Butterworth Carries On … As Slobotham!

A couple of years back I started a regular series of blogs which profiled each of Joan Sims' fabulous 24 Carry On roles. I enjoyed giving each performance a turn in the spotlight so once I completed the mammoth task of writing about everything from Nurse Stella Dawson to Mrs Dangle, I went on to blog about all of Hattie Jacques' roles in the series and then those portrayed by Dame Barbara Windsor.

More recently I have carried out the same task for two of Carry Ons' unsung heroes - Kenneth Connor and Bernard Bresslaw. Now I will turn my attentions to all sixteen of Peter Butterworth's delightful supporting turns in the Carry On series. Peter, along with Sid James and Joan Sims, has long been one of my very favourite comedy actors and favourite members of the Carry On troupe. Sadly, Peter has received scant attention from the wider press, with only diehard fans really giving his acting talent the praise it so rightly deserves.

Peter joined the Carry On team in 1965 for Carry On Cowboy and remained a loyal servant to the series pretty much right through until the end of the original series in 1978. He was also a frequent contributor to many of the team's small screen outings and appeared alongside Sid James, Barbara Windsor and several others in the Carry On London stage farce in the early 1970s. He never put a foot wrong and was the master scene stealer. 2019 marks not only one hundred years since Peter's birth but also, sadly, forty years since he passed away. It therefore seems fitting to devote some blogging time to his wonderful performances.

After my first blog in the series last week on Peter's debut in Carry On Cowboy, today we're moving on to the film which started production at Pinewood the following January, over fifty years ago. Carry On Screaming has gone down in British cinema history as not just one of the finest Carry Ons ever made but one of the best horror comedies ever produced in the UK. A pastiche of the wildly popular Hammer Horror films, then at their peak, Screaming sends up these scary classics as only the team could. The production values are superb, from costumes to set dressing and even the appearance of a couple of classic motorcars. The script is one of Rothwell's finest and the performances from the team are second to none. Throw in a couple of excellent guest actors in Harry H Corbett and the superb late lamented Fenella Fielding and you surely have one of the best Carry Ons ever made.

Screaming tells the story of a mysterious and creepy brother and sister who send their towering monster Oddbod into the local woods to kidnap young ladies who are then vitrified into tailor shop dummies! One such unfortunate is Doris Mann, out courting with Albert Potter. When Potter takes the disappearance of his girlfriend to the local police, police detectives Bung and Slobotham decide to investigate. As always the plot takes second place to the comedy situations and performances and Screaming doesn't disappoint. With Corbett, Fielding and Williams grabbing most of the screen time and Jim Dale once again int he role of romantic hero, Screaming also excels with its supporting cast of typical rogues gallery favourites. Joan Sims is on fine form as Corbett's nagging wife Emily while Bernard Bresslaw and a certain Peter Butterworth both return for their second outings with the gang. With the action focussed so much on the aforementioned stars, the likes of Charles Hawtrey and Angela Douglas have smaller parts than usual but as ever the more familiar faces involved the better.

So what about Peter's performance as Slobotham? Quite frankly I think it's one of Peter's greatest Carry On appearances. Still hovering down the cast list with the focus on Dale, Williams and Fielding, Peter still manages to grab more screen time than some of his other Carry On roles and he never misses an opportunity to make the most of it. First of all, I think Peter and Harry H Corbett are a revelation together. Given that the role was pretty much written for Sid James, who in the end couldn't join the film, Harry plays the part of Sidney Bung to perfection and the double act with Peter is a complete and utter joy. Much comedy fumbling and idiocy ensues as the ineffective policemen fail to spot obvious clues. Despite this and of course because we have great affection for these actors and their characters, the audience still roots for them right to the very end.

As with many of his other roles, Peter is the everyman character in Screaming. He's often in the background and is constantly reacting to events and the performances of other actors. And this is where Butterworth excels as a visual comedy performer. That face! I mean really. It's a face created for this kind of comedy. I'm sure there were plenty of ad-libs from Peter in this film, despite so many stories that Gerald Thomas didn't allow them. With an actor like Peter, he just couldn't help himself. He was firing on all cylinders in this film and clearly having a ball. The sheer skill of the man is proved time and time again as no matter who is on screen with him and no matter what they are doing, you end up watching Peter's classic reactions, be they very physical business with the old car in the woods or just the merest flicker of an eye. He never misses a trick and that's why he's worth his weight in comedy gold.

