Butterworth Carries On … As Mr Smith

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.

Follow on from my first blogs in this series on Peter's roles in Carry On Cowboy, Screaming Don't Lose Your Head and Follow That Camel today I'm looking at Peter's performance in the classic Carry On Doctor, made in 1967. 

Carry On Doctor is one of my favourite Carry Ons. The films seemed to lend themselves so well to the hospital setting and Doctor, Talbot Rothwell's tribute to Norman Hudis' iconic Carry On Nurse almost ten years earlier, features the gang firing on all cylinders. Following a trend for period costume Carry Ons (Cowboy, Screaming, Don't Lose Your Head etc) the team were back in the present day for this romp through the wards. Almost all the regular faces of the era feature in the film. Only Kenneth Connor who was at the time on a break from the series, does not appear. It is an absolute joy to see Sid James and Hattie Jacques return to the fold after previous absences; to see Jim Dale take centre stage as the romantic, bumbling hero of the piece; Kenneth Williams on sublime pompous villainous form as Dr Tinkle (!) and the likes of Bernard Bresslaw, Dilys Laye and Charles Hawtrey bring the wards to life. Throw in a delightful cameo role from Joan Sims and a stunning guest starring performance from Frankie Howerd and you have near perfection!  

The basic plot of the film sees the patients of the hospital revolt after the fiendish team of Matron, Dr Tinkle and Sister Hoggett (June Jago) rule over the wards for too long, culminating in the axing of popular Doctor Kilmore (Dale). It's a lovely story that allows the audience to root for the underdog. Of course all is well in the end and the film comes to a satisfying conclusion. Rothwell includes some lovely references to Carry On Nurse, no better than the infamous daffodil sequence which is joyfully brought back to life briefly by Frankie and Valerie Van Ost. Watch out also for a framed portrait of the brilliant James Robertson Justice in character as Sir Lancelot Spratt - it is between the lifts in the hospital foyer. This is of course a tribute to the Doctor series of films, a franchise to which the Carry Ons owe a debt of gratitude. The Doctor films were produced by Peter Rogers' wife Betty Box and directed by Ralph Thomas, brother of Gerald. Peter sought permission to make Carry On Doctor from his wife before going into production.


So what about Peter's role? 

In a cast bursting with talent Peter is given less screen time than his previous couple of outings with the gang. While this a shame, Butterworth still shines whenever he's given any kind of opportunity large or small. Only ever known as Mr Smith, no first name given, he is very much the everyman on the ward. He's there as part of the Greek chorus, reacting to the drama on the wards and the fiendish acts of the hospital senior staff. Peter blends in with his other male co-stars and adds real depth alongside Bresslaw, Hawtrey and James. He's given little to do but plays a full part in the climatic scenes which see the patients rise up and send a clear message to the crooked Dr Tinkle and Matron Lavinia!

Mr Smith's reason for being in hospital is never made particularly clear however for most of the film there are veiled references to a mysterious lump! He eventually has it off (as it were) but remains in the ward for a visit from his irritating wife, played by Jean St Clair in her only Carry On appearance. As she sits and witters on about this that and the other, she fails to take much interest in her husband as she even goes so far to scoff all the grapes she's brought in for him! Peter's farewell to his wife as she leaves is a thing of beauty, clutching the  bare stalk in his hand!

With much of the action revolving around Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques and Jim Dale and big name guest star Frankie Howerd grabbing most of the screen time, the likes of Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims and Peter Butterworth are left to play second fiddle but in a cast where really only Kenneth Connor is missing it must have been hard to give everyone their fair share of funny lines in a film which barely ran to 90 minutes. Where Butterworth excels as ever is stealing scenes with the slightest glance, reaction shot or comedic mannerism. Even his reaction to dropping Kenneth's Dr Tinkle into the ice bath is played beautifully despite it only lasting a couple of seconds. Peter was a gift to these films and his natural flair for comedy and sense of what would make the audience laugh meant he stood out even when, as with Carry On Doctor, his part was fairly small and insignificant. In the hands of a lesser actor it wouldn't be remembered at all. 

Still, compared to his major supporting turns in Camel and Screaming, Butterworth fans may be disappointed by Doctor. Better is thankfully still to come as Peter's next two roles in the series are crackers. Stay tuned for my take on his turn as Brother Belcher in Carry On Up The Khyber coming up next!

