Watch: Phil Silvers Rare Interview from 1974

I have been trawling the BBC South Today archives of late and they have turned up quite a number of classic, little seen interviews with some of our favourite Carry On favourites. So far I have brought you clips of Kenneth Williams, Terry Scott, Harry H Corbett, Jack Douglas and Warren Mitchell. And today it's the turn of that most American of Carry On guest stars, Phil Silvers.

The clip comes from an interview Phil gave back in 1974, several years after his one and only Carry On appearance. The actor and comedian, best known for his 1950s success in American television as Sergeant Bilko, spent six weeks in the Spring of 1967 working with the Carry On team at Pinewood Studios. His role as Sergeant Knocker in Follow That Camel saw Phil appear alongside series favourites such as Peter Butterworth, Joan Sims, Charles Hawtrey and Bernard Bresslaw. 

Phil also, along with Elke Sommer, remains the highest paid actor ever to appear in a Carry On. While I love his Sergeant Bilko and think he gives a fun performance in Camel, I'm not quite sure the addition of Silvers really did set the Carry On team on fire on the other side of the Atlantic, as the Rank Organisation had hoped.


Anyway the clip, which hasn't been seen since it was recorded back in 1974, can be viewed right here 

I hope you enjoy it! 

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Joan carries on ... as Zig Zig

 

This blog is part of a new regular series on Carry On Blogging. I'm going to attempt to blog about each of Joan Sims' wonderful roles in the Carry On films. Joan was the most prolific of all the actresses involved in the series, clocking up 24 films. Indeed, only Kenneth Williams made more Carry Ons. 

Today I am going to write about one of Joan's smallest roles in a Carry On film, but one of my very favourites. In the spring of 1967 Joan filmed what pretty much amounted to a cameo role in Carry On Follow That Camel, that of bar owner Zig ZIg. This role is an absolute joy and so unlike many of Joan's other roles in the series. The actress herself commented in her autobiography how much she enjoyed playing the sultry character but at the same time felt a bit left out of the fun as she was restricted to just a few scenes and didn't get to go on location to Camber Sands with the rest of the team.

Nevertheless, what she achieves with such little screen time is remarkable. Joan is sexy, dangerous, knowing and all-powerful. She is complete control and obviously dominates all the men she comes into contact with. It is terrific stuff and she oozes sex appeal. We first meet Zig Zig when Jim Dale and Peter Butterworth come looking for the foreign legion camp. She is entertaining Phil Silvers' Sergeant Knocker at the time and the pair exchange delightfully ribald dialogue.

 

We next see Zig Zig as she accompanies Knocker back to his barracks. As she leaves him, walking her donkey away, Joan is given the immortal line "I have a good ass, no?" Perfectly delivered, Joan squeezes every last drop of comedy out of the situation and it is sublime. She really does steal scenes from the likes of Phil Silvers and it is a joy to watch. Zig Zig is very much a man's woman which becomes evident when Anita Harris comes on the scene as exotic belly dancer Cork Tip. Zig Zig is obviously put out by her younger, nubile rival and spits her animosity from the bar. Cracking stuff!

Sadly we don't get much more of Joan in this film. She does however have one final, brilliant scene opposite the wonderful Kenneth Williams as Commandant Burger. Zig Zig has been called in to give evidence on the whereabouts of Sergeant Knocker who is absent without leave. During a brief scene, Joan dazzles with her raunchy, raw performance culminating in a rather lewd proposition for Williams' Burger! It doesn't get much better than this!

 

Perhaps the character of Zig Zig was so strong that she couldn't feature any more prominently in Follow That Camel. It is still one of my favourite performances from Joan and the actress clearly relishes it. When you consider how different this part is from the likes of the shrewish Emily Bung in Screaming and the mousy, hard of hearing Chloe Gibson in the next film, Carry On Doctor, it demonstrates just what an accomplished and versatile comedy actress Joan Sims was. 

