Happy Birthday Wanda Ventham!

August really is the month for Carry On related birthdays! Celebrating today is the actress Wanda Ventham, who turns 83. Wanda is perhaps best known today as the mother of that superb actor Benedict Cumberbatch, however Ms Ventham has an enviable acting career herself, dating all the way back to the 1950s.

Wanda worked for Peter Rogers Productions on three separate occasions during the 1960s. She first appeared in Carry On Cleo in 1964, playing the "Pretty Bidder" at the slave auction who is rather keen on Jim Dale! The following year Wanda was cast as Dot Franklin in the sparkling crime caper The Big Job which starred Sid James, Joan Sims and Dick Emery. Wanda returned to Pinewood for one final Carry On three years later. In 1968 she played the Khasi's First Wife, who turned up to right a wrong with Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond!

Wanda's other film roles in include parts in The Navy Lark (1959); Death is a Woman (1966); The Blood Beast Terror (1968) and most recently, Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie in 2016, which saw her act alongside fellow Carry On veteran Dame June Whitfield. On television, Wanda had an early starring role as Shirley in The Rag Trade in 1962 and has also popped up in such classic series as The Saint, The Likely Lads, The Avengers, The Prisoner and The Sweeney. More recently Wanda appeared in three episodes of Sherlock, playing Mrs Holmes, mother of the title character played by her real life son Benedict!

Whatever Wanda is up to today I hope she has an excellent birthday.

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Classic Comedy with Carry On Faces this weekend

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

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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Tonight on Talking Pictures TV: The Big Job

 

Talking Pictures TV are showing yet another classic British comedy film this evening, so set your videos! The Big Job is a wonderful black and white crime caper from the typewriter of Talbot Rothwell and it's rarely shown these days so this is well worth watching! 

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

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

 

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

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

The Big Job is on Talking Pictures TV tonight at 6.30pm. 

 

You can watch Talking Pictures TV on: Virgin 445 / Freeview 81 / Sky Channel 343 / Freesat 306 / Youview 81

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The A - Z of Carry On Supporting Actors - Wanda Ventham

This is the latest in a brand new series for Carry On Blogging. It might be slightly ambitious, but I'm going to attempt to do a run through the alphabet of some of the more interesting Carry On supporting actors. One of the reasons I set up this blog was to turn the spotlight on some of the lesser known Carry On actors who nevertheless played an important role in the success of the film series. 

Today we continue with the next letter in the alphabet, V and V is for Wanda Ventham.

Carry On films: Wanda played "Pretty Bider" in the auction scenes in Carry On Cleo and later returned for the small role of the Khasi's first wife in Carry On Up The Khyber. 

Also appeared in: Played the character of Dot Franklin in the Rogers and Thomas comedy crime caper The Big Job in 1965. The film featured a Carry On cast of Sid James, Joan Sims, Jim Dale and Lance Percival. 

 

Best known for: Decades of adding glamorous support to a wide range of classic British film and television ranging from roles in The Sweeney, The Fenn Street Gang and Executive Stress to The Saint, The Two Ronnies and The Gentle Touch. Perhaps best remembered for her role as Col. Virginia Lake in the Seventies sci-fi series UFO.

Did you know: Wanda still acts today but her career perhaps takes second place to her real life role as Benedict Cumberbatch's mother! Wanda and her husband Tim Carlton recently played the parents of Sherlock Holmes in the BBC's adaptation of Sherlock, with Cumberbatch in the title role.

What are they up to now: Wanda is still acting at the age of 81. Her most recent appearances include roles in the aforementioned Sherlock, Holby City and teaming up with fellow Carry On alumni June Whitfield in the Absolutely Fabulous film released earlier this year.

Stay tuned for the next entry in my A - Z of Carry On Supporting Actors! 

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Whatever Happened To ... Edina Ronay?

 

This is part of an occasional series of blogs looking at the careers of some of the supporting actors who cropped up in some of the countless Peter Rogers Productions over the years. Today I am going to look at a striking actress who made a big impact in the mid 1960s before deciding on a very successful career change - Edina Ronay.