The scene where Harry and Peter deliberate over clues with the blackboard and chalk in the police station is pure nursery humour. In the hands of others it would fall completely flat, but with Butterworth in particular on board, it's hilarious and a classic Carry On moment. I also love his reaction when he, together with Harry and JIm turn up at the Watt mansion for the first time and are greeted by the menacing sight of Bernard Bresslaw's butler. He doesn't need to do very much to achieve instant laughter from the audience, and in saying that he's competing with two outstanding comedy performers in the form of Harry H Corbett and Jim Dale. This scene leads into the wonderful exchange with Kenneth Williams' twitching Orlando with some excellent fast, revue-like word play as Bung and Slobotham look for evidence. Expertly played by a collection of handpicked, hugely experienced performers. Actors like Peter really do make it look so effortless and easy and therein lies the skill of the man.

I think the climax of Peter's role in Carry On Screaming is his wonderful drag sequence as he and Sergeant Bung attempt to catch the mysterious monster in the woods. With Peter's Slobotham dolled up like "a bag of nutty slack"! the pair make their way to woods to pretend to be a courting couple. With Jim Dale also in situ on the hunt of the creature and Joan Sims' suspicious wife also on their trail, what could possibly go wrong?! Unlike some actors, Peter clearly revels in being done up in drag, possibly reminiscent of so many of his great roles in pantomime. Butterworth makes the perfect drag act for a Carry On as he's so obviously a man it just makes it completely hilarious, much like Bernard Bresslaw in Carry On Girls. When Slobotham is kidnapped and taken back for vitrification the whole story comes to a climax as Bung and Potter come to his rescue. As the trio fend off the gruesome monsters, Peter once again indulges in some inspired horseplay, still in his corsets and unconvincing wig! 

Of course all ends well as it must do in Carry On land. Kenneth Williams' evil Dr Watt is himself vitrified, Jim Dale's handsome hero is reunited with his girlfriend, 'that man Doris' and Harry's Sidney Bung gets his wife back, although perhaps she's just not the woman she once was. And Fenella's Valeria takes on a new role as Bung's sexy housekeeper! Who knows what happened to Peter's Slobotham as he isn't present in the final scene which is a shame. 

Despite that, Peter's role in Carry On Screaming remains a triumph and no doubt solidified his position as the go-to man for priceless supporting turns. He fitted in so well with the established Carry On team and very quickly became such a fan favourite. Peter would be back in another significant supporting role in the very next film in the series, as the unforgettable Citizen Bidet opposite Kenneth Williams' Camembert in Don't Lose Your Head. My blog on that role and that film coming up next! 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Watch: Harry H Corbett on Steptoe

I've been trawling through the wonderful archive clips on the BBC South Today website recently. I've blogged lovely old clips of such stars as Terry Scott, Kenneth Williams and Sid James and today we're going back to 1974 to hear from the wonderful actor, Harry H Corbett.

To a generation he was Harold Steptoe in the brilliant BBC comedy series Steptoe and Son. And of course to Carry On fans, he was Sergeant Sidney Bung in one of the best in the series, Carry On Screaming in 1966. The clip comes from way back in 1974 when a reporter spoke to Harry in his dressing room about how he came to play Harold Steptoe, why he loved the role and also, what led him to play in panto.

As always, it's fascinating to see one of our best loved comedy actors being themselves, out of character. In those far off days, actors weren't interviewed as often, there was less telly and no social media. So it's quite rare to see clips like this. Also included are some modern day comments from Harry's daughter, the actress Susannah Corbett, who talks fondly of her father. It's definitely worth a watch.

And you can watch the clip here

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My Top Ten Carry On Films

A reader emailed recently to say they have found one of my blogs on my Top Ten favourite Carry On films. Although they enjoyed the post they couldn't easily find the other nine blogs in the series. Unfortunately blogger doesn't make it that easy to search for things like this, although there is a search function in the top left hand corner of the blog main page.

