Of course the Carry On film franchise didn't come to an end
when its long-term scriptwriter Talbot 'Tolly' Rothwell’s contract came to an
end with ‘Dick’, in 1974.
After stuttering on for another four films, there would be a
break of some fourteen years until what, so far, has become the series finale,
‘Columbus ’.
The ‘big four’ from the past to join the project were Jim
Dale, Bernard Cribbins, Leslie Phillips and June Whitfield.
The reviews were as disappointing as the film itself, but
what of the thoughts of the cast? The closest I came to an answer was having the
opportunity to quiz Julian Clary.
The unplanned meeting was a few years back at the Sussex
Arts Club, a private members establishment in Brighton .
At the time Julian was looking to retire to the country and
write books. He'd had enough of the endless touring and showbiz glitz.
It was a sedentary lifestyle he was to soon to tire of, and
it wasn't long - five years to be precise - before his next tour.
At the time of 'Columbus ,'
Julian told me, he would delight in 'shocking people'. That some people
'deserved to be shocked.' And ‘wasn't upsetting the apple cart what the Carry
Ons were all about anyway?'
Julian believed, quite rightly, that his suggestive and
middle-England bothering style of humour was very much of the Tolly Rothwell
genre. Julian adored the double entendres packed Tolly scripts.
He also loved Tolly’s many great comedy moments that brought
the very best out of Frankie Howerd, in Up Pompeii.
And it was with Frankie that he seemingly identified the
most. Julian admitted to the same self-doubts and anxieties, as well as the
promiscuous early years as a blossoming gay man.
So when the call came with an offer of a part of in
‘Columbus’ the fact that Frankie was to be on board was a big plus point. Sadly
the great man passed away just two days before filming got underway.
Julian wouldn’t be drawn on the negative sides of the
experience, just that it had been an honour to be asked and subsequently
involved.
If he’d been born twenty years earlier, no-doubt Julian
would have stood side-by-side with Frankie, Sid James, Kenneth Williams et al.
As it was, the true Carry On spirit was pensioned off at the same time Tolly
called it a day.
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