Edina Ronay only appeared in one Carry On, but it was one of the best in the series. In 1965 she joined the gang for the wild West adventure Carry On Cowboy. In a mostly male-dominated cast, Edina sparkled as the glamorous Dolores alongside Joan Sims and Angela Douglas. She was not only an attractive sight to behold but also put in a superb supporting turn and boasted a convincing American accent. Although mostly a background character in the saloon scenes, Edina came into her own in the cat fight sequence in the jail opposite Joan and Angela. According to Angela Douglas in the DVD audio commentary, Edina had actually broken her collar bone before filming! She must have been quite a trouper as the fight sequence sees the three actresses really go for it! 

 

Ronay must have been a hit with the Carry On producers as she went on to make another appearance for them on the big screen the very same year. The Big Job may not have been a Carry On in title but the cast was extremely familiar - Sid James, Joan Sims, Jim Dale and Lance Percival with the additions of Dick Emery, Deryck Guyler and Sylvia Syms proved another strong comedy hit for the team. The classic crime caper is a favourite of mine and sees Edina cast as Sims' sexy daughter Sally. Despite these two eye catching turns in 1965, sadly Edina did not return to Pinewood to work for Rogers and Thomas again. So what else did she get up to in her acting career?

One of Edina's earliest film appearances was the uncredited role of school girl Lavinia in the 1960 hit The Pure Hell of St Trinian's. This was followed up with other small roles in the likes of A Hard Day's Night, Night Train To Paris and The Black Torment. 1965, the same year she worked for Peter Rogers, saw Edina star opposite another Carry On actress in the film A Study in Terror. Playing opposite Barbara Windsor, Edina plays Mary Kelly in this period horror which sees Sherlock Holmes on the trail of Jack The Ripper. Later roles include the films Perhistoric Women, Our Mother's House and the sex comedy, The Window Cleaner.

 

On television Edina appeared in several of the classic 1960s series. These included episodes of No Hiding Place, The Avengers, The Champions and Department S. Edina's last roles were in the mid 1970s - in the 1974 film The Swordsman and an episode of the 1975 series Shades of Greene. So why did Edina then suddenly decide to retire from acting and what did she do next?

Edina Ronay was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1944. The daughter of the food critic Egon Ronay and mother to the actress and writer Shebah Ronay, Edina began an acting career in England in the early 1960s. However by the early 1970s another passion was taking over her attentions. Edina started training to be a fashion designer, specialising in knitwear to begin with. By 1984 she had set up her own company and is now known around the world as a hugely successful designer. Ronay was honoured with a fellowship of the Royal Society of Arts. 

Sadly I don't think I've ever heard Edina speak of her acting career. I would love to hear her memories of working with the Carry On team on Cowboy and also The Big Job. If anybody knows of any interviews with her please do send them by way! I did find one recent interview about her life which you can read here You can also visit Edina's website here

 

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The other Miss Syms

Before I start, I know the lovely actress Sylvia Syms never actually appeared in a Carry On film, but she came very close to it, appearing alongside the likes of Sid James, Joan Sims and Jim Dale in the 1965 comedy The Big Job. I think Sylvia was terrific in that film and wonder therefore why she never did star in another Peter Rogers Production. Here are a few of my favourite Sylvia Syms' films. 

Sylvia was a very welcome presence in The Big Job, providing not just glamour but also a sparkling comic performance as Sid's girlfriend who desperately wants to become his wife. As the gangster's moll, she is part of the gang that also includes Lance Percival and Dick Emery. What a cast! By 1965 Syms was already a big name having appeared in several well received and now classic British films.

One of my favourites is the war film Ice Cold in Alex. This 1958 Pinewood offering stars John Mills, Anthony Quayle and Harry Andrews as they attempt to make it across the desert back to British lines in Alexandria. Syms plays a nurse, Diana Murdoch who accompanies the men on the trip. It is a classic, solid British war film that just isn't produced these days. The group face multiple perils en route and in the midst of the drama, love blossoms between Sylvia's character and Captain Anson, played by the legendary film actor John Mills. The film also boasts that famous final scene of the main characters enjoying that ice cold beer at the bar in Alexandria at the end of their perilous journey. The scene ended up, many years later, in an advert for Carlsberg lager.

Another film of Sylvia's that I love is the 1961 Basil Dearden picture, Victim. This film is notable as the first English language film to use the term "homosexual". The film focuses on the story of a successful barrister played by Dirk Bogarde who although apparently happily married to his wife Laura (Syms) has a previous life that involved a relationship with another man. 