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Four Years of Carry On Blogging!

It's not Brexit Day, it's Carry On Blogging day. Well something like that. Four years ago today I came to the random decision to write a blog about my love of the classic Carry On series of British film comedies. It wasn't part of a strategic plan and I certainly didn't have a Backstop, Matron!

I had tweeted through the @CarryOnJoan account for a year or so and thoroughly enjoyed the interaction with other Carry On fans. It all took off far faster than I ever dared to imagine and I now have 18.6K followers. Moving from 140 odd characters to thought-through blog pieces on all manner of things was a big step though but I'm ever so glad I did it. It is a proper labour of love and sometimes real life does get in the way of all the fun but four years later I'm still at it ;)

The main reason I keep blogging is the interaction it leads to with fellow fans on the internet every day. The internet has perhaps become an increasingly dark and dodgy place but my involvement with it through Carry On Blogging has been (nearly always) a complete and utter joy. 

So four years in, I've nearly 19 thousand followers on Twitter and I've published the best part of 2000 original blog posts. At times it's been a deeply personal take on the Carry On films and how they affected me as I grew up and why I treasure them still. As a fan, writing these blogs on my laptop in my pyjamas, it's quite extraordinary that the blog has enabled me to interview the likes of Valerie Leon, Robin Askwith, Judy Matheson, Juliet Mills, Julian Holloway, Elke Sommer and Patricia Franklin. And through the blog I've met and interviewed superb people like Morris Bright, Amanda Barrie, Fenella Fielding, Madeline Smith and Anita Harris. Not bad for a boy who used to collect Cinema Club VHS tapes from the Woolies Bargain Bin! 

I was thinking about the Carry Ons and their legacy quite seriously recently following my interview with the fantastic journalist and broadcaster Samira Ahmed. Samira is a fan of some of the films and certainly many of the actors and yet she also struggles with aspects of their content, when viewed with a modern eye. The most troubling comment Samira made was regarding the future lifespan of the films. She questioned whether the Carry Ons would survive in the consciousness of the nation. Do they have such a collective cultural pull that they will always be cherished and never forgotten? Until Samira raised that issue I confess I hadn't given it that much thought. I am sure generations to come will not understand the humour or recognise the ever so talented faces who brought the films so brilliantly to life. That makes me sad but that's life and time is passing. 

Sadly the Carry Ons are mainly mentioned these days when one of the actors who appeared in them passes away. Last year we lost far too many familiar Cary On faces and for me, with the death of Dame June Whitfield in December, we really did reach the end of an era. Despite this I think it's important to continue cherishing our rich comedy heritage in this country. I started this blog mainly as a tribute to the tremendous Carry On actresses and supporting actors who never really got the credit they deserved either at the time or within their lifetimes. Joan Sims, Hattie Jacques, Patsy Rowlands, Peter Gilmore, Esma Cannon, Peter Butterworth, Bernard Bresslaw, Amelia Bayntun, Joan Hickson, Bill Maynard, Dilys Laye…the list goes on. I loved them all and although the vast majority are now long gone, they still feel so very much with us thanks to their gloriously big, colourful, comic performances in the Carry Ons. They deserve to be remembered so fondly and I will continue to do so. 

So forget Brexit, if only for the day, and pick out your favourite Carry On film. Stick it in the DVD player or whatever fiendish device you own, sit back, relax and enjoy a Britain that never really existed but goodness, wouldn't it have been nice if it had? What will I be watching? I think on this weird old day, a bit of Carry On Up The Khyber feels just about perfect.

Carry On, and thanks for all the fun.

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Catch Bless This House this evening on Talking Pictures TV!

This evening Talking Pictures TV are showing yet another comedy classic from the golden age of British film comedy. Possibly the closest any other film got to being an official part of the Carry On team without actually gaining the Carry On title, Bless This House was yet another quickly made, cheaply made picture from Peter Rogers Productions. A big screen version of the hit Thames Television domestic sitcom, bringing Bless This House to the cinema was just another part of the very 1970s trend of transferring TV comedy favourites to film. This had varying results with some performing better than others. I think we can agree Bless This House is probably one of the most successful.

