War Of The Carry Ons: Kenneth Williams vs Sid James

Sid James was wandering the perimeter of the small paddock that sat at the rear of Talbot 'Tolly' Rothwell's house. Tolly was, at the time, deep into his stint of being screenwriter to twenty-two of the iconic Carry On films series.

Sid was alone and looking somewhat haggard as I slipped out into the midday summer's sun and sat on a small bench at the side of the paddock.

He was dressed in khaki coloured slacks and an open lose fitting untucked check shirt. His sandals, like much of what he was wearing, looked very much on their last legs.

For at least ten minutes Sid kept his distance and remained deep in thought. From inside Tolly's house the sound of Kenneth Williams and Barbara Windsor holding court was clearly one of the reasons Sid was braving the direct intensity of the sun's rays. Kenny Williams wasn’t his cup of tea – that was common knowledge.

Later we were joined by Tolly. He patted me on the head and smiled and then ambled over to Sid and gave the actor a hearty pat on the back.

‘All right, old chap?’

‘That bloody Williams is getting on my tits, Tolly. I know I shouldn’t rise to it, but the way he looks down his nose at me and talks over the end of my sentences, drives me mad.’

‘He means well, Sid. Anyway, food's up and we are all about to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Jim (Dale). Join us, come on.’

With that Sid wandered over, grabbed me by the arm and said: ‘If I ain’t getting out of this neither are you.’ We entered the house, painted on our smiles, opened our mouths and sang ‘happy birthday’ to a rather squiffy looking Jim Dale.

To read more on Kenneth Williams, Jim Dale, Sid James, Barbara Windsor and the rest of the Carry On cast and crew .. buy a copy of A Write Carry On .. Just CLICK HERE

A Write Carry On

The Untold Story Of A Man In The Shadows

By Mike Cobley

Wholepoint Publications

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Kenneth Williams: Amateur Hour With A True Professional

Watching an actor learn his lines is tantamount to watching paint dry. Even when said actor is Kenneth Williams and said lines will only be witnessed by the lucky few who squeeze into an unremarkable village hall.

It was a few days shy of Christmas and Kenneth had arrived at Talbot ‘Tolly’ Rothwell's (Carry On scriptwriter), house with just three hours to learn his lines, rehearse his scenes and partake in a dress rehearsal.

So, with time short .. Kenneth did none of the above three. Instead he put on a show there and then, to an audience of just three.

Tolly, my dad and myself sat enraptured, though a little intimidated, as Kenneth delivered uncensored anecdotes on the behind the scenes going-ons of his fellow Carry On stars.

The air was blue, Tolly and my dad were blushing and fidgeting awkwardly in their chairs .. while I was in seventh heaven. Kenneth noted my youthful abandon and delivered many of his cutting/killer punchlines down his long nose and directly to my lugholes.

With an hour till showtime he tired of us and was whisked away to the local village hall. By all accounts, he adlibbed the local amateur dramatic society off of the stage, endeared himself to few of those in attendance, and loved every minute of the unforgettable and outrageous scene had he created.

My dad dined-out on the story for years to come. As time passed he somewhat elevated his part in that night’s proceedings. He really should have known better. There was only one performer that night, and he played a blinder!  

To read more on Kenneth Williams and the rest of the Carry On cast and crew .. buy a copy of A Write Carry On .. Just CLICK HERE

A Write Carry On

The Untold Story Of A Man In The Shadows

By Mike Cobley

Wholepoint Publications

Available now at Amazon
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A Write Carry On - A Screenwriting Bestseller

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A Write Carry On - The Untold Story Of A Man In The Shadows

by Mike Cobley

Wholepoint Publications

 

Imagine growing up with the Carry Ons. Getting to hobnob on a regular basis with the likes of Sid James, Barbara Windsor, Frankie Howerd, Charles Hawtrey, Jim Dale and Kenneth Williams. Well, I was that lucky guy. The catalyst for my meetings with the cream of saucy British comedy was Talbot‘Tolly’ Rothwell.

Tolly wrote the scripts for twenty-two of the big-screen Carry Ons, and was a close family friend for all of those glorious mega-grossing box office years.

 

A Write Carry On catalogues not only his eleven years with the Carry Ons, but also Tolly’s time as a Second World War captive at the notorious POW camp, Stalag Luft III (best known for two famous prisoner escapes that took place there by tunnelling, which were depicted in the films The Great Escape (1963) and The Wooden Horse (1950), and the books by former prisoners Paul Brickhill and Eric Williams from which these films were adapted).

Along the way you will get a behind-the-scenes peek at the lives and personalities of all the major Carry On stars. There were a lot of laughs but also a few tears. Oh, and the odd illicit affair too!