To make it a bit easier I've brought all ten blogs together in one so you can check out my choices or just read them again. It's also made me look at my earlier choices and perhaps reconsider some of them.

So in reverse order:

At Number 10: Carry On Behind

At Number 9: Carry On Nurse

At Number 8: Carry On Doctor

At Number 7: Don't Lose Your Head

At Number 6: Carry On Cleo

At Number 5: Carry On At Your Convenience

At Number 4: Carry On Abroad

At Number 3: Carry On Up The Khyber

At Number 2: Carry On Screaming!

And finally, at Number 1: Carry On Cabby

So there you have it. Do you agree with my choices? Do you disagree? Are you scratching your head and wondering why Carry On England is nowhere to be seen? It's three years since I compiled this list so even I question it all! 

Anyway, there you have it! For now...

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Fenella Fielding stars in new TV Series

I spotted this little snippet of news quite by accident the other day. It looks as if acting legend Fenella Fielding has recently been filming for a brand new television comedy series. Entitled  Conditions, the interweb confirms Fenella will be credited in several episodes of the series playing the role of Mother.

Created by Chas Burns, Conditions tells the story of a group of people who escape from a remote residential home. The series is billed as a comedy drama thriller which is quite a mix! 

Aside from that, I know very little about this intriguing new production. Apparently filming will be completed this year for a release in 2019 although I'm not sure which channel it will air on. No matter, any production featuring the gorgeous Fenella is surely worth a watch? 

It's been a big twelve months for the Carry On Screaming legend. Not only has she rather unbelievably celebrated her 90th birthday, Fenella has also released her incredible autobiography Do You Mind if I Smoke? both in hard copy and as an audio book. And Fenella continues to perform excerpts as only she could in her celebrated live shows. More information on all of that can be found on Fenella's official website here

And any further updates on this new television series will of course by reported here on the blog.

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram 

Bernie Carries On … As Sockett!

Over the past year I have written a series of blogs covering each of the roles of some of our favourite Carry On stars. I began my looking back at each film role played by the three leading ladies in the series - Joan Sims, Hattie Jacques and Barbara Windsor - and most recently I've written about all of Kenneth Connor's Carry On performances in the run up to the great man's centenary. 

Today I am beginning a new strand of this series by turning the spotlight on that gentle giant of British comedy, the late Bernard Bresslaw. Probably one of the most under-rated actors in the main team, Bernard was a part of the series for ten years and fourteen films, tackling a superb range of crumbling villains and delightfully dimwitted foils to the likes of Sid James and Kenneth Cope. Bernard enjoyed a long career away from the Carry Ons and spent much of his later life wowing audiences in legitimate theatre. However he will forever to remembered for his clutch of hilarious Carry On supporting turns. 

Bernard joined the Carry On team in the mid 1960s and along with Peter Butterworth was the last main team member to join the gang. Along with Butterworth, Bernard played a series of smaller, supporting roles to begin with before graduating to major roles towards the end of the decade. Bernard fitted in effortlessly with the rest of the team and he's the kind of actor who is working hard but making it look oh so easy. A quiet, erudite, thoughtful family man away from the film studios, I often think Bresslaw has never received the credit he's due as like Connor and Butterworth, he didn't ever seek the limelight or splash his life over the front pages.

So today, we'll continue this new series looking at Bernard's role as Sockett in his second Carry On, the classic iconic Carry On Screaming! in 1966.

Carry On Screaming marked a new high for the series when it was released way back in 1966. Spoofing the similarly low budget Hammer Horror films, Screaming takes a deliciously tongue in cheek look at schlocky horror movies. The film centres on the disappearance of various young women, kidnapped by a bizarre monster developed by the dastardly double act of Kenneth Williams and Fenella Fielding. The pair are vitrifying the young ladies and turning them into mannequins for the local dress shop. It could only happen in a Carry On.

Screaming provides Harry H Corbett with his only role in a Carry On film, in the starring role of Sidney Bung (taking the place of the absent Sid James). The film also stars a clutch of on form regular players, from Peter Butterworth and Charles Hawtrey to Joan Sims and a certain Mr Bernard Bresslaw. Fresh from his debut in Cowboy the year before, Bernard was back at Pinewood less than six months later for another supporting role as Sockett the butler Screaming. Although very much seen as part of the main team these days, it's worth noting that Bernard, along with Butterworth is not billed in a starring role…yet.