Part of its success is down to the Carry On-like quality the film has, mainly down to the personnel employed both in front of and behind the camera. Bless This House remains a hugely popular film, 47 years after it was first released. It's easy going, has bags of charm, remains completely light, frothy, undemanding and innocent and in modern, more cynical times its special brand of escapism is very appealing. Nothing really happens across its 80 odd minutes and basically writer Dave Freeman, who would go on to pen Carry On Behind and Columbus, stitches together three potential small screen half hours into one film. 

There's the traditional suburban new neighbours move in and don't get on with those around them strand. So what you say? Well when the main opponents are Sid James and an extremely pompous pre-Terry and June Terry Scott, you have comedy magic. Then there's the farcical wedding strand which sees the offspring of Sid and Terry (Robin Askwith and Carol Hawkins) hitch up and get hitched. Of course nothing goes to plan but all's well in the end. In between all this there are several small plots of little consequence such as Sally Geeson's naive 1970s environmental activism, Diana Coupland and Patsy Rowlands hoarding junk for a future antiques business and best of all, Sid and best mate Peter Butterworth attempting to make their own alcohol in the garden shed, with startling results! 

In the hands of lesser actors, all of this would have fallen flat and this little film would be a very distant memory. As with the main Carry On series, the secret of this films' success is the casting. The film is mainly made up of instantly recognisable Carry On faces with only leading lady Diana Coupland failing to Carry On elsewhere (a great pity I think I as you can read here: Should Diana Coupland have carried on? Leading team members Sid James, Peter Butterworth and Patsy Rowlands are joined by Carry On supporting players Terry Scott, June Whitfield, Marianne Stone, Bill Maynard, Patricia Franklin, Julian Orchard, Molly Weir, Wendy Richard and Johnny Briggs. Phew! It seems to modern viewers that Peter Rogers basically arranged for the cast of the early 1970s Carry Ons to decamp to suburban Windsor for six weeks. Recent Carry On starlets Carol Hawkins and Sally Geeson also grab leading roles while rising star Robin Askwith, soon to appear in Carry On Girls and then the Confessions series, plays Sid's son Mike. Quite an ensemble!

Of course several of these actors transferred across from the television version of Bless This House. Alongside Sid, Sally Geeson played daughter Sally in all 65 episodes of the sitcom alongside Diana Coupland. Patsy Rowlands too was a semi-regular in the sitcom as neighbour Betty. However the actors playing Trevor and Mike did not appear in the film. I don't really know why Anthony Jackson and Robin Stewart were replaced by Peter Butterworth and Robin Askwith but I can't fault either of the actors who stepped into the film. To complicate matters further, the likes of June Whitfield and Marianne Stone also appeared in the television series, albeit in very different roles!

Many of the core Carry On crew also appeared behind the camera on Bless This House. Pinewood stalwart Alan Hume was in charge of photography, Eric Rogers did the music while even the hair and make up team moved across in the familiar guise of Stella Rivers and Geoff Rodway. It really was a team effort and a film family and us fans take great comfort from seeing all these names scrolling across the screen once again. 

So make a date to catch up with your favourite comedy character actors in an undemanding hour and half of slapstick, gentle humour and family fun. 

Bless This House is on Talking Pictures TV tonight at 7.10pm. Find out more here: https://talkingpicturestv.co.uk


You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Butterworth Carries On … as Simpson!

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.

Follow on from my first blogs in this series on Peter's roles in Carry On Cowboy, Screaming and Don't Lose Your Head today I'm looking at his performance as the supportive butler and perpetual scene stealer (once again) in Carry On … Follow That Camel.

Follow That Camel was the second film in a row in the series to be released originally without the Carry On … suffix. The Rank Organisation, while keen to release Peter Rogers' successful comedies, were still less than enthused with being linked to a series so associated with another distributor. This foreign legion comedy saw other changes too. Leading man Sid James was out of the series following a heart attack and with Rank keen to boost ticket sales in the United States, international guest star Phil Silvers was drafted in to play Sergeant Nocker. The legendary star of Bilko created much publicity however the jury is out as to just how successful his brand of comedy jelled with the Carry Ons.

Elsewhere it was business as usual, with regulars Jim Dale, Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey all taking major roles in the film. Angela Douglas has probably her best part in the series as Lady Jane Ponsonby; Anita Harris makes her series debut as Cork Tip and Joan Sims pops up for an eye catching cameo as bar owner Zig Zig. Although limited in screen time, Joan makes quite an impression as the busty, earthy character! So what of Peter Butterworth?