I really enjoyed reading about the real people that i only knew from the carry on films.
It was so interesting finding out about the man behind the scripts, a true genius.
Funny, sad and informative from an unusual perspective.
Would recommend this to all. (Verified Amazon Buyer Review)



‘The spine of the book lists his name. The title looks familiar. Even the dust jacket speaks of ideas that had once come so easily to him. But here, in this now unfamiliar room, his past belongs to another and the present holds few clues to his self. Fear takes a grip.’ ('A Write Carry On')

This was the moment when one of the great unsung heroes of British comedy writing knew the game was up. Having been responsible for a rollercoaster half-decade of screenwriting twenty Carry On films, as well as Up Pompeii and The Crazy Gang, Talbot ’Tolly’ Rothwell could no longer recognise the keys on his typewriter. His past had caught up with him.

 

Talbot went on to receive an OBE - yet still managed to be 'A Man In The Shadows’.

 

Featuring the likes of Kenneth Williams, Sid James, Frankie Howerd, Hattie Jacques et al, this gripping tale takes the reader deep into the complex characters who have, even after their passing, become a mainstay of British comedy.

 

‘A Write Carry On’ also take the reader behind enemy lines during the Second World War, when Talbot was incarcerated in the notorious Stalag Luft III. There he teamed up with Peter Butterworth to produce camp concerts which aided tunnelling escape efforts.

"Infamy! Infamy! They've all got it in for me!" - Kenneth Williams (Julius Caesar) Carry On Cleo (1964)

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The Right-Wing 'Carry On' That Shed The Most Pounds

A little bit of politics in a mainstream comedy film can stem the flow of cash at the Box Office. Take ‘Carry On At Your Convenience’; the twenty-second film in the series.

With ‘Convenience’ a lot of audience goodwill went out the window. In a time of bitter industrial disputes, scriptwriter Talbot ‘Tolly’ Rothwell explored the political themes of the trade union movement.

The script had a noticeable right-wing slant; both mocking and sending-up the unions of the day. In doing so, Tolly alienated the traditional working-class audience of the series.

It was originally conceived with the overtly communist title of 'Carry On Comrade' in reflection of the negative treatment of the union and union bosses.

The film was re-titled 'Carry On Working'. That title was ultimately retained in the film’s closing sequence, a dialogue scene that didn’t appear in Tolly's final draft of the script.

To add even further confusion, the word ‘convenience’ wasn’t used for lavatories in America or Australia, so the film was re-labelled 'Carry On Round The Bend' for release in those countries.‎

The plot centred on a bolshie union representative Vic Spanner, played by Kenneth Cope, who continually stirs up trouble in the works, to the irritation of his co-workers and management.

He calls a strike for almost any minor incident – or because he wants time off to attend a local football match.

Sid Plummer (Sid James) is the factory foreman bridging the gap between workers and management, shrewdly keeping the place going amid the unrest.

'Carry On At Your Convenience' took a full five-years to cover its full production costs.

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A Write Carry On - The Untold Story Of A Man In The Shadows

by Mike Cobley

Wholepoint Publications

Julian Clary Had His Part In Carry On Columbus!

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.

A Write Carry On

The Untold Story Of A Man In The Shadows

By Mike Cobley

Wholepoint Publications

Available now at Amazon
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The Times They Were A Changing For The Carry Ons

The South Downs has a life all of its own. Running from the Itchen Valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, near Eastbourne, East Sussex, in the east; and I have walked its hundred-plus miles on more than one occasion.

Whatever time of the year you set off along its mainly chalk encrusted paths it’s best to remember that the seasons are never to be trusted.

Sometimes it's as though they conspire to lay-in-wait for the passing traveler, before unleashing their armory upon their unsuspecting gargoyle-wearing prey as they innocently wander the nooks and crannies of the supposed sleeping giant.

Twice the elements have forced me from the hills and down into the sparsely populated and welcoming valleys.

On both occasions I found myself in Fulking, the home of Carry On scriptwriter, Talbot ‘Tolly’ Rothwell. And on the second occasion it was he who gave me refuge.

I turned up at his door wet, tired, hungry and unannounced. He cured me on all of the first three accounts. At the time Tolly was working on his final Carry On script, ‘Dick’, and he wasn’t in the best of physical or mental health.

His study door was open and screwed up pieces of paper were littered across its floor. I was, for that night, to be his sounding board.

Tolly felt that it wasn’t just him who was feeling his age. The Carry On series itself was, with ‘Dick’, about to ring in some unwanted changes.

For a start it was to be the last appearances of Sid James (after 19 entries in the series) and Hattie Jacques (after 14 entries).