As with Fenella Fielding, Bernard is very much cast in an Addams Family role in this film. His incredible height is used to maximum effect on his first appearance. As butler to Kenneth's Dr Watt and his sister Valeria (Fielding) Bresslaw gets an amazing entrance. As Corbett, Butterworth and Jim Dale call on the Watt siblings following the disappearance of Doris Mann (Angela Douglas) huge, plodding, sinister footsteps lead to a shot of the towering presence of Sockett. The character may be monosyllabic but it still manages to be both a memorable and hilarious performance.

Although seemingly "from the dead" Sockett quickly shows his human side when greeted by his mistress, Valeria. In a hilarious scene, Valeria and Sockett embrace which results in Sockett's slippers stiffening at the toes! Given the heavy, laboured footsteps the character takes, it's doubly funny to realise he's got slippers on to contrast all that black butler's garb. Bernard appears again as the driver of the Watts' car and also their horse drawn cart and each time he brings with him a deliciously unmoving, dead eyed performance which suits the film perfectly.

As with Cowboy, sadly Bernard isn't given that much more to do than supporting the main players and in Screaming, it's Fenella, Harry H and Kenneth Williams who rightly dominate. I think it's fair to say that while Screaming is undoubtedly one of the very best Carry Ons ever made, even a favourite with many who aren't overly enamoured with the rest of the series' output, it doesn't provide Bernard with his finest Carry On material. Fortunately, the next film in the series gave Bresslaw a lot more to play with.

So that's my take on Bernard's role in Carry On Screaming. Coming up next, Bernard's part as Abdul in Follow That Camel! 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Fenella Fielding returns for more Memoir Shows in 2018!

Fenella Fielding will reading from her fabulous memoirs in several more live shows all in the diary across the rest of the year. Having attended a couple of the shows earlier this year, I can tell you her performances are amazing.

Fenella Fielding is best known for her 1960s film appearances in classic comedies including ‘Carry On Screaming’, ‘Doctor in Clover’ and ‘Carry On Regardless’. She was the voice of the Blue Queen in ‘Dougal and the Blue Cat’ and the telephone operator and loudspeaker voice in ‘The Prisoner’. Her illustrious career in theatre includes the title roles in ‘Hedda Gabler’ and ‘Colette’. She’s fondly remembered for a number of appearances on the ‘Morecambe & Wise Show’ as well as playing The Vixen in ‘Uncle Jack’. 

They are very personal stories about innocence, early struggles, professional jealousies and intriguingly a chapter about London tarts and gangsters. The stories are witty, warm and beautifully observed scenes from an extraordinary life – expressing great warmth for the characters encountered… and all told in that unmistakable, ever alluring Fenella Fielding voice.

The performances will conclude with short Q&As with Fenella hosted by Simon McKay, co-author of the book and a personal friend of Fenella. 

Fenella will be performing on the following dates and venues:

Crazy Coqs, Piccadilly, London:

Saturday 2nd June, 2pm
Tuesday 10th July, 7pm
Tuesday 11th September, 7pm

Darlington Forum Music Centre:

Thursday 28th June, 7pm

Fenella will also be performing "Just a Little Murder" with Stephen Greif at The Tabard, Chiswick on Sunday 8th July at 3pm.

You can buy tickets for any of the shows and also purchase a signed copy of Fenella's memoirs via her website 

And you can read more about the publication of Fenella's book here

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram
 

My Top 20 Favourite Carry On Actors: Number 12 - Fenella Fielding

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 Twelve: a superb, versatile actress who played an iconic Carry On role nobody else ever could have taken on - Fenella Fielding.

Fenella only appeared in two Carry Ons but such is her talent and her stature as a performer, she will forever be linked with the series. Following a cameo as the delightfully named Penny Panting (no, that's the way I always breath) in Carry On Regardless opposite Kenneth Connor in late 1960, it would be the big film of 1966 which ensured her lasting Carry On fame.