Well Peter is quite simply one of the highlights of the film. Camel is a workhorse of a Carry On picture, it's neither a classic or a total write off, but the absence of Sid James and the out of place performance by international guest star Phil Silvers takes things in the wrong direction. I love Phil Silvers as Bilko but it just doesn't work surrounded by the most English of English eccentrics, the Carry On team. Everyone else gives it their best but the film misses  the usual down to earth tour de force only Sid could provide. For me, the partnership of Jim Dale and Peter Butterworth is the driving force of Follow That Camel, the pair are simply superb together. As with nearly all of his outings in the series, Peter excels as second in command, the funny man in a double act and the irrepressible scene stealer. 

While Jim is on fine form as the handsome hero Bo West, Peter is his ever loyal butler Simpson, refusing to let his Lord and Master suffer through life in the Foreign Legion by himself. After Bo apparently disgraces himself on the cricket pitch, he takes off from England's green and pleasant land, leaving his love Lady Jane behind. Once signed up, West and Simpson's English ways clash bitterly with the French Foreign Legion and Silvers' Sergeant Knocker! Peter is the perfect English gentleman, ably supporting Jim's upper class hero and the pair make for a deliciously comic duo - typical English eccentrics abroad.

There is plenty of opportunity for Peter to exploit the comedy in each situation to the max. The scenes at Joan Sims' Cafe Zig Zig are a joy, particularly once Anita Harris appears as the sultry Cork Tip. As she dances and cavorts, Peter's reaction shots are sublime. He really does make the most of every opportunity. Jim and Peter obviously got on splendidly well and it amazes me that they both managed to keep a straight face. Of course, this being a Carry On, someone ends up in drag and once again it's Butterworth. Following on from his super turn in woman's attire in Carry On Screaming, Peter drags up rather unconvincingly again here in Camel as one of Abdul's harem girls! 

The resultant scene of Abdul chasing Simpson around the tent is all shadows and hilarious commentary from Peter. A total professional and veteran of countless pantos and reviews, Peter embraced these scenes for all they were worth and really relished the comedy in dragging up so preposterously. While a good deal of Camel leaves a lot to be desired, the action immediately picks up when Peter and Jim appear together on screen. Once again hovering down the cast list and not even grabbing a 'starring' role, Peter steals so many scenes and four films into his run, clearly makes himself indispensable to Peter Rogers Productions. 

So far Peter had only appeared in historical, costume Carry On epics. The next film would see him in a much more contemporary setting as the series returned to the hospital wards for Carry On Doctor. In a cast bulging with series regulars and a big name guest star, Peter received less screen time than in previous films but still made his mark as we'll see in my next blog.

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Butterworth Carries On … As Bidet

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.

Follow on from my first two blogs in this series on Peter's roles in Carry On Cowboy and Screaming, today I'm looking at his performance as the conniving if slightly slow-witted CItizen Bidet in the 1966 film, Don't Lose Your Head. This French Revolution romp was an important picture for Peter Rogers Productions as it was the transition film in many ways. After parting company with Anglo Amalgamated earlier that year, Peter signed on with The Rank Organisation as the Carry On films' distributor. However Rank were not keen on using the Carry On moniker as it linked the series too much with their rival, Anglo. Hence why the film was released in the first instance simply as Don't Lose Your Head. After this entry and the next in the series performed less well at the box office, they were both re-released with the Carry On title and took off up the charts! Given that the films were made by the same crew, written by the same writer and starred many of the same faces, it was surely only a matter of time.

Don't Lose Your Head is another costume heavy, period comedy parody, sending up films like The Scarlet Pimpernel. The film pitches goodies versus baddies and English versus French as landed gentry Sir Rodney Ffing and Lord Darcy (Sid James and Jim Dale) head to France and the guillotine to rescue their French aristocratic counterparts, including the foppish Duke de Pommefrite (Charles Hawtrey). Much of the film sees the enraged and increasingly deranged revolutionary leader Citizen Camembert attempting to unfrock the English Master of Disguise and this cat and mouse game is very funny when it's Sid pitched against the high camp of Kenneth Williams. It's a glorious film full of delicious performances, brilliant sets and locations, cracking costumes and plenty of action. 

