samkydd

Another wet Sunday afternoon at home and nothing to do but stay indoors and watch the cat scratching himself.
I watched part of a Carry On free DVD and decided that it was time to put it to the vote on here, which one is the best?

Carry On Camping is probably my favourite and had most of the best of the Carry On cast, and probably memorable to most for the flying bikini top scene. The strange thing about it was that two middle aged blokes, Sid James who was knocking on by 1969, and a maturing Bernard Bresslaw, were intent on having a bit of how's your father with two schoolgirls! Not exactly something that would go down well today! Terry Scott managed to get invited into a tent by a lone schoolgirl too!

The music, the 1960s scenes of deserted roads, simple cars and neat and tidy chav free housing estates, what pleasant memories they bring back. My parents used to have the same wallpaper as Terry Scott's living room in the film. The innuendo in almost every line of dialogue was seaside postcard British humour at its best. I particularly liked the acting of Joan Simms' miserable mother "I've got sore misgivings!" and Sid replies, "You should try rubbing talcum powder on them. Yeh Heah Heah Heah Heah!" Priceless!

So what's your favourite one, or did you hate Carry On films?

Which cast members suited the films best, and which didn't?

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

Fellwanderer

Any one with Judy Geeson and/or Madeline Smith - preferably both
Best? See above

Although obviously and intentionally very sexist - they did have a certain innocence about them. Memories of a more care-free age.

FELL

All the best
FELL

A signature is no substitute for a life

smudge

Fave ?

CARRY ON SCREAMING - two genres for the price of one - British Comedy and Hammer Horror. A marvellous parody-cum-homage, as sumptuously dressed and lit as the original Hammer gothics (but all done on a shoestring...) A brilliant performance from Harry H. Corbett and who could forget the souldering prescence of husky, sexy Fenella Fielding ?

Top marks all round !

Who didn't fit ? Ted Ray ; he might have been th etop comic of his time, but he was nowhere near comfortable in CARRY ON TEACHER. I have quite a sense of comic history, but Ray's stature as a 'comic's Comic' has always passed me by.

Phil Silvers didn't fit either, in CAMEL.

Unsurpassed moments ; "They put the bloody glass in !" (Sid James as Vic Flange in ABROAD.)

"This is the wife....don't laugh." (Sid to Ken Connor, again ABROAD.)

"We must explore Avery Avenue," and "Foul Feet Smell Something horrible." (Bung and Slowbotham - SCREAMING.)

"Rank Stupidity !" (Kenneth Williams as the Khasi - UP THE KHYBER.)

"Fakir....off !" (Bernard Bresslaw and KHYBER again.)

There are many more, but one last one from KHYBER....

(Kenneth W. again.) "Come back - come back ! There's nothing to be afraid of ! SLOW BURN...., "Oohh - I dunno though !!!"

(Not that I watch them, of course...)

SMUDGE

Welcome to my house. Enter freely, and of your own will...

Captain Casper

Carry On Abroad. No question. Closely followed by Cleo.

"Screaming" was very very good although Jim Dale was a bit OTT.

Worst? Emmanuelle or Columbus. Both make me cringe.

Fellwanderer

Columbus - yes, that was poor. Didn't see Emmanuelle.

Smudge is right about Phil Silvers, too.

FELL

All the best
FELL

A signature is no substitute for a life

DB7

Have to join Smudge and say Carry On Screaming. On reflection that's fairly surprising given Sid James, Hattie and Babs are all absent but the script is a fine homage to both Holmes and numerous horror flicks, the production design is amongst the series best and the gags aren't solely dependent on sexual innuendo.

Most of those between the debut and Khyber are excellent.

Been a few mentions of Carry On over this past week with the launch of the The Complete A-Z of Carry On book.

David Brent

Carry On Girls - for the great amount of choice crumpet on show.....oh, and the great comedic acting of course
Although many say that the Carry On films were sexist and degrading to women there are very few examples in the films of the males actually having their way with the sexy females.Most of the times it's just ogling and innuendo's.
A comedy series maybe.....but pretty true to the real life exploits of your average male.

Dave.

penfold

Khyber and screaming are probably the best...though I always think carry On Jack is underrated, nice spoof of the Hornblower style adventure, great performances from Kennneth, Charles and also underrated Peter Gilmore - and Juliet Mills in uniform.....mmmm.

Bit of a Bay Window, what??

Fellwanderer

Memories!

Was there ever a better pair...

of sisters?

FELL

All the best
FELL

A signature is no substitute for a life

samkydd

My favourite line in a Carry On has got to be "Infamy, infamy.....they've all got it infamy!" I think it was Kenneth Williams in Carry On Cleo, but I may be wrong!

One or two amazing things about the Carry On cast were that they didn't get paid an awful lot, I heard that Sid only did it to pay bits off his gambling debts, and the private lives of some of the stars were a far cry from the jolly comedy characters we all thought they were off the screen as well as on. Charles Hawtrey and Kenneth Williams were very troubled souls, Joan Simms as well, who died a couple of years ago and never married (I don't know if she was gay), Terry Scott , and of course Sid's gambling and womanising.

Even in the film Three Hats For Lisa with Joe Brown Sid managed to score with the very young French actress Sophie Hardy in the film, his dogged persistence paying off every time as it apparently did with Babs Windsor later on! He wasn't the prettiest bloke in the world but he must have had something going for him!

There was an very good drama about some of the Carry On people on TV a while ago Cor Blimey and I caught the last half hour or so, and I thought it was very well done!

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

Fellwanderer

Just about my favourite, too. And yes, it was Kenneth Williams.

I was tempted to play on Memories - now there's a thought! - but decided it was simply too big an invitation for even further innuendo

I suppose, for many, it was simply a living even though we probably like to think of it as very glamorous.

FELL

All the best
FELL

A signature is no substitute for a life

samkydd

Well for anyone who hasn't seen it, Cor Blimey gives a pretty good insight, from what I saw of it. I also heard a Radio Lives broadcast on the life of Kenneth Williams and that is quite scary.

"...the chairman of Littlewoods stores made a Keynote speech!"

smudge

The new book, the complete A-Z Of Everything Carry On gives all the pay rates. Apparently Harry H. Corbett had the best recompense for SCREAMING, at £12000. He was at the height of his STEPTOE fame at the time.

The INFAMY gag was lifted wholesale from a radio comedy ; ROUND THE HORNE, I think, and they had to get the writers' permission.

Chas. Hawtrey struggled for years with his drinking, Kenny W. was a frustrated academic (amongst other things) but Joan Sims did have men in her life - she just put her career first.

COR BLIMEY ! wasn't at all bad ; Sid had that certain something with the ladies. Apparently he was a very old-fashioned, courteous and charming gent in their company - probably how he won them all.

SMUDGE

Welcome to my house. Enter freely, and of your own will...

Aenima

I was off work a couple of weeks ago and caught the book's author on daytime TV with the (still) lovely Valerie Leon. He was rattling off some of the payments the Carry On gang got. Was quite an eye opener.

It sounds like a good book for Carry-On buffs.

Cheers,
A

I'll 'av 'arf

Jackdaw

I seem to remember KW once complaining that in the 50's he was paid 'only' about £750 per movie.Mind you,that would have been considerably more than a man idly picking at the coal-face!

Cheers

Jacky