60 years of Carry On films
As the Carry On films mark a milestone of making us laugh, we look at the history behind the humour and some of our favourite stars
Ooh matron! Can you really believe it’s been 60 years since Carry On first caused a riot on our screens with its unique mix of saucy innuendos, corny one-liners and blatant slapstick? Over 31 iconic films, four Christmas specials and a television series, Carry On has been making us belly laugh for six decades and remains as popular today with audiences as it was in its heyday. It all began in 1958, the year of the last Ealing comedy, when producer Peter Rogers and director Gerald Thomas created a black and white film, in the vein of an Ealing comedy but with smaller budgets, and actors from radio and TV. This first film, Carry On Sergeant, was based on a
play called The Bull Boys, but took inspiration from the popular ITV sitcom, The Army Game, depicting life in National Service. While less bawdy than the movies that came next, this first film became an unexpected hit, so much so that a string of similar films soon followed. Scriptwriter Norman Hudis left after six years and was replaced by Talbot Rothwell, who turned up the innuendo dial, making the comedy more blue and bringing the leering Sid James character to the fore. He brought in historically-based comedies such as Carry On Cleo, sending up ancient Rome and Egypt.
But whether in historical costumes or modern, nothing went untouched by the Carry On team’s lampooning, from the NHS to the monarchy. At least one new Carry On film came out every year until 1979, with Carry On up the Khyber in 1968 and Carry On Camping in 1969 becoming the biggest commercial hits. While other homegrown British comedy series, such as St Trinians, were doing well at the box office at about the same time, the difference with Carry On was that the comedies weren’t sequels based on recurring characters or locations. Instead, each film had its own unique story and set of actors, with little continuation from the last film apart from the odd injoke. Every film was done to the tightest of budgets – the producers tried to keep costs low by not having a single star – and they were filmed at lightning speed, often less than six weeks. But it was this simplicity and topicality thanks to their short shooting period that afforded them a big part of their charm and appeal. Sadly, that appeal waned in the late Seventies and after 1978 only one film was made – Carry On Columbus – in 1992 in a vain attempt to revive it. But we’ve carried on watching the old classics on repeat ever since and there have been whispers of a rebooted Carry On film series, created by the writers of Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps. Watch this space…