Carrying On with The Comedy Man

Every so often I like to blog about well known Carry On performers in other films from the era. Despite claims to the contrary, many of our favourite Carry On actors did escape the clutches of Peter Rogers Productions and do other, interesting things. During the 1950s and 60s in particular, there were so many films being made across London that a lot of actors just went from one production to another.

Spurred on by the recent 'My London' programme on BBC Radio London featuring Angela Douglas, I've decided to write about the 1964 film The Comedy Man. 

What it's about?

The Comedy Man is a 1964 British drama film directed by Alvin Rakoff, depicting the life of a struggling actor in swinging 1960s London. Sacked from his job in provincial rep, actor Chick Byrd moves into digs in London with Julian, a fellow actor. Julian's career soars after a successful screen test, but Chick's meets with continued failure. Mobilised into action by the suicide of a friend, Chick auditions for a TV commercial and finally finds fame. Confident of his talents for the first time, but fearing he may have sold out, Chick leaves London to return to rep.

Who stars in it?

Solid leading man of the time, the wonderful Kenneth More leads the cast as Chick Byrd. Kenneth was at the height of his powers at the time, well known for the likes of Genevieve, Doctor in the House and Reach for the Sky. Co-starring are Dennis Price as Tommy Morris, Billie Whitelaw as Judy, Edmund Purdom as Julian Baxter and Frank Finlay as Prout.

Carry On Faces?

Plenty! Angela Douglas, a year before making her Carry On debut as Annie Oakley in Carry On Cowboy, plays Fay Trubshaw. Angela would of course go on to marry the star of the picture, Kenneth More. Carry On Jack guest star Cecil Parker also stars as Thomas Rutherford. 

Carry On originals Norman Rossington and Gerald Campion both co-star in The Comedy Man. Norman is Theodore Littleton and Gerald, Gerry. Both actors starred in Carry On Sergeant way back in 1958 and while Gerald didn't return, Norman went to make appearances in Carry On Nurse, Carry On Regardless and the Carry On Christmas television special in 1972. 

Also look out for Carry On Constable supporting actress Jill Adams as Jan Kennedy and Derek Francis plays Merryweather. Derek had lovely supporting parts in several Carry Ons - Doctor, Camping, Loving, Henry, Matron and Abroad. Gordon Rollings, who appeared briefly as a porter in Carry On Doctor, crops up as Skippy while boxer turned actor Freddie Mills has the part of Indian Chief. Freddie popped up as a thief in Carry On Constable and a boxing promoter in Carry On Regardless. And finally, future Are You Being Served? star Frank Thornton plays a Producer in The Comedy Man. Two years after this Frank made his only Carry On appearance in Carry On Screaming.

Did You Know?

The Sunday Mirror proclaimed 'Kenneth More in the greatest performance of his career. Brilliantly directed'.

More, on reading the script, thought the story reflected his own life as an actor and that of many of his actor friends. 

Sadly The Comedy Man received only a limited distribution at the time, sharing a double bill with Lord of the Flies. 

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Carrying On with … The Pure Hell of St Trinian's!

I've recently written a great deal about some of the other great series of British comedy films, such as the Norman Wisdom comedies and the Doctor films, and how the Carry Ons made an impression in these lovely films. I've now decided to write about another legendary set of films, the St Trinian's films. Set in the fictional unruly all girls private school somewhere in England, the films followed their adventures and those of both the staff of the school, the law enforcers chasing after them and the education department who frequently despaired of what they got up to!

The films featured countless wonderful performances and will always be synonymous with a handful of timeless actors. So without further ado, let's continue on today with a look at the third film in the series, The Pure Hell of St Trinian's from way back in 1957, over sixty years ago!

What's it about?

The St. Trinian's Girls burn down the school building and are, subsequently, put on trial, found guilty, and await sentencing the next day by Judge Slender. This leads to rejoicing at the Ministry of Education, and in Barset, the school's village home, where Sergeant Ruby Gates and Superintendent Samuel Kemp-Bird can finally plan their marriage, which is predicated on the end of St. Trinian's. However, beautiful Sixth-Form pupil Rosalie Dawn  has been flirting with Slender during the trial, where she gives him her telephone numbers, and continues flirting at the sentencing session. Consequently, when Professor of Philosophy Canford of the University of Baghdad suggests that, rather than punishment, the girls need sympathy, and explains that he has funds to buy a new school building, and with the help of noted educator Matilda Harker-Packer, the girls can be rehabilitated, Judge Slender ignores the guilty verdict and gives him a year to accomplish his aims. This causes dismay at the Ministry, where Butters, on the advice of his psychiatrist, does a pastoral dance to calm his nerves. The revival of St. Trinian's also means the end of Gates' and Kemp-Bird's marriage plans. The girls, led by Prof. Canford, new Headmistress Harker-Packer, and the new teaching staff, move into the former Hannington Manor, now the new St. Trinian's school building.