Then, of course, the film also brought down the curtain on Tolly’s eleven year reign as scriptwriter for the Carry Ons.

Plus, it was also to be Barbara Windsor's final acting role in a Carry On film. The times they were a changing!

Tolly could read the changes of the South Downs weather much better than I could, and early the next morning I was on my way.

I left a troubled, but much loved, man alone with his demons and failing health. The Carry Ons were in terminal decline also.

To read more on Sid James, Barbara Windsor and the rest of the Carry On cast and crew .. buy a copy of A Write Carry On .. Just CLICK HERE

A Write Carry On

The Untold Story Of A Man In The Shadows

By Mike Cobley

Wholepoint Publications

Available now at Amazon
Available now via iTunes
Read On Your Kobo

Kenneth Williams Asked: ‘Is this where you get felt?’

The first time I met Kenneth Williams we were stood, along with Jim Dale, in the front room of Talbot ‘Tolly’ Rothwell’s house. Tolly was the then scriptwriter of the much loved Carry On films (and Kenneth Williams and Jim Dale were two long serving actors of the successful series).

Kenneth was bleating. He did that a lot. If you were in another room with a crowd of chattering people, then that not-so-far-away sound of bleating was more than likely to be the sound of Kenneth Williams holding court.

For when Kenneth was in a room 1/ he was never alone, and 2/ he was the king of all he surveyed and the others were there merely to listen.

‘Is this where you get felt?’ These were the first words Kenneth Williams uttered in my presence. I was barely into my teens and took his query to be one pertaining to non-woven cloth and not the sexually charged nod-and-a-wink meaning he had in mind.

Jim Dale piped-up in my defence and asked Kenneth to pipe-down. ‘He knows I’m only having a laugh, don’t you?’ I smiled back. Kenneth then asked my name and how come I happened to be at Tolly’s gaffe at the same time as comedy royalty.

I explained that Tolly and my dad had been friends since school and that we were often here at weekends. ‘Well, good for you. And what fine profession have you got your eye on,’ inquired Kenneth.

‘I want to be a vet.’

‘A vet. Dirty job. All those hours with you hands up strangers’ arses. What drew you to that?’

‘James Herriot. Well his books, I love them.’

‘Good for you,’ smiled Kenneth. ‘Read and ye shall find.’ He then broke his attention away from me, realised the bulk of guests were in another room .. and the next I heard was the not-so-distant sound of a bleating sheep.


To read more on Kenneth Williams and the rest of the Carry On cast and crew .. buy a copy of A Write Carry On .. Just CLICK HERE

A Write Carry On

The Untold Story Of A Man In The Shadows

By Mike Cobley

Wholepoint Publications

Available now at Amazon
Available now via iTunes
Read On Your Kobo

Charles Hawtrey: The Carry On Genius With A Dark Past

Carry On regular Charles Hawtrey was a strange one. Everytime I saw him he was sat quietly in a corner of a room keeping himself very much to himself.

It certainly wasn’t the job of a timid teen to make social interaction with someone as seemingly unapproachable as Mr Hawtrey.

My dad had warned me that it was best to stay well clear. He’d barely got a word out of the man. They were less than a year apart in age, yet my dad seemed decades younger. Hawtrey, to my fourteen year-old eye, had the presence and look of a man well past his lifespan.

But he was, without question, a comedy genius. His timing, movement and mere presence in a Carry On scene were enough to raise the neck hairs. He had come to acting as early in life after appearing on a series of recordings as a boy soprano. 

Carry On scriptwriter Talbot 'Tolly' Rothwell never had a bad word to say about the latter day recluse. He once told me that Hawtrey had suffered the fate of many gay men of the day. He’d kept his sexuallity a secret and remained tied to his mother’s apron strings. He also had a tough time of it when she went on develop senile dementia.

His mother was known to horde toilet rolls, as Hawtrey was reported to have hoarded bed knobs for future profit. It was a difficult time to be gay and little is known of Hawtrey’s private life.

I was in the presence of Hawtrey a handful of times. I remember once staring inquisitively at the small man and wondering how Tolly could believe him to be so full of humour.

Once, Hawtrey caught me looking at him and smiled back. I remember feeling sad because his smile had been so full of gloom. It was almost as though the very soul of Hawtrey was trapped.

I liked him, there was a kinship and I could sense a softness. His movements were gentle and he was polite. But sad, very sad.

Charles Hawtrey passed away in 1988 and the age of 73. A strange, private and talented man. I remember him fondly.

A Write Carry On (Wholepoint Publications)

available 1st May 2012.


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Contact the author at editor@brighton.co.uk