Читать книгу The Complete A–Z of Everything Carry On - Richard Webber - Страница 7

Values and attitudes are not immutable, particularly as the years slip by and society evolves, yet people’s views on the Carry On films remain seemingly constant through the generations. The unrestrainable Carry On franchise marches on, unaffected by changing fashions in an increasingly cynical world. Unashamed of its blatantly simplistic formula and unmoved in an atmosphere increasingly blinded by the political correctness brigade, the winning amalgam of sight gags, ludicrous plots, exaggerated characterisations and increasingly innuendo-laden scripts has entertained millions for nigh on fifty years. While other offerings from the comedy genre have become embarrassingly outdated, the antics of Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques, Joan Sims et al. remain fresh, accessible and have now attracted cult status.

The Carry Ons were a lean slice of British comedy: there was no fat, no unessential baggage in the scripts, performances or direction; they were never going to win an Oscar but, to be honest, no one intended them to. Each tightly packaged product didn’t need to aspire to such dramatic heights because they were worth their weight in gold for what they set out to be: simple, fun and sure to pack the auditoriums around the country. They are not to everyone’s liking, of course; there are those who regard the Carry Ons as smutty and sexist, but the vast majority of the viewing public looked forward to the next instalment in the film series. Medical romps were always popular, as were historical capers, but one of the essential ingredients in the success of the movies was their predictability: audiences loved knowing they’d see their favourite actor playing the same old role, such as Hattie Jacques as an imperious matron. The films evolved but retained their charm, although later entries – England, Emmannuelle and Columbus – were pallid versions of their predecessors, lacking many of the trademarks epitomising a true Carry On.

Original writer Norman Hudis was able to interweave hilarious situations with moments of pathos. Take the tearjerking final scenes in Sergeant, when the hard taskmaster, Sergeant Grimshaw, upon retiring from the army after seeing his final intake march away as a champion platoon, is presented with a cigarette lighter by the lads. Personally, I missed these moments of gravitas once Hudis headed to the States and was replaced by Mister Double Entendre himself, Talbot Rothwell, heralding a new era in the history of the Carry Ons and a difference in the approach. The comedy became more cheeky but was embraced with a warmth unrivalled by any series of comedy films produced. The saucy seaside-postcard humour appealed to the British masses and each production displayed an indefinable charm; nowadays, attempts to recreate the magic and atmosphere which surrounded the films would never succeed.

Despite the many other pictures Rogers and Thomas brought to the silver screen, it’s the Carry On films with which they’re most associated. When an unwanted script about the love of two ballet dancers, entitled The Bull Boys, landed on Rogers’ desk in the mid-1950s, the success story began. The basic premise of national service was adopted and Norman Hudis employed to write a screenplay entitled Carry On Sergeant. Costing £74,000 to produce, it became one of the top box-office successes of 1958, and was quickly followed by Nurse, the highest-earning film in Britain during 1959; it also gained plaudits in America, where it played at cinemas for over two years. The success story had well and truly begun.

Richard Webber

Minehead – September 2005