been small, but you always felt happy to see her in one of the Carry Ons and well, they just don't make them like that any more.

So Marianne Stone comes in at Number 18 in my top twenty list of favourite actors. Who'll be next?

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Carry On Originals: Shirley Eaton

This is part of a new series of blogs looking back at the stars of the original Carry On film, Carry On Sergeant. 2018 marks 60 years since Sergeant was made and released so what better time to turn the focus on all those brilliant actors who brought our favourite series of comedy films to life?

We're continuing with an actress who became to the Carry Ons' first leading lady: Shirley Eaton

Role in Carry On Sergeant: Mary Sage

Other Carry On roles: Shirley returned for a starring role as Nurse Dorothy Denton in the following film, Carry On Nurse, also filmed in 1958. At the end of 1959 she returned one last time for a cameo role in Carry On Constable as Sally Barry.

Other notable film performances: Shirley also starred in two Doctor films: as Milly Groaker in Doctor in the House (1954) and as Nan in Doctor at Large (1957). Eaton also played Shirley Hornett in Sailor Beware! (1956); Melissa Right in The Naked Truth (1957); Jill Venner in Dentist On The Job (1961) and Linda Dickson in What A Carve Up! (1961).

Best remembered for: Without a doubt, Shirley is best remembered for her supporting role as Jill Masterson in the classic 1964 James Bond film, Goldfinger, which saw her character suffer a memorable demise, painted gold.

Did you know?: Shirley married Colin Rowe in 1957 and had two sons. She retired from acting in 1969 in her early thirties to concentrate on family life. 

What happened to her?: Spending a lot of her later life in France, Shirley returned to the UK following the death of her husband in 1994. Although not returning to the acting profession, Shirley continues to appear in documentaries and at fan conventions.


You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan on Facebook and on Instagram