Fenella Fielding quite simply owns Carry On Screaming and it has justly become her most famous role in a long and incredibly diverse acting career. While some might berate the film for dominating a career and limiting opportunities elsewhere, thankfully Miss Fielding is always delightfully affectionate about and revels in the attention it still provides for her fifty years on. Screaming is quite simply one of the very best Carry Ons ever made. 

In a cast bursting with classic comedy performances, including the likes of guest star Harry H Corbett as well as series regulars Kenneth Williams, Jim Dale, Joan Sims, Peter Butterworth, Bernard Bresslaw and a knock out cameo from Charles Hawtrey, Fenella shines through as the star. In a tight-fitting red velvet dress, with deathly white make up and her long dark hair, the voluptuous Fielding provides a smokily seductive performance. She is a joy opposite her old revue colleague Kenneth Williams as a pair of bickering siblings and enjoys romantic interludes with Corbett, Dale and Bernard Bresslaw. She's a busy girl!

I think her finest hour on film comes with her initial seduction of Harry H Corbett's Sergeant Bung. The scene is ripe with innuendo and encrusted with double meanings. Bung's attempt to get straight answers from the lady of the house fall on deaf ears as she bewitches and bewilders him. Of course the scene culminates in one of the most notoriously glorious Carry On denouements as Fenella reclines in her velvet dress on the sofa and asks Corbett "Do you mind if I smoke?" This is accompanied by several smoke machines hidden from view, belching out theatrical smoke effect, to delicious effect! Fenella's reaction shots are so amazing it's hard to find the words for them! As the smoke fills the screen and the music rises, Fenella Fielding's position as one of the most memorable queens of classic British cinema is assured. It's the height of comedy horror production and for me, it's never been bettered. 

So Fenella Fielding comes in at Number 12 in my top twenty list of favourite actors. Who'll be next? 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram 

Whatever Happened to ... Tom Clegg?

 

Now this is a bit of a puzzle, right from the off. The actor Tom Clegg is best known for his unrecognisable transformation into Oddbod in the classic Carry on Screaming. However when researching Tom online there seems to be some confusion over his origins. 

For a start, there is of course the television director Tom Clegg but we can rule him out immediately. The Lancashire born director of the likes of the The Sweeney and Sharpe was never an actor. He sadly passed away back in 2016. There is a difference of opinion over the actor Tom Clegg's age and his place of birth. Wikipedia lists Tom as being born in Hackney, East London, in 1915. According to this site he sadly passed away back in 1996. The Internet Movie Database however gives Tom's date of birth as 1927 and claims he was born in Leeds, Yorkshire. It also doesn't list a date of death, so it's possible Tom is still with us at the age of 90/91. I have no idea if either of these sources is accurate but if you know more, do drop me a line.

 

Tom Clegg appeared in six Carry On films during the series' heyday in the 1960s. His first role was as the rather imposing boxer Massive Mickey in the boxing match segment of Carry On Regardless in 1961. Appearing in that very funny scene with Sid James, Bill Owen and Charles Hawtrey, Hawtrey's character Gabriel Dimple certainly gives his opponent the run around! Clegg was back three years later for another hard man role in Carry On Spying. His instantly recognisable features can be seen through the door of the curiously named Hakim's Fun House Kenneth Williams and the other agents are led to by Eric Pohlmann's The Fat Man. Go in Peace!

That same year Tom also appeared as Cleopatra's manservant Sosages (or Bangers as Sid James calls him!) in Carry On Cleo. Clegg has a memorable fight sequence with Kenneth Connor's Hengist Pod in Cleo's bath of semi-skimmed! The following year, 1965, saw Tom back at Pinewood for the small role of a blacksmith in Carry On Cowboy. It was his next role in the series that would guarantee his place in the Carry On story. Although not actually seen, behind all the makeup and special effects, it is Tom Clegg who portrays the role of the monster, Oddbod in Carry On Screaming! Not a bad claim to fame!

 

Tom returned one more time to the Carry Ons at the beginning of the new decade when he joined the mammoth cast of names in 1970's dating agency comedy, Carry On Loving. Playing the very brief role of Gripper Burke's boxing trainer, this is almost a homage to his appearance in the sequence in Regardless ten years earlier. Loving itself was in many ways Rothwell's tribute to Norman Hudis' episodic Helping Hands comedy classic. Sadly that was it for Tom Clegg in the Carry Ons, and indeed his role in Loving was his last acting performance. So what else did he get up to during his career?

