It’s silly, bawdy, in many cases badly and cheaply made, yet Carry On… is still wonderful, giving us some of the biggest stars in comedy history, launching careers, giving work to old actors who need it and generally being British.
Without Carry On…, we would have no Barbara Windsor. Kenneth Williams would never have become so well known, Sid James might have languished as a serious movie actor gangster type, Frankie Howerd might never have been Lurcio… the list is endless.
So it’s good to know that the old stars – mostly co-stars or stars of the later films these days – get together to celebrate anniversaries still, and Leslie Phillips, producer Peter Rogers, Valerie Leon, Frank Thornton, Dora Bryan, Anita Harris, Bill Maynard, Shirley Eaton and Fenella Fielding are all expected, along with Norman Hudis, the scriptwriter that gave us the first 6 films, which started with Carry On Sergeant, starring William Hartnell and ably assisted by Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Hattie Jacques – staples of the later films.
Give me double entendre over Ricky Gervais any day of the week…