55-601: The Carry On series is a long-running British sequence of comedy films, stage shows and television programmes produced between 1958 and 1992. Distributed by Anglo-Amalgamated from 1958 to 1966, and the Rank Organisation from 1967 to 1978, the films were all made at Pinewood Studios . The series' humour relied largely on innuendo and double entendre . There were thirty-one films, four TV Christmas specials , one television series of thirteen episodes, and three West End and provincial stage plays, all made on time and to
110-526: A 14-year gap (1978–1992) between the 30th and 31st entries. (The James Bond film series is the longest-running, having started in 1962, four years after the first Carry On , though with fewer films.) Rogers and Thomas were responsible for all 31 films, usually on time and to a strict budget, and often employed the same crew — some of whom were also regulars on the James Bond series, such as Peter Lamont , Alan Hume , and Anthony Waye . Between 1958 and 1992,
165-426: A Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics' Award, The Richard Seff Award and a Tony Award nomination. Credits Off-Broadway include Travels with My Aunt (1995) (Drama Desk Award, Lucille Lortel Award, Outer Critics Award), Privates On Parade (1989), Comedians (2003) (Drama Desk Award nomination and a Lucille Lortel Award nomination) and Address Unknown (2004). Dale's other stage work includes The Taming of
220-497: A budget of £1.5 million, which was deemed too expensive – proved to be the end of the film and it was cancelled. The final proposed Carry On , before Peter Rogers's death in 2009, was Carry On London . Announced in 2003 by Rogers and producer James Black, it remained in pre-production well into 2008. The script was signed off by the production company in late March 2008, and "centred on a limousine company ferrying celebrities to an awards show". The film had several false starts, with
275-534: A large proportion of the location filming was undertaken close to the studios in and around south Buckinghamshire, including areas of Berkshire and Middlesex . However, by the late 1960s, at the height of the series' success, more ambitious plots occasionally necessitated locations further afield, which included Snowdonia National Park , Wales (with the foot of Snowdon standing in for the Khyber Pass in Carry On Up
330-420: A long-playing record, Oh! What a Carry On! (MFP MONO 1416), featuring songs performed by Kenneth Williams, Jim Dale, Kenneth Connor, Frankie Howerd, Bernard Bresslaw, Joan Sims, Barbara Windsor, and Dora Bryan . A 50-minute television documentary, What's a Carry On? , was made in 1998 for the 40th anniversary of the first film. It included archive clips, out-takes and interviews with surviving cast members. It
385-407: A number of VHSs were released in an eighteen VHS box-set on 1 September 2003. The film series was first released as a DVD box-set on 1 September 2008, by ITV Studios Home Entertainment. Five years later, on 7 October 2013, it was re-released with smaller packaging. All the movies contained in the collection are also available to buy individually. Since 2013, StudioCanal has released a number of
440-754: A one-night only concert version of the Sherman brothers musical Busker Alley alongside Glenn Close . This was a benefit for the York Theatre Company, and was held at Hunter College in New York City. He wrote and appeared in his one-man show, Just Jim Dale , looking back over nearly sixty years in show business. It opened on 15 May 2014 at the Roundabout Theatre Company Laura Pels Theatre, winning Dale his fifth Outer Critics Circle Award, and his fifth Drama Desk Award. It opened at
495-399: 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. Peter Rogers, the series' producer, acknowledged: "Kenneth was worth taking care of, because while he cost very little [...] he made a very great deal of money for the franchise." The Carry On series includes a broad cast across
550-825: A record ten Audie Awards including "Audio Book of the Year 2004" for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix , "Best Children's Narrator 2001/2005/2007/2008," "Best Children's Audio Book 2005," two Benjamin Franklin Awards from the Independent Book Publishers Association (one of these was in 2001 for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ) and 23 AudioFile Earphone Awards. The audio short series Dirty Potter uses sound editing of Dale's past voice work to narrate
605-449: A strict budget. Peter Rogers and Gerald Thomas were the series' sole producer and director respectively. They mostly employed the same crew and a regular group of actors . The main cast predominantly featured Sid James , Kenneth Williams , Charles Hawtrey , Joan Sims , Kenneth Connor , Peter Butterworth , Hattie Jacques , Terry Scott , Bernard Bresslaw , Barbara Windsor , Jack Douglas and Jim Dale . The Carry On s comprise