So what about Peter Butterworth's role in proceedings? Peter grabs one of his most substantial supporting turns in Don't Lose Your Head. As with his other roles to date, Peter is playing second in command as part of a hugely successful double act. This time he's partnering Kenneth Williams and as the toadying CItizen Bidet, Butterworth excels. Kenneth always wrote very fondly of Peter in his diaries and it's clear there was a great deal of affection between the two actors. No mean feat really, given how picky Williams could be. As Bidet, Peter is on fine comedic form as the snivelling, grovelling Bidet, constantly muttering on about 'the glorious new French Republic'. The timing and exchanges between the two actors is consistently sublime and really makes the film.

When Camembert and Bidet are joined by their third wheel, the pretty but ditzy, high pitched Desiree Dubarry (Joan Sims), we're all set for a delicious romp. Joan's first scene is pure high camp with comedic misunderstandings and Peter's drooling underling unable to keep his eyes off her. When the three French baddies go rather unconvincingly undercover in England in a bid to trap Sid's 'Black Fingernail' we are treated to some rather lavish (for a Carry On) scene at Sir Rodney's ball (yes, 'you've always had magnificent balls…and I wouldn't miss one of them'). With Bidet sent to trap the Fingernail in action we are treated to Peter's brilliantly inspired range of funny faces and delightful sight gags. He never misses a trick or an opportunity to pull a face in the background, upstaging his co-stars. When those stars are Sid, Joan and Kenneth Williams, you can understand that it takes a supremely talented comedy actor to achieve this! And that's what Peter was. 

Being a true professional, Peter throws himself into all manner of scrapes, being bashed over the head, falling into mucky ponds and basically enduring whatever the script demanded. One of my favourite scenes sees Bidet fooled by Sir Rodney into thinking Robespierre (Peter Gilmore) has instructed that Camembert is actually the Black Fingernail in disguise. This set up sees Butterworth and Williams in a wonderful comedy of misunderstandings, bickering and slapstick which defines them as the closest the Carry Ons ever got to the work of Laurel and Hardy. Yes, I think as a double act they are that good. Kenneth and Peter imbue their characters with so much comedic charm that the audience loves to hate them. We may even feel a touch of sympathy for the pathetic Bidet and all he endures at the hands of the nasal, camp Cammy. 

The climax of Don't Lose Your Head, and as all fans know, every Carry On needs a big climatic sequence, sees Camembert's country pad in lockdown as Sir Rodney attempts to rescue the lovely Jacqueline (French actress Dany Robin) from Camembert's fiendish clutches. While you could argue this final scene goes on a tad too long, it does provide plenty of spectacular action, stunts and set pieces as Sid, Jim and Charles Hawtrey takes on Kenneth's men and destroy his precious home and priceless artefacts in the process. Even Kenneth Williams struggles to maintain the momentum as he flings himself about the place clutches smashed porcelain and slashed chairs. He does have one lovely moment though when he runs nostrils first in a harp! 

Peter has a running gag (literally) throughout this sequence as he continually fails to come to Camembert's aid. First of all he's pretty much blown up by an exploding front door, then he's continuously pushed behind said heavy door and squashed by a variety of opponents. Peter really did have a gift for physical comedy and in his safe hands he provides several big laughs which act as a counterpoint to some of Kenneth's overacting. Right at the end of the sequence, just when you think Bidet is coming good for his nasty boss, sadly he goes awry once again and single handedly demolishes the palace. As Sid leads the rest of them to safety, Camembert and Bidet run up the stairs clutching bits of furniture for protection!

All is well in Carry On Land as Sid and Jim win the day. Sadly though for Camembert and Bidet there is an unpleasant final twist as the two snivelling wretches go to the guillotine. In a final flourish the executioner is revealed to be none other than Sid James as the Black Fingernail. With his characteristic chuckle he pulls the leaver and it's goodnight Vienna! A fairly gruesome end really, for a comedy at least if you think about it. Don't Lose Your Head is always up there as a favourite for me. I think it's production values raise it up to a different level, much like Screaming or Cleo. A lot of that is down to it's period costume setting. Several key players are missing - there's no Bernard Bresslaw, Barbara Windsor, Kenneth Connor or Hattie Jacques - but the handpicked cast of favourites do a sterling job and Peter puts in one of the most consistently funny performances. He really did work terribly hard for his laughs in so many of his Carry On roles. Lots of physical comedy, face pulling and inspired reactions to other lines and funny situations. Always a true pro.