The young Tom Clegg started out in life as a member of the Household Cavalry, before becoming a professional boxer - you can see why Peter Rogers cast him in that role in two of the Carry Ons! Tom apparently first broke into the world of film when he got some work as a stuntman in the 1952 film, Ivanhoe, starring Robert Taylor. By the mid 1950s Tom was starting to appear in small acting roles too. Some of the films he appeared in during those early days include Moby Dick and The Hideout (both 1956); Saint Joan (1957); This Sporting Life (1963) and the James Bond epic Thunderball in 1965.

 

Branching out in the blossoming world of television in the late 1950s and 1960s, Tom played a range of tough guys and menacing baddies in a wide range of well known series. Drama series he popped up in included the likes of Quatermass II, The Saint, Sword of Freedom, Dixon of Dock Green and The Sweeney. He also found a niche in comedy roles on the small screen, appearing in four separate episodes of the classic comedy series Hancock's Half Hour. He went on to appear in The Benny Hill Show and Till Death Us Do Part. 

With his very final role that cameo in Carry On Loving in 1970, I have no idea what happened to Tom Clegg after that date. He seems to have left the acting profession and doesn't even seem to have done any further stunt work on films or in television. If anyone has any more information on Tom's life and work, please do get in touch as otherwise the trail runs cold here. 


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Fenella Fielding returns for more Memoir Shows in 2018!

Fenella Fielding will be back at the Phoenix Artist Club in Central London for four more wonderful shows next year. Fenella will be reading more extracts from her delightful memoirs and having attended a couple of the shows earlier this year, I can tell you her performances are amazing.

Fenella Fielding is best known for her 1960s film appearances in classic comedies including ‘Carry On Screaming’, ‘Doctor in Clover’ and ‘Carry On Regardless’. She was the voice of the Blue Queen in ‘Dougal and the Blue Cat’ and the telephone operator and loudspeaker voice in ‘The Prisoner’. Her illustrious career in theatre includes the title roles in ‘Hedda Gabler’ and ‘Colette’. She’s fondly remembered for a number of appearances on the ‘Morecambe & Wise Show’ as well as playing The Vixen in ‘Uncle Jack’. Her most recent TV appearance was ‘Skins’ in 2012.

Fenella will be reading excerpts from her recently released audio book and hardback of memoirs ‘Do You Mind If I Smoke?’ They are very personal stories about innocence, early struggles, professional jealousies and intriguingly a chapter about London tarts and gangsters. The stories are witty, warm and beautifully observed scenes from an extraordinary life – expressing great warmth for the characters encountered… and all told in that unmistakable, ever alluring Fenella Fielding voice.

The afternoon will conclude with a short Q&A with Fenella hosted by Misty Moon guest MC Simon McKay, co-author of the book and a personal friend of Fenella. Afterwards, there’s a chance to meet Fenella and get a signed copy of the book.

Fenella will be performing at the Phoenix on Saturday 10th, 17th and 24th February and Saturday 3rd March. All shows start at 2.30pm and you can buy tickets here

You can also purchase a signed copy of Fenella's memoirs via her website 

And you can read more about the publication of Fenella's book here

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

Fabulous Fenella

 

I couldn't let Fenella Fielding's 90th birthday go by without writing a special Carry On Blogging post about the great lady. I just don't know where to start. For me, Fenella is one of the last survivors of the golden age of British cinema and entertainment. She has an effortless sense of style, bucket loads of charisma and is quite simply a true one off. 

While many actors would come to resent being known for one particular role, Fenella is always open and very affectionate when she remembers the filming of Carry On Screaming. Over fifty years on, it's still her best remembered work and I should think what she is most often asked about. Given that Fenella's career has taken in film, television, all kinds of theatre and radio, you may be surprised she is still so happy to talk about those six weeks filming at Pinewood with Kenneth, Joan and Bernard. Yet she is and this is to her eternal credit. Valeria in Carry On Screaming was and is an iconic role and her performance is one of the very best in the entire series of films.