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My Favourite Carry On Guest Stars

 

Over the years the Carry On films recruited quite a number of well known guest stars for the films. I think this was a good idea as it often helped to freshen up the regular cast and provide a different dynamic. Some new additions worked better than others but most added something new to the existing team.

This trend started with the original film, Carry On Sergeant in 1958. Bob Monkhouse guest starred, already a big name on the small screen. Although Bob may not have been a real team player, preferring to be out on his own, he turned in an effective performance in Sergeant. The following year Wilfrid Hyde-White filmed scenes as the guest star for Carry On Nurse. Playing a wily old colonel in a private room, Hyde-White was superb and worked well with the likes of Harry Locke and Joan Sims.

Over the course of the next twenty years, many other big names would join the team. These included Ted Ray in Teacher; Stanley Unwin in Regardless; Cecil Parker in Jack; Harry H Corbett in Screaming; Phil Silvers in Follow That Camel; Frankie Howerd in Doctor, Up The Jungle and the Carry On Christmas 1969 television special; Roy Castle in Up The Khyber; Wilfrid Brambell and Patricia Hayes in Again Doctor; Jimmy Logan in Girls and Elke Sommer in Behind.

 

So which worked and which didn't? Well before I list my top three, I must admit I don't like Phil Silvers turn as Sergeant Knocker in Follow That Camel. I believe the production company were under pressure from new distributors The Rank Organisation to open up the American market, hence an American guest star. I love Silvers in his television role as Bilko however he sticks out like a sore thumb in this very English comedy film. It just fails to gel. I also hate Jimmy Logan's turn as Cecil Gaybody in Girls. I don't like that film anyway, but Logan's cameo is just dreadful. Indeed Jimmy often said it was his most embarrassing job ever! He was so good as Bert Conway in Abroad, the previous film. i think the role of Gaybody was initially earmarked for Charles Hawtrey however with him out of the series, it must have been frantically recast. 

Now for my top three. In third place is the wonderful Ted Ray as William Wakefield in Carry On Teacher. Ted was a naturally funny man and he fitted in really well with the blossoming Carry On team. He was well cast as the kindly headmaster as Maudlin Street school and his scenes with Kenneth Connor, a regular colleague on radio, are just superb. Peter Rogers wanted Ted to become a regular in the team however as Ray was contracted to a rival company it didn't work out. While this is a shame, it did open up a place in the team for one Sidney James.

 

In second place is the sultry guest star of Carry On Behind, Elke Sommer. At first Sommer is an odd choice for this film however she had worked in similar comedies, such as the Percy series of films, produced by Peter Rogers' wife Betty Box. Elke was a big international star and commanded a huge salary for her appearance in Behind. I really do wonder what she made of the knock about comedy full of naughty British innuendos. Filming conditions must also have been rather uncomfortable for the big star. However her double act with Kenneth Williams' preening Professor Crump is comedy gold. Much is made of the continental misunderstandings and while it does dominate her role, it never gets stale. Elke really does give it her all and she is tremendous in the part of Anna Vooshka.

Finally, my favourite Carry On guest star - the wonderful Frankie Howerd. Despite the fact that Frankie turns up on set each time, barely pays attention to the character written for him and goes through his stand up routine, he delivers the goods each time. As charlatan faith healer Francis Bigger in Doctor and as Professor Inigo Tinkle in Jungle, he is outstanding. He works well with fellow cast members such as Kenneth Connor and Joan Sims. Indeed Howerd and Sims could not work together without bursting into fits of giggles. Perhaps Frankie was just too big a personality to become a series regular, but his two film roles and his appearance in the Christmas television special are just wonderful.

 

So which guest stars are your favourites? Do you agree with my choices?

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Carry On Faces of 1967

This is part of a new series of blogs on Carry On Blogging. I plan to blog each year of Carry On, featuring photos of the most prolific actors for each year. Hopefully it will provide an interesting overview of the changing face of Carry On during the series' original mammoth twenty year run. 

It will turn the spotlight on the familiar faces who endured over the decades as well as those artists who came and went along the way. We are continuing today with 1967. Two films were produced that year, first of all Follow That Camel, a foreign legion romp in the spring and then it was back to medical matters for Carry On Doctor in the autumn of the same year.

