Displaying items by tag: Joan Sims

CARRY ON COWBOY

UK, 1965, 93 minutes, Colour.

Sidney James, Kenneth Williams, Jim Dale, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Angela Douglas, Bernard Bresslaw, Peter Butterworth, Percy Herbert, Jon Pertwee.

Directed by Gerald Thomas.

One of the advantages for this episode in the Carry on a series is that audiences are so familiar with westerns. And, underlying the Carry on humour here, there is a basic plot that could have been in any of the westerns over the decades, a gunfighter, the mayor, the sheriff, the saloon, the Madame, the gamblers, the singers, cattle rustling, the new marshall, the confrontations and the shootout. All very familiar, but generally always welcome with audiences.

So, how does the British cast handle being characters in a Western? And, their accents? Sid James is the gunfighter, with a roving eye and a leer. But, most interestingly, there is Kenneth Williams doing his usual shtick but with a huge moustache and with a heavy American accent (which he said was based on the American director, Hal Roach). And, Joan Sims does her bit as the madame, while Angela Douglas, to appear in several Carry on films, is Annie Oakley.

There is a lot of play on names like Marshall P. Knut. And a joke with Charles Hawtrey being the Indian chief, glasses, British accent and his usual comic style, Big Heap and the large Bernard Bresslaw as Little Heap (looking back one hopes the comedy overcomes any racial offensiveness).

So, the usual jokes and puns, the innuendo, a lot of physical comedy and pratfalls, and variations on the familiar American Western conventions.

And, in retrospect, as with most of the Carry on films, many bloggers saying it is the best and some saying it is the worst. (This reviewer was favourable.)

CARRY ON CLEO

UK, 1964, 90 minutes, Colour.

Sid James, Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims, Jim Dale, Charles Hawtrey, Amanda Barrie, Victor Maddern, Julie Stevens, Sheila Hancock, Jon Pertwee, Frances DeWolff, Warren Mitchell.

Directed by Gerald Thomas.

The late 1950s to the 1980s, the Carry On… franchise was extraordinarily popular

 Most of the films were produced by Peter Rogers and directed by Gerald Thomas – and a few other films during this period, not Carry on comedies, but British comedies for the wide audience. The rite of this film was Talbot Roth will who began writing comedy sketches as a prisoner of war and putting on reviews, satirical touches, wordplay, Devil traditions, and risk a. He would continue to write many more of the Carry on comedies.

Many audiences, Carry on Cleo is one of the best. It has rather lavish sets and costumes – some noting that they were leftovers from production preparation for Cleopatra, with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. In fact, this film came out the year after Cleopatra’s release, Amanda Barrie made to look like a variation on Elizabeth Taylor, some parody of the extravagant film, the bath with asses milk, and the rolling of Cleopatra out of the carpet – but, this time, with accidental crash results.

The film relies on audience appreciation of historical spectacles, the early sequences of Caesar trying to conquer Britain and the rather primitive Britain’s and their way of life, the attack, many of them going as prisoners to Rome as slaves – with the slave market sequence and Warren Mitchell representing the slave company, Marcus and Spence serious!

One of the advantages of the Carry on films was the constant cast (though Hattie Jacques is missing from this film). Sid James is just himself as Marc Anthony, Tony to his friends, with Kenneth Williams is a most unlikely Julius Caesar. Kenneth, is one of the captured British, based on the tales of An guest and Horse, Connor, by accident a hero and promoted to Caesar’s guard. (, Relies on his ability to do all kinds of impersonations, especially effective in Watch Your Stern.) Jim Dale is a pleasant leader of the slaves.

There are all kinds of puns, some of them very obvious with the audience waiting for them to be pronounced, quite a lot of innuendo. One of the most famous and everybody comments on it, so also here, Kenneth Williams Caesar about to be assassinated, “infamy, infamy, they have all got it in for me”. And there is a running joke of everybody adding countrymen to Caesar’s exasperation when he starts off “friends, Romans…”. In the final corny joke at his death, playing on the Latin, I came, I saw, I conked out.

Which means then that while this could be considered as lowbrow comedy (and many did), it entertains the lowbrow in all of us.

THE BIG JOB

UK, 1965, 89 minutes, Colour.

Sid James, Sylvia Syms, Dick Emery, Joan Sims, Lance Perceval, Jim Dale, Deryck Guyler, Reginald Beckwith,

Directed by Gerald Thomas.

It looks as though that in the middle of making all the Carry On films, Gerald Thomas and many of his stars decided to have something of a break, restrain, somewhat more respectable, British comedy. And this was the mid-1960s.