So there we have it, my take on Peter Butterworth's glorious turn as Citizen Bidet in Don't Lose Your Head. Coming up next is my blog on Peter's role as Simpson, manservant to Bo West in the Foreign Legion Carry On caper, Follow That Camel.



You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

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

Remembering Peter Butterworth

As regular readers will know, Peter Butterworth is one of my all time favourite comedy actors and members of the brilliant Carry On team. Over the course of sixteen films, two stage productions and countless television episodes, Peter guaranteed himself a place in our hearts for his sensational comic performances. 

Sadly, today marks forty years since Peter's sad death at the age of just 59 in 1979. He was performing in pantomime in Coventry at the time of his death, as Widow Twankey in a production of Aladdin at the Coventry Theatre. After a performance, Peter returned to his hotel room where he suffered a heart attack. 

Peter worked on in a range of different productions following his last Carry On appearance, as Richmond the aged boot boy in Carry On Emmannuelle which was made in 1978. His last film, The First Great Train Robbery, was on general release at the time of his death. Peter's last role was that of Mr Bywaters in a television film broadcast just a few weeks after he passed away. The production was written by Alan Bennett and directed by Stephen Frears. This surely points to the fact that Peter would indeed have gone on to even more success in his career. Sadly it wasn't to be.

At the time of his death, there was no certainty over whether the Carry Ons would continue. However with the death of Hattie Jacques the following year, it became quickly apparent that the series could not possibly return. Kenneth Williams wrote of his shock and sadness at the news of Peter's death in his diary and sent condolences to his wife, the actress and impressionist Janet Brown. Kenneth was a friend of the couple and the usually picky Mr Williams was extremely fond of them both.

Peter Butterworth had been a familiar face on stage and screen since the late 1940s, following an impressive career in the forces during the war. A beloved children's entertainer on television in the 1950s, he worked consistently across all media throughout his life, always with the best, because he was the best. When Peter died, he left his wife, the actress Janet Brown and his children Tyler and Emma. He was one of those actors who everyone loved and admired. 

From his first role in the series as Doc in Carry On Cowboy to his final turn as Richmond in Emmannuelle, Peter never put in a bad performance. He excelled as Slowbotham in Carry On Screaming, as Citizen Camembert in Don't Lose Your Head and as Mr Fiddler in Carry On Camping. As for his finest performance in the films? Well I'm completely split on that one. Perhaps his beautifully played supporting turn as Brother Belcher in Up The Khyber? Who can forget his star turn in the dinner party sequence? Or maybe the excitable, desperate hotelier Pepe (or is it Mario?) in Carry On Abroad? Whichever role is your favourite, I think we can agree that Peter always gave us his best. 

Thanks for all the laughs, Peter. 

You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Butterworth Carries On … as Doc!

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.

We start today, as one always should, at the very beginning. In 1965 the Carry On team went way out west (well as far as Black Park and Chobham Common) for a comedy western the like of which British cinema had never seen before and probably hasn't seen since! Carry On Cowboy was the perfect demonstration of the series' growing confidence at parody and pastiche following the huge success of their previous effort, the glorious Carry On Cleo. With all but Jim Dale and Charles Hawtrey attempting American accents and many of the cast demonstrating their skill in the saddle (as it were) there were many actors present living out some fantasies in this wonderful film.

Peter Butterworth was cast for the very first time in a Carry On, as Stodge City's resident medical man, known simply as Doc. Doc, as with many of Peter's roles in the films, was a supporting part, playing second fiddle to the likes of Sid James or Kenneth Williams. In this outing, he runs around pulling the most exquisite of comedy faces behind Stodge's Mayor, Kenneth Williams. Unlike some of the other regulars, Peter doesn't appear to have worked for Peter Rogers Productions in other films before graduating to a role in the main team. He did work briefly for Peter's wife Betty Box in the 1963 comedy, Doctor in Distress, playing an Ambulance Driver, but that seems to be it. I wonder how the casting was decided upon? Whatever the reason, Peter had been a recognisable face in films since the late 1940s and a beloved children's entertainer on television during the 1950s alongside his wife, actress Janet Brown. He fitted in with the Carry On team perfectly. 