 

Fenella's career has been and continues to be extraordinary. She has dabbled in most areas of the business, worked with the very best and mixed in some legendary circles. The fact she remains grounded, sweet and a pleasure to meet is to her own credit. She has a unique stage presence, sense of style and a humour which is at once laugh out loud funny, surprising and occasionally waspish. Like the very best in the business, she can exhort a wide range of emotions from her audience - one minute you are laughing along and the next she has you in the palm of her hand with something so moving you wouldn't believe. Who else could boast several Doctor films, a revue written by Peter Cook and starring Kenneth Williams, Greek tragedy, the Edinburgh Festival, film fun with Tony Curtis, radio high jinks with Joan Sims and television roles that range from Uncle Jack when I was a boy right through to Skins and who knows what else to come?

One of the greatest shames is that despite her breadth and depth of work, and the fact she is still going strong and delivering the goods in a schedule many younger performers would simply balk at, Fenella is never seen or spoken of in the same breath as contemporaries such as Maggie Smith or Judi Dench. Having had the good fortune of seeing her perform her memoir shows over the past year, she has every right to be right up there with these other formidable actresses.

 

I am lucky to have been in the presence of Fenella Fielding on several occasions. Well four and a half to be precise. The half came first, as it were. Several years ago, before I'd even dreamt of Carrying On Blogging, I was sitting on a packed, grubby Piccadilly Line tube train on my way towards Leicester Square. We stopped at Covent Garden station and there, sitting on the platform, looking as radiant and unmistakable as ever, was Fenella. She was quiet, composed and yet exuded her very own brand of star quality. I couldn't quite believe my eyes and long after that moment I wished I'd stepped off the train and gone over to say hello.

Fortunately I would get that chance in 2012 when I attended a special screening of Carry On Screaming, hosted by the Misty Moon Film Society in Ladywell, South London. After a screening of the film, Fenella took questions from the audience and read an excerpt from Frankenstein. Afterwards we had the chance to meet her and get her autograph and the whole experience was a sheer joy. A couple of years later we met again when I attended on of the London Film Convention dates at Central Hall Westminster. That day I was fortunate enough to meet and have a chat with both Jacki Piper and Fenella - two nicer ladies you could not wish to meet. 

And then most recently I have attended two of Fenella's wonderful memoir readings at The Phoenix Artist Club in the West End of London. Organised by Misty Moon and hosted by Simon McKay, they have lived long in my memory. Fenella's readings, in the intimate surroundings of the Phoenix, are surprising, hilarious, occasionally shocking and full of pathos. The memoirs have been released as an audio book and yesterday, in the run up to Fenella's significant birthday, as a hardback book (available from all good bookshops!) I thoroughly recommend the book to you and of course, do attend one of the shows at the Phoenix if you get the chance. I understand there will be more dates next year.

 

And since I started this blog in 2015, I have been lucky enough to interview Fenella. I will be reposting that interview today as part of this celebration of Fenella's life and work. 

I can't quite believe Fenella is now 90 years young. Much the same as June Whitfield, she belies her years and long may that continue. She can still keep an audience rapt thanks to her brilliant stage performances and entertains us all regularly up and down the country. Happy Birthday Fenella, and here's to many more.

 

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The Joy of Jon in a Carry On

He's a man who really needs no introduction. A complete legend in the acting world probably best remembered these days for starring roles in television series such as Doctor Who and Worzel Gummidge. Yes, I'm talking about the late, great Jon Pertwee. 

I've always loved Jon's rather unique, eccentric Carry On cameos but until now I've never actually written about them. Jon Pertwee was a perfect fit for the Carry On films. He was larger than life, his performances came bursting out of the screen and really, nobody else could have played his parts quite like he did. Jon appeared in four Carry On films in total, three during the mid 1960s glory days and then a belated return nearly thirty years later, for a quick cough and a spit in Carry On Columbus. We'll gloss over that particular film and I'm sure Jon appeared in that one out of loyalty and friendship.

