DIDN’T THEY BRING US SUNSHINE!
50 years after The Morecambe & Wise Show first made us chuckle, unseen photos remind us . . .
ONE glance at their faces is enough to make you chuckle. More than the silliness of their antics, it’s the sheer innocence of their humour that shines through. These publicity stills of Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise, released by the BBC to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the duo’s move from commercial TV to Broadcasting House, are a glowing reminder of what comedy used to be — warm, friendly and infectious.
And they are a delightful keepsake of the rich friendship between two ridiculously talented performers, who had loyally stuck beside each other since their teens during World War II.
They’d had bouts of stardom and disastrous flops, a series of movies that made them household names followed by catastrophic ill health.
Through it all, their partnership never wavered: when Eric was recovering from a near-fatal heart attack in 1968, Ernie took solo work and split the fees with his old chum.
After they returned to TV in 1968, finding a home at the BBC and a new comedy style with writer Eddie Braben, the duo radiated a renewed joy for life.
Millions of viewers who tuned in to watch their Saturday night shows and their Christmas specials felt it too. Today, looking at these pictures, that seems to shine through more strongly than ever.
These are two comic masters enjoying every moment of their work, bursting with childlike delight. They know how lucky they are to have each other. They know how many years they slogged for success that seemed unattainable.
NOW they have it, and they’re not going to waste a moment of it. Theirs was a comedy that simply doesn’t exist on television today — without cynicism, without political correctness, without foul language or nastiness.
Look at the boys’ faces in that snapshot of highwayman Dick Turpin and a damsel in distress. Later in the scene, Eric is mugging astride an elaborate prop, with his leather boots sticking out at impossible right angles from his collapsed horse.
But the simple joke works best: Eric has got his spectacles on over his eyemask. It’s such a daft touch, set off by that gormless smile.
And there’s Little Ern, his fluffy chest and shoulders left bare by the pink ruffles of his costume.
The set-up would work just as well in a sketch today, if they were playing Cap’n Poldark and Demelza.
That eager moment on the sofa at their flat, hauling up their shirts for actress Ann Hamilton — today it would bring howls of anguish about ‘inappropriate behaviour’ from the joyless sentinels of the permanently offended.
The truth, though, is that these two men in their late 40s were behaving as gleefully as little children, playing a game of doctors and nurses. How about that unposed moment with the trumpet, both of them on the brink of helpless laughter? It looks like a rehearsal shot, because Eric isn’t wearing a tie.
Ernie, as always, not only has a tie, but cufflinks, gold watch and a breast pocket handkerchief. Eric was no trumpeter, so the instrument is a prop.
And his look of triumphant happiness, mouth wide open, tells us he has just delivered a perfect ad lib, a gag that wasn’t in the script.
Look at Ern, trying not to laugh, struggling to deliver his line and knowing he’s not going to make it — in another split-second, he’s going to crack up with laughter. Above all, they never took themselves too seriously.
See Eric as Sooty the bear, with puppeteer Harry Corbett, and the real Sooty perched on his shoulder. All he has to do is assume an air of hurt dignity, and it’s hilarious — Harry and Ern are both sporting broad grins. That costume must have been hot, though: Eric’s face
is glistening with sweat. Anyone can see what fun they’re having. It’s one of the reasons celebrity guests clamoured to be on their shows.
In the Cossack hats, there’s American singer Diane Solomon, while Australian Keith Michell is the actor joining the duo for a Foreign Legion adventure in the Sahara sands, complete with deckchair and inflatable duck.
Of all these glorious images, it’s the one of them sunbathing in shorts that sums them up best. For a start, you know Ern has been subjected to constant teasing about his ‘short, fat, hairy legs’.
Then there’s the hoops in the hems of Eric’s shorts, designed for waggling. The finishing touch is his footwear: office shoes polished to a high shine, and long socks hauled high by his sock suspenders.
Who wears sock suspenders these days? Come to that, who else could make you laugh out loud, with nothing more than their bare knees? As Eric would say, there’s no answer to that.