Who's in it?

Without the great Alastair Sim on board as Miss Fritton, the remainder of the original cast, George Cole and Joyce Grenfell take centre stage as Flash Harry and Sergeant Ruby Gates.  Joining the cast is legendary actor Cecil Parker playing Professor Canford.

Carry On faces?

The main star of the film, Cecil Parker, of course had a cameo role in Carry On Jack in 1963. Returning from the previous film is Carry On Sergeant, Constable and Spying star Eric Barker, again playing Culpepper-Brown. Irene Handl (Nurse, Constable) returns to the series following her appearance as a teacher in The Belles in 1954. This time she plays Headmistress Miss Harker-Packer.

Two Carry On stars who were also the best of friends in real life also pop up in Pure Hell. Sid James plays Alphonse O'Reilly while Liz Fraser plays WPC Susan Partridge. Cyril Chamberlain, an actor who appeared in countless films in this era, turns up as an Army Captain while future Carry On Cleo actor Warren Mitchell plays a Tailor.

Finally, two future Carry On actresses turn up in small uncredited roles. Sally Douglas, a small part player in the likes of Carry On Cleo and Carry On Cowboy, plays a Harem Girl while future Carry On Cowboy and The Big Job actress Edina Ronay has an uncredited role as Lavinia. 

Did you know? 

This was Joyce Grenfell's last appearance in the series - she would not return for The Great St Trinian's Train Robbery six years later.

Sid James had appeared in a cameo role in The Belles of St Trinian's way back in 1954 but his return here is a completely different character.

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Carry On Faces in Different Places: Heavens Above!

Here we go with another in my series of blogs looking at some of the cream of British comedy film making from the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Although this blog is all about the Carry Ons, believe it or not, there were some other joyous comedy films made away from Peter Rogers Productions. However, given the quality of the actors Peter employed to make his series, it's no wonder that most of them popped up elsewhere.

So far I've looked at the wonderful 1959 crime caper Too Many Crooks , the 1954 domestic comedy starring Dirk Bogarde, For Better For Worse , the big screen spin off Please Sir! and the wonderful Up Pompeii and the brilliant John Gregson and Diana Dors vehicle, Value for Money.
  
More recently I blogged about the Sid James and Kenneth Connor comedy horror What A Carve Up! and the the Gordon Jackson drama, Floodtide. 

And last week I looked at the Carry On links with the wonderful film I'm All Right Jack and the Diana Dors' prison drama, Yield to the Night

Today I'm going to blog about the 1963 comedy film, Heavens Above!

 

What's it about?

A naive but caring prison chaplain, Smallwood, is accidentally assigned as vicar to the small and prosperous country town of Orbiston Parva, in place of an upper-class cleric (Carmichael) with the same name. His belief in charity and forgiveness sets him at odds with the locals, whose assertions that they are good, Christian people are belied in Smallwood's eyes by their behaviour and ideas. He creates social ructions by appointing a black dustman as his churchwarden, taking in a gypsy family, and persuading local landowner Lady Despard to provide free food for the church to distribute free to the people of the town. However, all his good works lead to trouble.

Who's in it?

Heavens Above! is produced by the Boulting Brothers, so as with several other films of the period, their stars include Peter Sellers and Ian Carmichael (who also starred in the brilliant I'm All Right Jack). Also in the cast is Bernard Miles, Eric Sykes, Miriam Karlin, Isabel Jeans and the wonderful character actor, Roy Kinnear. 

 

Carry On Faces?

Lots of them! Carry On original actor William Hartnell plays the town councillor, Major Fowler. Regular Boulting Brothers' favourite Irene Handl, who also had cameos in Carry On Nurse and Constable, plays Rene Smith. Carry On Jack guest star, the great Cecil Parker, stars here as Archdeacon Aspinall while Eric Barker, seen in authority roles in Carry On Sergeant, Constable, Spying and Emmannuelle, plays a bank manager in this film.

