Could the Carry Ons come back?

sambwoy

It seems from foraging around on the net this proposed 32nd (?) Carry On film Carry On London or Carry On Bananas was put off (again) due to the recent death of producer the late Peter Rogers.

This film was in development hell for many years. But can we have a 21st century Carry On film that it is as good as say Cleo or Screaming?

Perhaps attitudes to comedy have changed so much today that half the material would be deemed unacceptable?

thesecretagent

1992's Carry On Columbus anyone? No, I think too much time has gone by for the Carry On films to work. I watched bits of one of the doctor series last week on tv and it was a bit painful to watch - people bending over to the sound of tin whistles etc. I think they really worked at the time and I remember enjoying them as a child, while my parents roarded with laughter at the bits I didn't get, but I think they have dated terribly like most seventies comedy filmns and programmes.

Thunderbird 2

I love the Carry On's especially the early ones, but I have to agree.

Its a sad fact that innuendo - post card style smut humour of the later films does not work for todays audiences in the same way. That is not to say films of a similar caliber to the earlier ones - with more main character storyline to them couldn't work. But they would have to be their own style, and have a sharp talented cast. There won't be another Kenneth Williams or Joan Sims. Any new comedy film franchise would have to stamp out its own identity.

A straight continuation / retread / reboot? of the Carry Ons would not work. As Columbus fatally proved.

Napoleon Plural

It's unlikely. The humour sort of could translate, after all stuff like Blackadder echoed the historical set Carry Ons. But they came from a different place, more Oxbridge humour than working class McGill saucy postcards, the reason why there was little reference to sex (although it did have some). The other problem is that you're not just missing one star, as with Connery or Moore as Bond, but the whole ensemble. It would be hard to get a whole bunch of people to sign on to a new one, although the success of Benidorm suggests you could sort of do it. It's a very similar piece.

thesecretagent

I'd never thought of that. Benidorm is sort of a carry on written for now. Although, I have only watched a couple.

Thunderpussy

I always thought off the Police accadamy films as the American carry ons (the early one very funny) cheap to make,you could release one a year and they'd make a reasonable proffit. Sad to say that the British Film industry is so strapped for cash that what little grants or government money goes to one or two what they regard as high quality productions,usually a period drama (there's a carry on lead in line ).When infact they could be setting up a production line of cheap and quick to make Comedies.
British TV comedy is fantastic and I'm sure alot of tv formats could be tweaked for a longer running time,with the carry on name used as a continuing Brand.

sambwoy

Napoleon Plural wrote:

It's unlikely. The humour sort of could translate, after all stuff like Blackadder echoed the historical set Carry Ons. But they came from a different place, more Oxbridge humour than working class McGill saucy postcards, the reason why there was little reference to sex (although it did have some).

Carry On England or perhaps Carry On Girls was the point when they got more gratuitous. England was the first to have full-on bare breasts that they made a censored version. Extreme sex and bad language was never the style of Carry Ons. Rogers and Thomas themselves were reported to be against that.

Those are nothing compared to the Confessions...series with Robin Askwith. As a 23-year old fan of this era of cinema I have the box set of this series too.

British TV comedy has not all been that great. When I think of current comedy I think of Home Again and Babes in the Wood.

Thunderbird 2

sambwoy wrote:

British TV comedy has not all been that great. When I think of current comedy I think of Home Again and Babes in the Wood.

Don;t get me started! British tv comedy is in a very bad place right now. Stand up still works well brilliantly, - there are talented people doing it, but the sitcoms and sketch shows are getting worse and worse. Little Britain has been extremely sucessful, but it has been downright vulger to do it, and not in a Spitting Image kind of way. We also seem to have lost the great sitcoms, leaving us with tired concepts that don't get a second series.

We do need a new type of cheeky, but fun kind of comedy, like the early carry ons or Monty Python. - By the by, if you haven't seen Spamalot, do, its fantastic!!

sambwoy

Thunderbird 2 wrote:

We also seem to have lost the great sitcoms, leaving us with tired concepts that don't get a second series.