One might say that this Big Job is a series of robbery muddles, all kinds of tangles. It is 1950. Sid James is the leader of a motley group, Lance Perceval as the member of the group who is not the sharpest, Sylvia Sims offering the touch of glamour and romance, and, particularly effective, Dick Emery before his television show.

All of these muddles this are presented in a farcical style, especially the initial robbery, everything going wrong that could, then a whole lot of opportunities for success, and escape, travelling in a hearse, mourning cars following, but eventually cornered by the police and throwing a bag of the loot into a hollow tree.

Then, prison, 15 years, out they come to retrieve the money, teaming up with Sylvia Sims again who has her eye on marriage. However, Sid James can say all the words but one might say he is completely asexual, no romance, nothing erotic… Just complete dedication to get the money back.

As they work out where they were arrested and go back, all kinds of complications and funny situations, a housing settlement being built up rather than the open countryside, the tree now within the precincts of the local police station, the hiring rooms opposite with an overview of the tree and the station, even stealing a telescope to keep watch. There is also some romance with the lady of the house where they rent, a widow, but casting her eye on Dick Emery. And, the guest living there is one of the local young policeman, Jim Dale.

So, a whole lot of shenanigans, mostly impossible, especially the digging of a huge tunnel from under the house, under the Street, the police station.

And, when they do get the bag back – a surprise for them as well as for the audience! And the double life of the landlady!

A film to gauge the popular response of the wide audience to this kind of British comedy in the 1960s.

WATCH YOUR STERN

UK, 1960, 90 minutes, Black-and-white.

Kenneth Connor, Eric Barker, Leslie Phillips, Joan Sims, Noel Purcell, Hattie Jacques, Spike Milligan, Eric Sykes, Sid James, David Lodge, Victor Maddern, Ed Devereux.

Directed by Gerald Thomas.

Very much a comedy from the British past, especially around 1960. The late 50s saw the beginning of the Carry On franchise, 17 movies and television program as well as documentaries. And, there is the big cast of British comedy actors who continually appeared in the Carry On series.

And the Carry on films were directed by Gerald Thomas. And, he is the director of Watch Your Stern. And several of the Carry On stars appear here, the film as a star vehicle for regular Kenneth Connor, some prominence for Joan Sims, bumptious comedy role again for Hattie Jacques, and a rather more serious cameo for Sid James including having a beard. And one of the pleasures is to see Eric Sykes and Spike Milligan in cameo roles as electricians, Spike Milligan doing an Indian accent – and very popular with The Goon Show during these years. Australian Ed Devereux, working in British films at this time appears as an American!

The film starts momentarily seriously, the launching of an experimental torpedo by the Navy – but, then its getting out of control and boomeranging back to destroy the ship!

The action takes place more or less over the next 24 hours, and a poking fun at some of the Navy personnel and their limitations. (At the same time, the comedy On the Fiddle, with Alfred Lynch and Sean Connery, set during the war, pokes fun at a lot of the ineptitudes in connection with the RAF.)

Eric Barker maintains his seriousness as the less than efficient captain of the ship, relying on his second in command, Leslie Phillips in a typical role. And, on board, is one of the ratings who has a great knowledge of electronics and its vocabulary, Blissworth, Kenneth Connor’s character.

Blissworth seems to be in and out of the captain’s office all the time, but with many mishaps, especially the burning of the main copy of the plans for the torpedo. The only other copy is with the American visitor – and Blissworth having to chase him on a bicycle, accidentally knocking over the Admiral, not allowed to enter the train because of security reasons…

The main part of the film is having Blissworth do two impersonations of an expert being interviewed by the Admiral. The first is as a Scottish scientist, with a beard, care of some of the facial hair taken from Sid James’ character. And, fortunately, the Captain’s sister, played nicely by Joan Sims, is preparing the Navy concert and is able to do make up and costuming.

Noel Purcell is the blustering Admiral, suspicious of the Scottish expert (who looks like the later Scots actor, Brian Cox). Lots of comedy in his explanations. But, then it appears that the expert they were expecting is actually woman, Hattie Jacques. Which means that Blissworth has to be made up as a woman, the admiral very flirtatious.

So, how could it possibly end? In fact with Blissworth making a comment about the technology and the expert appreciating his advice, their working together, and a finale with the torpedo being fired again… and.

This is more straightforward comedy, especially compared with the satire and innuendo of the Carry On series – and, while this series was popular, this kind of comedy had a wider appeal.