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#1732877060989660-635: A trombone player who thwarts orchestral conductor Kenneth Williams . However, he is best known in Britain for his appearances in eleven Carry On films , a long-running series of comedy farces, generally playing the hapless romantic lead. His Carry On career began in small roles: first as an expectant father in Carry On Cabby (1963), which was followed by Carry On Jack (1964). From Carry On Spying (1964) onwards, his roles were more substantial. Following Carry On Cleo (1964), his first principal role
715-606: A year. He narrated the Peter and the Starcatchers (2004) audio book, and its three sequels. In 2018, Dale narrated SPIN: The Rumpelstiltskin Musical by Edelman and Fishman , noted as being the first audiobook musical of its kind. SPIN was released by Harper Audio on 9 January 2018. The following year, Dale narrated Puss In Boots a Musical by Edelman and Fishman , adapted for the audiobook by Edelman, Fishman, and Khristine Hvam. It
770-554: Is a British comedy franchise comprising 31 films, four Christmas specials, a television series and stage shows produced between 1958 and 1992. Produced by Peter Rogers , the Carry On films were directed by Gerald Thomas and starred a regular ensemble that included Sid James , Kenneth Williams , Charles Hawtrey , Joan Sims , Kenneth Connor , Peter Butterworth , Hattie Jacques , Terry Scott , Bernard Bresslaw , Barbara Windsor , Jack Douglas , and Jim Dale . The humour of Carry On
825-649: Is an English actor, composer, director, narrator, singer and songwriter. In the United Kingdom he is known as a pop singer of the 1950s who became a leading actor at the National Theatre . In British film, along with Angela Douglas and Jacki Piper he is now one of just a few surviving actors to star in multiple Carry On films. Dale was also a leading actor on Broadway , where he had roles in Scapino , Barnum , Candide and Me and My Girl . He also narrated
880-507: The Daily Star Sunday that "we have got two new stories and we are looking to do one of the old ones again to bring it up to modern day quality – probably Carry On Sergeant " . Baker's company Carry On Films Ltd was later dissolved. The characters and comedy style of the Carry On film series were adapted to a television series titled Carry On Laughing , and several Christmas specials . In 1971, Music for Pleasure released
935-573: The Burton and Taylor epic Cleopatra (1963) but abandoned when production moved to Rome. Carry On Emmannuelle , inspired by the soft-porn Emmanuelle , brought to an end the original Carry On run. The stock-in-trade of Carry On humour was innuendo and the sending-up of British institutions and customs, such as the National Health Service ( Nurse , Doctor , Again Doctor , Matron and
990-431: The Carry On films is to say that they could be so much better done. This is true enough. They look dreadful, they seem to be edited with a bacon slicer, the effects are perfunctory, and the comic rhythm jerks along like a cat on a cold morning. But if all these things were more elegant, I do not really think the films would be more enjoyable: the badness is part of the funniness." Carry On (franchise) Carry On
1045-402: The Carry On films on Blu-ray, beginning with Carry On Screaming! (21 October 2013), Carry On Cleo (5 May 2014), Carry On Cowboy (2 June 2014) and Carry On Jack (7 July 2014). The success of the Carry On series occasionally led to affectionate parodies of the series by other contemporary comedians: Jim Dale Jim Dale MBE (born James Smith ; 15 August 1935)
1100-803: The Vaudeville Theatre in the West End in May 2015. Source: The New York Times Dale opened every episode of the ABC drama Pushing Daisies (2009) as the unseen narrator . In the United States, Jim Dale is known as the voice of the Harry Potter audiobooks, narrating the U.S. versions of all seven novels in the series. Dale's Harry Potter narrations are universally acclaimed. He won two Grammy Awards (in 2001 and 2008) and received seven Grammy nominations and
1155-559: The proposed Again Nurse ), the monarchy ( Henry ), the Empire ( Up the Khyber ), the armed forces ( Sergeant , England , Jack and the proposed Flying and Escaping ), the police ( Constable ) and the trade unions ( At Your Convenience ) as well as camping ( Camping ), foreign holidays ( Cruising , Abroad ), beauty contests ( Girls ), caravan holidays ( Behind ), and
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#17328770609891210-591: The 1976 film Carry On England . In 1969, the UK television channel ITV televised a Christmas special recorded by Thames Television ; entitled Carry On Christmas , it was watched by over eight million viewers. Subsequent Christmas specials were recorded in 1970, 1972 and 1973. In 1975, a 13-episode television series was commissioned by ATV for ITV. Carry On Laughing ran for two seasons, with six half-hour episodes in season one and seven in season two. The writer Penelope Gilliatt wrote: "The usual charge to make against