Back to the glory days though, I think. In the summer of 1964, Jon journeyed to Pinewood Studios for his first ever appearance in a Carry On film and what a film to start on. Carry On Cleo was in production, a very British send up of the very expensive Elizabeth Taylor epic, Cleopatra, which until recently had been filming at Pinewood. Leaving lots of sets behind when they shifted off to Italy, producer Peter Rogers seized on the opportunity to make his own version. It remains a classic of British film comedy over fifty years later and its cast led by Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor and Charles Hawtrey have never been better.

Jon appears later in the film, as an eccentric, rather hairy old Soothsayer who is summoned by Kenneth Williams' Julius Caesar to share some visions of his upcoming assignation with Cleo (played with camp relish by Amanda Barrie). Charles Hawtrey's dirty old sage Seneca leads the Soothsayer into the room and at this point his face is completely covered by his hair. It's a brilliant introduction for Jon and what follows is a classic scene where visions are conjured up, as Kenneth says, always missing out the best bits. I love Jon's character, it's spot on and very Carry On. Falling out of character, he turns all Cockney on us at one point, calling the other characters round him with the cry "well gather round and 'ave a butchers!" Excellent stuff! As an aside, Jon would be reunited with the Carry Ons' very own Queen of the Nile the very next year when he co-starred with Amanda Barrie in the Billy Fury musical comedy film I've Gotta Horse. 

Pertwee was back at Pinewood the following year for another period costume epic, Carry On Cowboy. Filming over the summer of 1965, this pretty unique British comedy Western saw most of the regular Carry On cast play very different parts, taking on American accents, riding horses and carrying guns. Crikey. It's probably the first time we actually see proper comedy violence in a Carry On and Sid James clearly relishes his starring role as the menacing Rumpo Kid, who descends on the peace loving Stodge City. Angela Douglas makes her debut in the series as the gun toting Annie Oakley, who arrives in Stodge to settle some old scores, namely to find the man who killed Sheriff Albert Earp, portrayed by none other than Jon Pertwee.

Appearing near the beginning of the film, Earp meets a rather grisly end. Jon excels as the nearly blind, hard of hearing sheriff. Playing some great, farcical scenes with Kenneth Williams as Judge Burke as they bicker and stumble about! Earp more than meets his match when he encounters Sid's Rumpo and it's sadly not long before he is despatched! Another brief role for Jon but as always, he leaves you wanting more! 

Jon would return to Pinewood once more to join the Carry On team and in early 1966 he struck gold with what would become yet another classic in the series. The Hammer Horror spoof Carry On Screaming featured a guest starring role for Steptoe and Son star Harry H Corbett who forms a glorious double act with Peter Butterworth as inept policemen searching for the criminal mastermind who is kidnapping young women and vitryfying them into dress shop dummies! 

Jon pops up as the police doctor, Dr Fettle, and shares scenes with Corbett and Butterworth before receiving a unwelcome visitor in the form of Dr Watt's monster Oddbod! As Dr Fettle regenerates one of Oddbod's missing fingers, he gets a lot more than he bargains for! I loved Jon's eccentric Scottish doctor and although a comedy, as a child it was actually quite a shock when the gruesome discovery is made! Sadly, after this role in Screaming, Jon went on to other things so there were no more Carry On cameos for him. Of course, within a few years he had taken on the role of Doctor Who, a part which he played for four years. 

Jon wasn't the only Pertwee to Carry On. Jon's first cousin Bill Pertwee, best remembered as Hodges, the irritating ARP warden and nemesis to Captain Mainwaring, popped up for two Carry On films. Both small roles, like his cousin, Bill first appeared as a barman who enjoys a quick chat with Jacki Piper and Sid James in Carry On Loving. Three years later he was back for the role of the Fire Chief in Carry On Girls who shares a very funny scene with the Mayor, played by the brilliant Kenneth Connor. Bill did film a small role as the manager of the wonderfully named Whippit Inn for Carry On At Your Convenience in 1971, however, with the film over-running his scenes were sadly cut from the final print. 

Fast forward twenty years and Bill's son James Pertwee had a small role as one of the Inquisitor in the very last Carry On, Carry On Columbus, in 1992. 

So there are quite a few Pertwee connections with our favourite series of British comedy films. For me though, a Jon Pertwee cameo was always a highlight and something to look forward to.





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