There are also a whole host of regular Carry On actors in small parts throughout the film. Joan Hickson plays a housewife, Harry Locke a shop steward and Carry On Up The Khyber actor Cardew Robinson appears as a tramp. Also, look out for Marianne Stone in the role of Miss Palmer, Ian Wilson as a Salvation Army Major and George Woodbridge as a Bishop.

 

Did you know?

The film features small uncredited roles for future well known actors John Junkin and Rodney Bewes.

The film was the 12th most popular film in the UK in 1963.


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Carrying On with The Iron Maiden

 

Spurred on by my recent conversations with the wonderful Noel Purcell's son Patrick (more on that soon) I settled down today to watch one of the few Peter Rogers Productions I have still not seen. Thanks to the brilliant Talking Pictures TV, which I can now finally access, I caught a rare screening of the 1962 film The Iron Maiden.

The Iron Maiden is a charming film, very typical of Peter and Gerald's output in the late 1950s and early 1960s. A rare colour film from the duo at this stage, Maiden is very far removed from the innuendo-encrusted delights to come from later Carry On series entries. Instead this film is much more reminiscent of the classic Ealing comedies, showing the little man railing against adversity in the glorious post-war British countryside. The film is fairly innocent with gentle humour and some rather twee romantic interludes, however the cast is chock full of superb character actors and it's a joyous diversion from the modern world, perfect for a lazy afternoon in front of the television.

 

The Iron Maiden of the title is a vintage traction engine which is a labour of love for leading man Michael Craig. In many ways this film is Peter Rogers' attempt to provide a follow up to the hugely successful Genevieve released almost a decade earlier. While the John Gregson and Dinah Sheridan film focussed on vintage cars, this 1962 picture takes on the world of old engines. It's a curio looking at it from 2017 but it gets full marks on the nostalgia front! Michael Craig is perfect in the lead role. As Jack Hopkins he is in full on romantic hero mode. Craig had previous with the Rogers/Thomas family, having worked twice for Peter's wife Betty Box, first of all in 1959's Upstairs and Downstairs and then the year later starring opposite Leslie Phillips in Betty's Doctor in Love. Michael is a great actor and definitely has the looks and charm to carry the film. Just a shame he didn't work more for the dynamic Pinewood duo as he would have been great in some of the 1960s Carry Ons. Thankfully Michael is very much still alive and well and living in Australia.

An interesting aspect of this film is the number of American actors who form part of the principal cast. Michael Craig's love interest is played by the delightful Anne Helm while her parents are brought to life with considerable charm by Alan Hale Jr and Jeff Donnell. It provides a diversion and these very American characters add interest with their reactions to some rather quirky, curious British eccentrics. 

The film follows the burgeoning romance between Craig and Helm and it's very much opposites attract. There are several lightly comic set pieces involving a headstrong Kathy (Helm) and an equally dogmatic Jack, mostly involving various scrapes with the traction engine. It's all very frothy and light and apart from one unfortunate scene which Craig puts Helm over his knee and gives her a spank, it's all enjoyable stuff. 

However, as with many other films Peter and Gerald produced at this time (Watch Your Stern, Raising The Wind, Nurse On Wheels spring to mind) the main joy of The Iron Maiden is spotting a whole host of familiar faces in supporting roles. The Carry On flag is kept flying by Joan Sims (barely a Peter Rogers film without her at this time) and a young, pre-Carry On Jim Dale in a minor supporting role. Other familiar Carry On supporting players also feature: the charming Brian Rawlinson turns up as a country policeman who has various accidents on his bike; Judith Furse and Ian Wilson play an oddly matched pair of traction engine enthusiasts while that lovely actor Brian Oulton gets a fairly substantial role as the local Vicar. There are also blink and you'll miss 'em appearances from the likes of Michael Nightingale, Anton Rodgers and Cyril Chamberlain.

There are other notable non-Carry On actors present too. I've recently been hearing memories from Noel Purcell's son Patrick on his father's role in the film as Admiral Sir Digby Trevelyan and Patrick was even present on set to see some of the scenes filmed. Cecil Parker, a year before filming his Carry On Jack cameo, appears as Hopkins' boss Sir Giles Thompson. George Woodbridge, another familiar face has a lovely cameo role as Mr Ludge while future Emmerdale legend Richard Thorp (Alan Turner) also turns up as Harry Markham. 