The plot involves a blackmailing ring and despite his best efforts to avoid the controversy, eventually Laura finds out the truth about her husband. For the times, this film proved to be both highly controversial and also a major breakthrough. It was a big gamble for Dirk Bogarde, the matinee idol star of the frothy Doctor comedies. He puts in a wonderful performance and is matched by Syms as his distraught by still loving wife.

Much more recently, Sylvia starred alongside Helen Mirren in the 2006 film The Queen. This film tells the story of the Queen's reaction to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997 and the rise of Tony Blair. Sylvia is on wonderful form in her role as the Queen Mother. Written by Peter Morgan and directed by Stephen Frears, the film was a huge success and won Mirren an Oscar. 

Other appearances have included Expresso Bongo with Paul Scofield, The Punch and Judy Man with Tony Hancock and Shirley Valentine with Pauline Collins. Thankfully Sylvia is still active today and has recently celebrated her 82nd birthday. As a tenuous link to Carry On, Syms' actress daughter Beatie Edney played Joan Sims in the Kenneth Williams biopic Fantabulosa.

So do you think Peter Rogers should have snapped up Sylvia Syms for a role in an official Carry On after her turn in The Big Job? Or do you think she was offered a role and turned it down? 

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Whatever Happened To ... Wanda Ventham?

The actress Wanda Ventham, a glamorous presence in a whole host of film and television roles for decades, is now rather over shadowed by her highly successful actor son, Benedict Cumberbatch. However I think Wanda's considerable talents need to be highlighted, hence this blog.

Wanda can be featured here on Carry On Blogging thanks to her small roles in three Peter Rogers productions during the 1960s. She first played the role of Pretty Bidder in 1964's Carry On Cleo. She appears briefly in the slave auction sequence, losing out to Peggy Ann Clifford in the battle to secure Jim Dale's services. The following year Wanda again adds some glamorous support to the classic comedy crime caper The Big Job, playing a young woman who is desperate to spend some alone time with her boyfriend. In 1968 Wanda was back at Pinewood to play the Khasi's first wife, who turns up at Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond's residency to help right some dubious wrongs! 

Sadly Wanda failed to make any further Carry On appearances but her career would span countless theatre, film and television productions in the decades that followed. 

Wanda Ventham was born in Brighton on 5 August 1935. She trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama alongside the likes of Judi Dench, graduating in 1956. Her first major role came in the film My Teenage Daughter, co-starring with Anna Neagle and Sylvia Syms. Other films over the years have included The Navy Lark (1959); The Spy with a Cold Nose (1966); Mister Ten Per Cent (1967) and Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War (2002). 

On stage, an early role was as Daphne Pink in Watch It Sailor! at the Apollo Theatre in 1960. This was followed by a variety of different roles including Portia in a 1979 staging of Julius Caesar at Chichester; the Ray Cooney farce Out of Order at the Shaftesbury Theatre and most recently two plays in Cape Town, South Africa - Quartet in 2012 and Entertaining Angels in 2014.

Wanda Ventham was always most prolific on television. Her major success on the small screen came in the 1970s when she played Colonel Virginia Lake in the science fiction series UFO. She also had recurring roles in a number of other popular series such as The Rag Trade as Shirley; Only Fools and Horses (as Cassandra's mother) and in Heartbeat, playing Fiona Weston. Between 1972 and 1973 she played the lead role in an adaptation of The Lotus Eaters. 

Wanda's television career is a veritable list of classic treasures. It includes guest spots in the likes of The Saint, The Likely Lads, The Avengers, The Prisoner, The Sweeney, Z Cars, A Family At War, Crown Court, All Creatures Great and Small and Minder. More recently she has also appeared in the Penelope Keith sitcom Next of Kin as well as one off episodes of Lewis and Midsomer Murders. Wanda has also appeared three times, in three different roles in the classic series Doctor Who - in 1967, 1977 and finally in 1987. 

Having apparently retired from acting recently, Wanda made a triumphant return to the small screen in 2014 to play Mrs Holmes, mother to Sherlock in the new BBC version of the classic  series. Playing Mr Holmes was her real life husband, actor Tim Carlton. And of course the titular character was their famous son, Benedict Cumberbatch. Cumberbatch has spoken of the complete joy of acting in the series alongside his parents. He clearly rates them both as actors, however bemoans the fact that his mother will probably never get her "Cranford moment" as she'd need a vast body of Shakespearean roles to secure such a part. Apparently Ventham decided early on in her career to accept more commercial roles as the better pay would help fund her son's education.