1265-476: The British comic traditions of music hall and bawdy seaside postcards . Many titles parodied more serious films, such as their tongue-in-cheek homages to James Bond ( Spying ), westerns ( Cowboy ), and Hammer horror films ( Screaming! ). The most impressive of these was Carry On Cleo (1964), in which the budget-conscious production team made full use of some impressive sets that had been created in 1960 for
1320-723: The Edinburgh Festivals in 1966 and 1967 for Frank Dunlop's Pop Theatre. He took over the part of Fagin in Cameron Mackintosh 's Oliver! at the London Palladium in September 1995. For his Broadway performances, Dale has been nominated for five Tony Awards , winning one for Barnum (1980) for which the New York Times described him as "The Toast of Broadway", also winning the second of five Drama Desk Awards, and
1375-663: The Khyber ), and the beaches of the Sussex coast doubling as Saharan sand dunes in Follow That Camel . Carry On Sergeant (1958) is about a group of recruits doing National Service ; its title, a command commonly issued by army officers to their sergeants in the course of their routine duties, was in keeping with its setting. The film was sufficiently successful to inspire a similar venture, again focusing on an established and respected profession in Carry On Nurse . When that too
1430-695: The Shrew as Petruchio with the Young Vic, London (1970) and the Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York (1974); The Music Man U.S. tour (1984), and The Invisible Man at the Cleveland Play House (1998). He played the part of Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York City, from 28 November to 27 December 2003. In November 2006 Dale starred as Charlie Baxter in
1485-630: The U.S. audiobooks for all seven novels in the Harry Potter series, for which he won two Grammy Awards . Dale appeared in the ABC series Pushing Daisies (2007–2009); he also starred in the Disney film Pete's Dragon (1977). He was nominated for a BAFTA Award for portraying a young Spike Milligan in Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall (1973). As a lyricist, Dale was nominated for both an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for
1540-507: The acidic Kenneth Williamsesque character), Jynine James , Lenny Henry , Justin Lee Collins , Jennifer Ellison (as the saucy Barbara Windsor type), Liza Tarbuck (paralleling Hattie Jacques), Meera Syal , James Dreyfus , and Frank Skinner (filling in the Sid James role). Despite new media interest and sets being constructed at Pinewood Studios, the film was once again put on hold, and
1595-403: The attempt was cancelled due to the financial loss of Carry On Emmannuelle . The final attempt to create Carry On Again Nurse came in 1988, with a script written by Norman Hudis . It was to revolve around a hospital set for closure, and set to star original actors Barbara Windsor , Jack Douglas , Kenneth Williams , Charles Hawtrey , Kenneth Connor and Joan Sims , with Sims filling in
1650-508: The education system ( Teacher ) amongst others. Although the films were very often panned by critics, they mostly proved very popular with audiences. In 2007, the pun "Infamy, infamy, they've all got it in for me", spoken by Kenneth Williams (playing Julius Caesar ) in Carry on Cleo , was voted the funniest one-line joke in film history. However, this line had originally been written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden for Jimmy Edwards in
1705-428: The films and other adaptations. A regular core ensemble cast included Sid James , Kenneth Williams , Charles Hawtrey , Joan Sims , Kenneth Connor , Peter Butterworth , Hattie Jacques , Bernard Bresslaw , Barbara Windsor , and Jim Dale . Several other films were planned, scripted (or partly scripted) or entered pre-production before being abandoned: An intended sub-sequel to the successful Carry On Nurse
Carry On series on screen and stage - Misplaced Pages Continue
1760-488: The first pop singer to work with Parlophone head George Martin . He achieved four hits on the UK Singles Chart ; "Be My Girl" (1957, UK No. 2), "Just Born (To Be Your Baby)" (1958, UK No. 27), "Crazy Dream" (1958, UK No. 24), and "Sugartime" (1958, UK No. 25). Dale recorded an album with Martin, Jim! (1958), and appeared contemporaneously as a presenter and performer on BBC Television 's Six-Five Special , but he
1815-601: The following year, it also made number 3 in Dale's native UK and Number 1 in Australia, going on to sell over 11 million records around the world. He also wrote lyrics for the title songs of the films The Winter's Tale , Shalako , Twinky ( Lola in the United States) and Joseph Andrews . He also wrote and recorded the song "Dick-a-Dum-Dum (King's Road)", which became a hit for Des O'Connor in 1969. Between 1957 and 1958, Dale