The Iron Maiden has all the hallmarks of classic, confident Rogers and Thomas. The cinematography is by Alan Hume, co-producer is Frank Bevis and Eric Rogers does the music. Interestingly, the film is written by neither Norman Hudis or the soon to emerge Talbot Rothwell. Instead, legendary lyricist and composer Leslie Bricusse is behind this film and it's a decent effort on his part. Eric Rogers was soon to join the Carry On team as their full time music director following the departure of Bruce Montgomery. Some of the music in The Iron Maiden is very familiar indeed, a test run for Carry On Cabby perhaps and a rather stately little number which would turn up six years later in Up The Khyber. You can see all the elements gelling already.

 

All in all, The Iron Maiden isn't the best film Peter and Gerald turned out at the peak of their powers but it does feature some of the very best British character actors around. It's a diverting little yarn which survives on the quality of the cast and the willingness of the audience to indulge in some delightful nostalgia. 

As an aside, it's definitely worth checking out Talking Pictures TV. They very often show some rare and classic gems from the world of British cinema, the kind of films you used to watch on BBC Two on a rainy afternoon. There are some absolutely lovely titles to be seen so do check that channel out. You can follow them on Twitter here and there website is here

And stay tuned for my interview with Patrick Purcell, son of the great Noel Purcell, coming soon!

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A change of tack about Carry On Jack

Last year I wrote a blog where I questioned whether Carry On Jack really deserved a place in the Carry On cannon. I had never been a fan of this naval comedy. It lacked a full roster of regular team favourites, it wasn't loaded with typical Carry On innuendos or familiar situations. It was definitely towards the bottom of the pile.

However, I have since revisited this film and I was pleasantly surprised. It stands up remarkably well given it was made over fifty years ago. As with other period costume Carry Ons, it is pretty timeless and I actually really enjoyed it. It may lack the likes of Sid James, Joan Sims and Hattie Jacques, but the actors who do appear are terrific. They also look like they are having a wonderful time acting out various fantasies on the high seas.

The regulars who do appear are brilliant. Kenneth Williams is perfectly cast as Captain Fearless, the wimp of the Royal Navy. Charles Hawtrey plays more of a character than usual as cesspit cleaner Walter Sweetly. Hawtrey has one of his largest roles in Jack and delights throughout. Jim Dale meanwhile, although only appearing in a brief cameo as a sedan chair carrier, really shines. Going on this performance alone, you can see why Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas signed him up for many more Carry Ons, with his parts getting significantly bigger before too long. His interplay with Bernard Cribbins and the diminutive Ian Wilson is superbly timed. 

What I have come to realise is that Carry On Jack is packed full of superb actors. Not comedians or regular Carry On supporting players, but just actors with a flair for comedy. Percy Herbert and Donald Houston are wonderful as the sailors who serve under Captain Fearless but plot and scheme to take control. They are the pantomime villains of the piece and while they are comedy foils, they never lose the truth of the parts they play. Peter Gilmore, a supporting actor in eleven Carry Ons, bags one of his most significant roles as a pirate loaded with cliches. His second in command is brought deliciously to life by the Australian character actor Ed Devereux. 

In addition to these wonderful performances, you also get delightful supporting turns from legendary actors such as George Woodbridge, Cecil Parker, Marianne Stone and Patrick Cargill. You can't go wrong with a supporting cast like this.

The two leads in Carry On Jack also do well. Bernard Cribbins, in the first of three Carry On roles, is superb as the bumbling romantic lead. Cribbins is surprisingly athletic, climbing the sails, romping around and milking all the gags that come his way. His romantic lead is Juliet Mills and the pair have lovely chemistry. Apparently the part of Sally was originally offered to Liz Fraser and while I adore Liz, I can't see anyone but Juliet in this role. While she starred in two other films for Rogers and Thomas (Nurse On Wheels and Twice Round the Daffodils), this would sadly be the only Carry On film for Mills. What a shame she didn't do more.

Another thing I have realised about Jack is that it fairly shifts along. It is edited with lightening speed and the action flits along in a very pleasing manner. The ship used in the film was no doubt borrowed from another production but it really doesn't matter. It looks authentic, the costumes are great and it works as a comedy film. 

Perhaps not a traditional Carry On as we've come to understand them, but I think Carry On Jack really does deserve a second look. 


You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan