Aside from the fact that the cast list is missing big hitters such as Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims and Bernard Bresslaw, Carry on Cabby also stands out from the other series entries for another reason.
The role of the ship's cook Wilfred Haines was originally intended for Charles Hawtrey, but was re-written for Lance Percival, after Hawtrey quit in a dispute with the producer over billing and pay. He also demanded a gold star on his dressing room door.
On 27 June 2001, ten minutes before she died, Holland spoke to her gently about Kenneth Williams, Hattie Jacques and their time on the Carry On films. Sims died from liver failure and diverticulitis, with diabetes and COPD cited as contributory factors.
Joan Sims(1930-2001) Joan Sims, the "First Lady of Carry On", was born Irene Joan Marion Sims on 9 May 1930. The daughter of an Essex railway station master, Joan was interested in pursuing show-business, and soon became a familiar face in a growing number of amateur productions.
Joan Sims Died 20 Years Ago, Now We Know Why She Never Married
Who is left out of the Carry On films?
The final surviving regular actor who had a lead role in the films is Jim Dale. Now aged 87, Dale - who is also a singer, comedian, narrator, and author - made his first appearance in 1963's Carry on Cabby.
James and Sims are ridiculously old for their roles as a courting couple still trying to get to first base (he was fifty-five, she thirty-eight), as is Barbara Windsor as a naughty schoolgirl (she was thirty-one!).
'Carry On' legend Jim Dale, 79, has lifted the lid on the tensions between the cast of the classic British comedy series and revealed how they snubbed him when he was on 'This Is Your life'.
The cast were poorly paid—around £5,000 per film for a principal performer. In his diaries Kenneth Williams lamented this, and criticised several of the movies despite his declared fondness for the series as a whole.
Emmannuelle marked the end of an era; not only was it the last film for fourteen years, but it was also the last film of the series to star Peter Butterworth, Kenneth Williams, Kenneth Connor and Joan Sims.
This was the first film in the series to feature Carry On regular Jim Dale, and the first not to feature Kenneth Williams in the cast. Williams turned down the role of Allbright due to what he considered an inferior script. The part was scaled down, and given to Norman Chappell.
What was the real name of the ship in Carry On Cruising?
The SS Happy Wanderer is the cruise ship and after this voyage, Crowther hopes to get a job as captain on a transatlantic ship, promising the cruise crew members their jobs will be safe under the new captain.
1962's "Carry On Cruising" (the 5th in the iconic Brit-com 'Carry On' series (not counting clip compilation 'Carry On Regardless')) was again written by Norman Hudis and directed by Gerald Thomas (with his bro Ralph this time) BUT was the first to be shot in colour (gloriously) AND it shed many previous regulars while ...
The most prolific were the neurotic Kenneth Williams (26 appearances), the libidinous Sid James (19) and the campy Charles Hawtrey (23), while there was formidable female support from Joan Sims (24), Hattie Jacques (14) and Barbara Windsor (10).
From that initial outing to the dreadful Carry on Columbus in 1992, 31 films were produced in total, raking in a ton of money from limited budgets, turning its core “Carry On Team” into national treasures and, most importantly, making a lot of people laugh along the way. The series was an instant success.
The Carry On film series primarily consists of 31 British comedy films (1958–92) but also four Christmas specials, a television series of thirteen episodes, and three West End and provincial stage plays. The films' humour was in the British comic tradition of the bawdy seaside postcards.
Phil Silvers was paid £30,000 for his role, making him by far, the highest paid star in the history of the series, which provoked a great deal of animosity among the regular Carry On team. The location filming took three weeks, the longest in Carry On history.
Renowned for being low-budget, the producers didn't venture too far from Pinewood Studios with many of the locations being situated in Slough, Windsor, Maidenhead and other areas close to the world-famous studio.
The original Carry On films are owned by STUDIOCANAL, ITV - who own the Carry On name - and Warner Brothers. Further details about the new films will be revealed in due course.
Come back Pamela Anderson-meets-Frank Spencer Barbara, Barbara who warned Kenneth Williams on the set of Carry On Spying not to "yell at me with your Fenella Fielding minge hair stuck round your chops. I won't bloody stand for it." (And how Kenneth Williams balked with joy upon hearing it).
Why wasn't Sid James in Carry On Follow That Camel?
In 1967, James was intending to play Sergeant Nocker in Follow That Camel, but was already committed to recording the TV series George and the Dragon (1966–1968) for ATV, then one of the ITV contractors. James was replaced in Follow That Camel by the American comic actor Phil Silvers.
Like Sturges, I wouldn't dismiss the Carry Ons from British cultural history, or histories of the British film industry. Profitably, they were even popular in America – Carry On Nurse especially was a barnstorming success with gross profits in the multiple millions.
Gerald Thomas informed the Board that the footage was taken from the film Nudist Paradise, which the BBFC passed A in 1959 (albeit with a different audio commentary), so there were no further issues.
Her death has left means that there is just one of the regular cast members still alive 62 years after the series started. The final surviving regular actor who had a lead role in the films is Jim Dale.