Pictured above we have the most prolific actors to appear in 1967. They are as follows: Kenneth Williams as Dr Tinkle in Doctor; Jim Dale as Dr Kilmore in Doctor; Bernard Bresslaw pictured above as Abdul Abulbul in Follow That Camel; Joan Sims as Zig Zig in Follow That Camel; Peter Butterworth as Simpson in Follow That Camel; Anita Harris pictured as Nurse Clarke in Doctor; Charles Hawtrey as Mr Baron in Doctor; Frankie Howerd as Francis Bigger in Doctor and finally, Phil Silvers as Sergeant Knocker in Follow That Camel.

Of those featured above, only two actors (Williams and Hawtrey) were original cast members from the very first film, Carry On Sergeant in 1958. Original cast member Hattie Jacques returned to the series after four years to play Matron in Doctor but does not feature here. Williams, Sims, Hawtrey, Dale, Butterworth, Harris and Bresslaw all appeared in both films produced in 1967.

Following the success of Harry H Corbett's guest starring role in Screaming the previous year, 1967 saw the Carry Ons recruit two iconic comedians. Frankie Howerd made the first of two Carry On appearances as the dubious faith healer Francis Bigger in Doctor while American star Phil Silvers gave us a variation of his classic character Bilko in Follow That Camel.

Following several absences, regular Carry On faces Sid James, Hattie Jacques and Barbara Windsor all returned to the films in 1967. As mentioned, Hattie took on the role of Matron in Doctor after Joan Sims turned in down in favour of her lifelong friend. Sid James returned for a supporting role spent mainly in bed in Doctor. The actor had suffered a heart attack and although still recovering, was keen to be involved in the film. Barbara Windsor returned to the Carry Ons three years after her debut in Spying for her iconic role as Nurse May in Doctor. 

Stay tuned for the Carry On Faces of 1968 coming up soon!

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My Favourite Scene: Carry On Follow That Camel

I have been running a series of blogs which aim to find my favourite scenes in each of the original thirty Carry On films. Today I am going to write about the Foreign Legion comedy from 1967, Carry On Follow That Camel.

Follow That Camel is an odd one. It's never been one of my favourites although it still has a lot going for it. I adore Angela Douglas in full English rose mode as Lady Jane Ponsonby. Peter Butterworth and Jim Dale make a great double act - a good amount of screen time for Peter and Jim is at his dynamic, physical best throughout. Bernard Bresslaw turns in a terrific performance as the villain of the piece while Anita Harris dazzles as the belly dancing Cork Tip. 

Unfortunately though, guest starring Phil Silvers just doesn't fit in. Whatever the reason for his appearance in this film (probably Rank trying to sell the film to the Americans) his style just jars with the rest of this very British film. I love Silvers' classic role as Sergeant Bilko on American television but somehow it doesn't translate to the world of Pinewood Studios and Camber Sands.

My favourite scene was difficult to choose as nothing really stood out when I thought about it. However I decided it simply must feature one of the true stars of the film - Joan Sims. Joan has a relatively minor supporting turn in Camel, restricted to a few scenes and never really becoming involved in the main action. Sims plays ZIg Zig, the local cafe owner who is having an affair with Phil's Sergeant Nocker. It is a stunning character performance from Sims, once again showing her amazing versatility. It's a wonderfully earthy, sexy role for an actress who had most recently played the nagging Emily Bung in Screaming and the screechy cockney-voiced Madame Desiree in Don't Lose Your Head. 

I love her last scene in Camel. ZIg Zig is being questioned by Kenneth Williams' character about Nocker's whereabouts. She gives him the runaround throughout, spitting and throwing away classic lines and earthy looks. As she gets up to leave she makes Williams' an indecent proposal and one he looks like he wants to follow up on! It's true skill for an actress like Sims to make so much out of such a small part. It leaves you wanting more and I wish she'd had a bigger part in the film.

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