The family sitcom, for instance. What comedy family isn't dysfunctional these days and trying to be Homer Simpson?

I think the last truly decent Carry On might have been Carry On Dick.

From Russia with Love

I don't think it would work. The style of the Carry On series, while brilliant and genuinley hilarious, is very dated compared to what is being produced these days. I don't think there's anyone around who could translate that fairly unique approach to the modern day, which runs the risk of a series that is simply lifting the Carry On name and trying to work from that alone.

What happened to British comedy? We used to have the Carry On series, Only Fools and Horses, etc. Clever, funny, witty, and distinctly British comedy. Everything out these days just feels like a cheap knock off of the greats or just tries to take refuge in vulgarity. I think the last really funny TV comedy series I saw was "Still Game".

Golrush007

I haven't seen all the Carry On films, but I have seen about half of them, and really enjoyed most of them. However, I wouldn't be keen to see a new Carry On film simply because they depended so much on the original ensemble of actors. People like Sid James, Joan Sims, Kenneth Williams and Kenneth Connor were essential to the success of the films. Obviously the scripts were important as well - the ones scripted by Talbot Rothwell were the best. Later film such as Emmannuelle were really very poor, despite having one or two funny bits. Having said that, I enjoyed Carry On Behind which was quite a late one. I think that if Carry On London was to ever happen it would probably be a massive disappointment. The style is very outdated now, so I doubt that they would make it in the classic Carry On style. It would probably be something completely different, just with the Carry On name attached.

Napoleon Plural

The best ones were set in some enforced scenario where everyone is pitched in together, like the Army or a hospital or the like. Carry On London was set around a film premiere I think, so seemed more like California Suite or another Neil Simon set up.

I think Brit comedy has gone down because the best of it had a class orientation, ie working class. Now that isn't seen as funny or laudable, it's all middle England stuff like My Family.

LOO7K OUT

Much as I love the Carry Ons they should be left as a highly enjoyable and still very funny (for the most part) products of their time.

A lot of regulars came, went and came back again, but my own opinion is that no Kenneth Williams and no Sid James means it aint a Carry On film, the series suffered after Sid James left in '74.

DC

Tilly Masterson 007

I don't think you could bring the Carry On films back, simply because it would always lack that 'something' that the originals had.

I'm a great believer in not remaking any films, simply because it spoils it IMO.

So nope, this aint do-able!

sambwoy

The company that financed Carry On London was liquidated last year according to Wikipedia. On imdb I think names that were thrown around to fill in for the roles including Lenny Henry and Paul O'Grady, and for the Babs-type role it was Victoria Silvstedt and then Jennifer Ellison, I think.

Really is most of the Carry Ons appeal now the nostalgia? It is nice when BBC2 repeats one of the classic films, but perhaps its better that way.

I just saw Emmanuelle today (I have the DVD because the bonus Carry On documentary is very good) and I saw a depressing shift in emphasis from the teasing Carry On to trying to be like all those 70s sex comedies. The gags were either mistimed or not very funny.

Napoleon Plural

If you're a fan it's enlightening (tho' not very uplifting) to read Kenneth Williams diaries. He goes from Carry On Follow That Camel to Carry On Doctor within a few months, it's nose to the grindstone. Some guy called Talbort something did the best humour, when he left the series took a dive.

thesecretagent

Just watched parts of Carry On At Your Convenience...

It's set around the workers of a factory that makes toilet. It's crap...

I think they are all of their time, and thank god time has moved on...

Napoleon Plural

Oh no, that's a good one.

However, it was one of the few not to make money. Why? It takes the I'm Alright Jack route of taking the mickey out of shop stewards, thus alienating Carry On's core working class audience. Once you know this it's painful viewing, esp as the stocky disgruntled shop steward (not a familiar Carry On regular) is passed over by the top totty, who favours instead the foppish haired, blazer wearing son of the company boss.

Some Bond touches. Sid James impromptu disguise as a fortune teller on the pier anticpates Moore's guise as a clown in Octopussy, plus the opera theme used for the gondola scene in MR pops up too.

I've been on this site too long....