Carry On Cowboy tells the story of a peaceful town way out west which is suddenly turned upside down by the arrival of the roguish scoundrel, The Rumpo Kid, played by the magnificent Sidney James. Kenneth Williams' Judge Burke is horrified by Rumpo's hard drinking, womanising, criminal ways and sends for a new U.S Peace Marshall. In true Carry On style, there is a farcical mishap in Washington DC and instead of an able new law enforcer, Stodge City gets Marshall P Knutt, an innocent sanitary engineer from England (Jim Dale). 

The story is a simple one. It's good versus bad, Jim versus Sid as the locals look on. It's comedically brilliant, fast moving, energetic and takes a few risks. And I love it. The regular team of Sid, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey and Joan Sims are joined by Jim Dale in his first main starring role, following a series of eye catching supporting turns. There are also several new faces in the cast including Angela Douglas, in the first of four roles, as Annie Oakley and Bernard Bresslaw as the native Indian, Little Heap. And of course Peter Butterworth himself, providing beautiful support as Doc. 

Peter pops in and out of the action throughout the film, usually as part of the gaggle of locals led by Kenneth Williams and rancher Sam, played wonderfully by character actor Sydney Bromley. Peter has immediate chemistry with Kenneth Williams which the film makers would exploit again over the years, particularly as the fabulously villainous duo in Don't Lose Your Head. As with many of Peter's parts he contributes little to the actual narrative of the film, such as it is, with Jim Dale, Angela Douglas and Sid James driving most of the action and taking the majority of the screen time.

However without the supporting cast of thoroughbred comedy actors like Peter Butterworth, these films would be nothing. Each and every film during the series' prime featured a rogue's gallery of comedy grotesques and I mean that in the very nicest way possible. Peter, trained in rep and all manner of stage productions up and down the country, was always throwing in a bit of business, be it a comedic glance, some physical comedy or an unexpected reaction shot. Although we've been told time and time again that improvisation wasn't really tolerated on the Carry Ons, it must have been hard to avoid with such a talented actor like Peter Butterworth in the cast. He just couldn't stop himself!

Peter obviously impressed Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas with his supporting turn in Carry On Cowboy as it was the film which began a working relationship of nearly fifteen years. Butterworth was a beloved member of the cast with even the picky, hard to please Kenneth Williams becoming a close friend and admirer. The pair enjoyed informed, erudite conversations on set between shots and the friendship endured. For me, the arrival of Peter Butterworth at Pinewood was one of the most important moments in the series' history. 

Stay tuned for my next blog on Peter's Carry On roles, with my thoughts on his performance as Detective Constable Slobotham in the superb 1966 film, Carry On Screaming.


You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram

Celebrating Butterworth and plenty more besides: Carrying On in 2019!

2019 is upon us. Didn't that come up quickly! Anyway, I have been planning out what I want to write about on the blog in the first part of this year and I thought I'd give you a sneak preview of what I want to cover.

I have a few immediate projects I want to crack on with and first of amongst them is celebrating the brilliant Mr Peter Butterworth. If you've read the blog at all over the past four years you'll know I'm a huge fan of Mr B, surely one of the best comedy actors ever to grace British film and television? Peter appeared in sixteen Carry On films and countless spinoffs over the years and is often overlooked in favour of 'bigger' personalities like Kenneth Williams and Barbara Windsor. For me though, he's top quality, always reliable and a regular scene stealer. In this, Peter's centenary year (he was born on 4 February 1919) I want to write a series of blogs celebrating each of Butterworth's brilliant Carry On film roles.

I have also decided to write a new series of blogs which aim to pick out my ultimate, favourite of favourite performance in each of the thirty original Carry Ons. Not an easy feat I'll grant you but I'm going to give it a good go! Hopefully the results will spark friendly debate amongst fans!

And finally, I want to look at some of the saucier competition the Carry Ons faced in the 1970s. We all know Peter Rogers tried to compete with the changing attitudes in British cinema at the time and failed miserably, but what about the films which were succeeding? And which Carry On faces jumped ship to sail with them? I'll be taking a look at some of the most (in)famous of those. 

And hopefully, time permitting, I'll be able to write a few more blogs profiling the lives and careers of some of the less well known comedy actors to appear in the Carry Ons over the years.

So plenty to get my teeth into in this, my fourth year of Carry On Blogging. I hope you'll stay with me, read, comment and Tweet away merrily as you've done before. I can't wait. 


You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan and on Instagram