Wanda Ventham first married in 1957. Together with first husband James Tabernacle she had a daughter, Tracy. The marriage ended in divorce. She met her second husband Tim Carlton whilst working together on the television series A Family At War. They married in 1976 and have been together ever since. Carlton came through the acting ranks in the 1960s, his main friends and contemporaries being the likes of Dennis Waterman and Robert Powell.

I think it's fantastic that Wanda is so obviously proud of her son's acting success. Benedict's parents are often seen at awards ceremonies with their son these days but I still think their own careers deserve recognition too. Wanda was always top of the list for a certain kind of role throughout the 1960s, 70s and 80s. She is still fondly remembered by many fans.

If you would like to meet Wanda Ventham, you have a chance early next year. She will be appearing at a special fans convention in Chiswick, London on 30 January. Further details can be found here


You can follow me on Twitter @CarryOnJoan 

Not Quite A Carry On: The Big Job

I have decided to write about some of the other films Rogers and Thomas made during their prolific careers. Apart from their 31 Carry Ons together, the famous producer/director team also made many other films, particularly during their peak in the late 1950s and early 1960s. I have already blogged about one of my favourites, the sprightly Nurse On Wheels and the big screen version of sitcom favourite, Bless This House. Now I am going to look the classic crime caper, The Big Job.

I love The Big Job. Apparently it was an old script that had been knocking about for some time and Peter Rogers seized upon the opportunity to turn it into a quick release in between Carry Ons. The Big Job was the last of a long run of comedy films Rogers and Thomas made as a side line to the Carry Ons. Released in 1965, it came just as the Carry On films were reaching their peak in popularity. Carry On Cleo had just been released and the glories of Cowboy and Screaming were just around the corner.

Rogers engaged regular Carry On scribe Talbot Rothwell to breathe new life into The Big Job. It is a classic comedy about a bunch of petty criminals who are caught mid bank robbery, put away for a long stretch and come out determined to get their hands on the loot once again. The money was stashed in a tree shortly before the gang were captured by the police and on tracking it down fifteen years later, quickly discover that the intervening years have seen a housing estate spring up around the tree. What's worse is that the tree is now situated in the yard of a police station.

The film basically follows the gang's attempts to get at the money. Of course their pathetic attempts are constantly foiled. There is nothing new in this film but as always with a comedy film from Rogers and Thomas, it is the cast that raises the material into a different league. The Big Job is no exception. Although not an official Carry On, the film features three of the best actors to grace the series in Sid James, Joan Sims and Jim Dale. 

Sid plays the ring leader of the criminal gang, one George Brain. This is perfect casting as Sid had often played characters in both comedy and more serious films that dodged the long arm of the law. Joining him in this instance are regular co-star Lance Percival and that wonderful comedian, Dick Emery. Sadly this is the only film Dick made for Rogers and Thomas which is a great shame. He was a natural for this kind of comedy and I think it would have been great to see him in a Carry On. Also starring is the gorgeous Sylvia Syms as Sid's permanently sidelined girlfriend. For once Sid's character really isn't interested in women. It's the thrill of the loot that's his driving passion here. Syms is great opposite Sid and the others, a real class act.

Of course Sylvia isn't the only Ms S(y)ims in this film. Carry On regular Joan grabs a prime role as predatory landlady Mildred Gamely. The gang lodge with Mildred and her sex kitten daughter, brought to life by future fashion designer Edina Ronay. Edina would work for Rogers and Thomas again the same year when she took the part of Dolores in Carry On Cowboy. She was terrific in Cowboy, her American accent is excellent! Joan eventually gets her claws into Dick (as it were) and reveals herself to be much more of a criminal mastermind than any of the men.

Jim Dale co-stars as another lodger, a local police constable who continually gets on Sid's nerves with his bumbling. Jim has several terrific scenes with Deryck Guyler and the rest of the local policeman's choir. Also appearing are Carry On semi-regulars Wanda Ventham, Michael Ward, Brian Rawlinson and Frank Thornton. 

It might not be high art but I love it. Another cosy comedy film from a bygone era featuring a cast of prime acting talent. Definitely worth a watch if you fancy a burst of classic comedy nostalgia. 

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