1870-520: The largest number of films of any British series and, next to the James Bond films, are the second-longest continually-running UK film series (with a fourteen-year hiatus between 1978 and 1992). Between 1958 and 1992, there were seven writers, principally Norman Hudis (1958–62) and Talbot Rothwell (1963–74). The films were scored by three different composers: Bruce Montgomery from 1958 to 1962; Eric Rogers (1963–75, 1977–78) and Max Harris who scored
1925-517: The most character voices for an audiobook (134 for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in 2003, followed by 146 voices for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 2007), though the record was later awarded to Roy Dotrice for his 2004 recording of A Game of Thrones . Dale opened every episode of the ABC drama Pushing Daisies as the unseen narrator . In the mid-1960s, Dale presented Children's Favourites on BBC Radio for
1980-454: The named director. At the 50th anniversary party held at Pinewood Studios in March 2008, Rogers confirmed that he was planning a series of Carry On films after London , subject to the success of the first. In early 2009, Carry On London or Carry On Bananas was once again 'back on', with Charlie Higson attached as director, and a different, more modern, cast list involving Paul O'Grady (as
2035-428: The policeman in the 1965 comedy film The Big Job with two of his regular Carry On co-stars, Sidney James and Joan Sims . In 1973, he appeared in the role of Spike Milligan in Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall , the film adaptation of the first volume of Spike Milligan 's autobiography. It starred Dale as the young Terence "Spike" Milligan, while Milligan himself plays the part of his father, Leo. Dale
2090-449: The producers and cast changing extensively over time. Only the little-known Welsh actress Jynine James remained a consistent name from 2003 to 2008. Danniella Westbrook , David Jason , Shaun Williamson and Burt Reynolds were also once attached to the project. It was announced in May 2006 that Vinnie Jones and Shane Richie were to star in the film, which was to be directed by Peter Richardson , though Ed Bye later replaced him as
2145-528: The project was abandoned after the death of Peter Rogers in April 2009. In May 2016, producer Jonathan Sothcott of Hereford Films announced plans for a new series of Carry On films, beginning with Carry On Doctors and Carry On Campus . On 12 April 2017, Sothcott confirmed to the website The Hollywood News that he was no longer involved with the film series. As of September 2019, three Carry On films were set to be filmed back-to-back, after Brian Baker won
2200-464: The radio series Take It From Here some years previously. A film had appeared in 1957 under the title Carry On Admiral ; although this was a comedy in similar vein (and even featured Joan Sims in the cast) it has no connection to the Carry On series itself. The much earlier 1937 film Carry On London is also unrelated (though it coincidentally starred future Carry On performer Eric Barker ). The cast were poorly paid—around £5,000 per film for
2255-564: The rights to the movies following a legal battle with ITV earlier that year. Production of the new films had been planned to take place in spring 2020. However, filming was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and little more was heard about the project until after the death of Barbara Windsor in December 2020, when Baker announced that he would be using old footage of the actress in the film, saying "Barbara will be making an appearance." Baker told
Carry On series on screen and stage - Misplaced Pages Continue
2310-476: The role of Matron that was previously held by Hattie Jacques . The end of the film was going to be a tribute to Jacques, with Sims turning around a photograph of the actress and asking "Well, did I do alright?" (the script is included in the book The Lost Carry Ons ). Production was scheduled to begin in June 1988, but the death of Williams two months previously, followed by that of Hawtrey six months later – combined with
2365-520: The second of five Outer Critics Awards. Other work includes Scapino (1974) (Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Award, Tony Award Nomination), A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1985) (Outer Critics Award, Tony Award Nomination), Me and My Girl (1986) Candide (1997) (Tony Award Nomination) and The Threepenny Opera (2006) for the Roundabout Theatre Company. Dale played Mister Peacham and won
2420-464: The series employed seven writers, most often Norman Hudis (1958–1962) and Talbot Rothwell (1963–1974). Anglo Amalgamated Film Distributors Ltd produced 12 films (1958–1966), and the Rank Organisation made 18 (1966–1978), while United International Pictures produced one (1992). All films were made at Pinewood Studios near Iver Heath , Buckinghamshire . Budgetary constraints meant that
