The ''

Carry On Carry On may refer to: * ''Carry On'' (franchise), a British comedy media franchise *Carry-on luggage or hand luggage, luggage that is carried into the passenger compartment * ''Carry On'' (film), a 1927 British silent film * ''Carry On'' (novel), ...

'' series is a long-running British sequence of comedy films, stage shows and television programmes produced between 1958 and 1992. Distributed by

Anglo-Amalgamated Anglo-Amalgamated Productions was a British film production company, run by Nat Cohen and Stuart Levy, which operated from 1945 until roughly 1971 (after which it was absorbed into EMI Films). Low-budget and second features, often produced at M ...

from 1958 to 1966, and the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation was a British entertainment conglomerate founded by industrialist J. Arthur Rank in April 1937. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the United Kingdom, owning production, distrib ...

from 1967 to 1978, the films were all made at Pinewood Studios. The series' humour relied largely on

innuendo An innuendo is a hint, insinuation or intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called insinuation), that works obliquely by allusion ...

and

double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, of which one is typically obvious, whereas the other often conveys a message that would be too socially ...

. 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 a strict budget.

Peter Rogers Peter Rogers (20 February 1914 – 14 April 2009) was an English film producer. He is best known for his involvement in the making of the ''Carry On'' series of films. Life and career Rogers began his career as a journalist for his loc ...

and

Gerald Thomas Gerald Thomas (10 December 1920 – 9 November 1993) was an English film director, best known for the long-running '' Carry On'' series of British film comedies. Biography Born in Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, Thomas was educated i ...

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 Sidney James (born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a British actor and comedian whose career encompassed radio, television, stage and screen. He was best known for numerous roles in the Carry On film series. Born to a mi ...

Kenneth Williams Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was an English actor of Welsh heritage. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 '' ...

, Charles Hawtrey,

Joan Sims Irene Joan Marion Sims (9 May 1930 – 27 June 2001) was an English actress, best remembered for her roles in the ''Carry On'' franchise, appearing in 24 of the films (the most for any actress). On television, she is known for playing Gran i ...

Kenneth Connor Kenneth Connor, (6 June 1918 – 28 November 1993) was a British stage, film and broadcasting actor, who rose to national prominence with his appearances in the ''Carry On'' films. Early life Connor was born in Highbury, Islington, London ...

Peter Butterworth Peter William Shorrocks Butterworth (4 February 1915''Prisoner of War Co ...

Hattie Jacques Hattie Jacques (; born Josephine Edwina Jaques; 7 February 1922 – 6 October 1980) was an English comedy actress of stage, radio and screen. She is best known as a regular of the ''Carry On'' films, where she typically played strict, no-non ...

Terry Scott Owen John "Terry" Scott (4 May 1927 – 26 July 1994) was an English actor and comedian who appeared in seven of the ''Carry On films''. He is also best known for appearing in the BBC1 sitcom ''Terry and June'' with June Whitfield. Early lif ...

, Bernard Bresslaw,

Barbara Windsor Dame Barbara Windsor (born Barbara Ann Deeks; 6 August 193710 December 2020) was an English actress, known for her roles in the Carry On (franchise), ''Carry On'' films and for playing Peggy Mitchell in the BBC One soap opera, ''EastEnders''.

, Jack Douglas and

Jim Dale Jim Dale (born James Smith; 15 August 1935) 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 Britis ...

. The ''Carry On''s comprise the largest number of films of any British series and, next to the ''

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

'' 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 Talbot Nelson Conn “Tolly” Rothwell, OBE (12 November 1916 – 28 February 1981) was an English screenwriter. Life and career Rothwell was born in Bromley, Kent, England. He had a variety of jobs during his early life: town clerk, poli ...

(1963–74). The films were scored by three different composers: Bruce Montgomery from 1958–62; Eric Rogers (1963–75, 1977–78) and Max Harris who scored the 1976 film '' Carry On England''. In 1969, the UK television channel ITV televised a Christmas special recorded by

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

; 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 : ''This article describes the all-original 1975 TV series. Not to be confused with the later "Carry On" film-clip compilations or the stage play of the same name''. ''Carry On Laughing'' is a British television comedy series produced in 1975 ...

'' ran for two seasons, with six half-hour episodes in season one and seven in season two. The writer

Penelope Gilliatt Penelope Gilliatt (; born Penelope Ann Douglass Conner; 25 March 1932 – 9 May 1993) was an English novelist, short story writer, screenwriter, and film critic. As one of the main film critics for ''The New Yorker'' magazine in the 1960s an ...

wrote: "The usual charge to make against 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.""In praise of Carrying on", ''The Observer'', 9 August 1964, p. 23

Filmography

Television

Stage shows

References

Sources

* * * * * * *

External links

Carry On Films at The Whippit Inn

What a Carry On

Carry On Forever

Carry on Films
at

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