2475-649: The series. The series is a parody narrated by a "re-imagined" version of Dale, and its content was created without Dale's input. He narrates the Harry Potter video games and many of the interactive "extras" on the Harry Potter DVD releases. He also holds one current and two former Guinness World Records . He holds one current record for occupying the first six places in the Top Ten Audio Books of America and Canada 2005. Previously, he held records for creating
2530-530: The song " Georgy Girl ", the theme for the 1966 film of the same title . Dale was born James Smith, to William Henry and Miriam Jean ( née Wells) Smith in Rothwell, Northamptonshire . He was educated at Kettering Grammar School . He trained as a dancer for six years before his debut as a stage comic in 1951. He completed two years of national service in the Royal Air Force . At the age of 22, Dale became
2585-838: The variety music halls. In 1970 Sir Laurence Olivier invited Dale to join the National Theatre Company in London, then based at the Old Vic . At the Young Vic Theatre, he created the title role in Scapino (ca. 1970), which he co-adapted with Frank Dunlop , and played Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew . His other UK credits include The Card (1973), and The Wayward Way in London. He appeared in The Winter's Tale as Autolycus and A Midsummer Night's Dream as Bottom at
2640-466: Was Carry On Cowboy (1965), set in the Wild West , where he played an immigrant English sanitary engineer called Marshall P. Knutt who is mistakenly hired as a police marshal . Then came Carry On Screaming! (1966), Don't Lose Your Head (1966), Follow That Camel (1967), Carry On Doctor (1967), Carry On Again Doctor (1969) and the 1992 revival Carry On Columbus . Dale played Harold,
2695-431: Was in the British comic tradition of music hall and bawdy seaside postcards . The success of the films led to several spin-offs, including four Christmas television specials (1969–1973), a 1975 television series of 13 episodes, a West End stage show and two provincial summer shows. The Carry On series contains the largest number of films of any British film franchise, and is the second longest running, albeit with
2750-532: Was included as an extra on the DVD release of Carry On Emmannuelle . A two-hour radio documentary, Carry On Forever! , presented by Leslie Phillips , was broadcast in two parts on BBC Radio 2 on 19 and 20 July 2010. A three-part television retrospective with the same title, narrated by Martin Clunes , was shown on ITV3 in the UK over Easter 2015. The Carry On film series has had numerous individual releases on VHS, and
2805-624: Was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles for his performance. He played Dr. Terminus in Walt Disney 's Pete's Dragon (1977). In the 1978 Walt Disney comedy film Hot Lead and Cold Feet he played three characters, including both lead male parts, whilst 1973 saw him co-star in The National Health . At the age of 17, Dale became one of the youngest professional comedians in Britain, touring all
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#17328770609892860-570: Was renamed and made as Carry On Doctor in 1967. Carry On Nurse was alluded to twice in Carry On Doctor , firstly with the sub-titles (one reading Nurse Carries On Again and Death of a Daffodil ), and again in a later scene with Frankie Howerd commenting on a vase of daffodils in his hospital room. A second attempt at Carry On Again Nurse came in 1979, after the series left Rank Films and moved to Hemdale. A completed script had been written by George Layton and Jonathan Lynn in 1977, but
2915-434: Was successful, further forays with Carry On Teacher and Carry On Constable established the series. This initial 'pattern' was broken with the fifth film in 1961, Carry On Regardless , but it still followed a similar plot to that of many of the early films—a small group of misfit newcomers to a job make comic mistakes, but come together to succeed in the end. The remainder of the series developed with increased use of
2970-610: Was the compère for Stanley Dale's National Skiffle Contest , a touring music competition. Dale's film debut was in Break-In (1956), a War Office information film. He next appeared in Six Five Special (1958), a spin-off from the BBC TV series of the same title. This film was also released under the name Calling All Cats . He then had a tiny role in the comedy Raising the Wind (1961) as
3025-645: Was vocal about comedy aspirations and his career as a teen idol was ultimately short-lived. As a songwriter, Dale is best remembered as the lyricist for the film theme " Georgy Girl ", for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song in 1966. The song (performed by the Seekers ) reached number 2 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart
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