British Comedy Films

Ealing Comedies

Producer of the Ealing Comedies

Michael Balcon

1947: considered to be the first Ealing Comedy: a thriller for children, with bomb–damaged London forming the backdrop of a crime–gangster plot revolving around a working class children's street culture; stars include Alastair Sim and Jack Warner		Hue and Cry
1949: Alec Guinness plays nine members of the D'Ascoyne family (including, possibly most memorably, Lady Agatha) – all murdered by a tenth member of the family (Louis D'Ascoyne Mazzini, 10th Duke of Chalfont, played by Dennis Price) because they disowned his mother and denied her dying wish (long story)		Kind Hearts and Coronets
Title inspired by a line from the poem Lady Clara Vere de Vere, by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
1949: part of a London district is discovered to belong to Burgundy, and the inhabitants find themselves free of rationing restrictions, after an ancient parchment is found in a crater left by the detonation of an unexploded World War 2 bomb (stars Margaret Rutherford, Stanley Holloway, Hermione Baddeley)		Passport to Pimlico
1949: screenplay by Compton Mackenzie, based on his novel of the same title; inspired by the real–life sinking of SS Politician in the Outer Hebrides in 1941		Whisky Galore!
1951: stars Alec Guinness as Henry Holland, a bank clerk who melts gold bars into models of the Eiffel Tower		The Lavender Hill Mob
1951: stars Alec Guinness as Sidney Stratton, a researcher who invents a new, indestructible fibre that threatens to destroy the textile industry		The Man in the White Suit
1953: a group of villagers manage to keep their branch line operating, after British Railways decide to close it; stars Stanley Holloway as Walter Valentine, the wealthy financial backer of the scheme; the first Ealing comedy to be shot in colour		The Titfield Thunderbolt
1955: five diverse oddball criminal types (Alec Guinness, Cecil Parker, Herbert Lom, Peter Sellers and Danny Green), planning a bank robbery, rent rooms from Mrs. Wilberforce, an octogenarian widow under the pretext that they are classical musicians		The Ladykillers
1959: stars Peter Sellers as shop steward Fred Kite		I'm Alright Jack
1960: stars Peter Sellers as Dodger Lane, the leader of a group of convicts who break back into prison after committing a robbery		Two Way Stretch

Carry On

1957 film that inspired the series – starring David Tomlinson, Ronald Shiner and Joan Sims		Carry On Admiral
Director of the Carry On films		Gerald Thomas
Screenwriter for Nos. 1 (Carry On Sergeant) to 6 (Carry On Cruising)		Norman Hudis
Screenwriter for Nos. 7 (Carry On Cabby) to 26 (Carry On Dick)		Talbot Rothwell

Various writers were involved in the remaining five films.

1	1958: starring William Hartnell as Sgt. Grimshaw		Sergeant
2	1959: starring Leslie Phillips as Jack Bell ("Ding … Dong!")		Nurse
3	1959: Ted Ray, in his only Carry On appearance, plays the headmaster		Teacher
4	1960: Sid James made his Carry On debut as Sgt. Frank Wilkins – brought in to replace Ted Ray who was unavailable for contractual reasons		Constable
5	1961: features the Helping Hands agency, taking on various odd jobs		Regardless
	Intended to be next in the series, but was never made		Spaceman
6	1962: first to be filmed in colour; features the SS Happy Wanderer		Cruising
7	1963: return to black & white: not originally a Carry On film. Jim Dale's debut; Kenneth Williams didn't appear. Hattie Jacques starts a taxi firm employing glamorous female drivers, to rival the one run by her husband (Sid James)		Cabby
8	1963: one of the few to have a historical setting (on the frigate Venus)		Jack
9	1964: James Bond spoof; the last to be made in black & white; Barbara Windsor makes her debut as Daphne Honeybutt		Spying
10	1964: starring Amanda Barrie in the title role, and Kenneth Williams as Julius Caesar; includes Williams's famous line: "Infamy … infamy … they've all got it in for me!" (originally written by Frank Muir & Dennis Norden for Take it from here)		Cleo
11	1965: set in Stodge City, starring Sid James as the Rumpo Kid		Cowboy
12	1966: Hammer Horror spoof, set in Edwardian London. Starring Harry H. Corbett as Sidney Bung – the role intended for Sid James who was unavailable for contractual reasons		Screaming
13	1966: set in the French revolution; a spoof of The Scarlet Pimpernel (features "the Black Fingernail"). One of only two that didn't (originally) include Carry On in their titles		Don't Lose Your Head
14	1967: Beau Geste parody (features the French Foreign Legion); starring Phil Silvers in an unsuccessful attempt to appeal to US audiences (after Sid James had a heart attack). The other one that didn't (originally) include Carry On in its title		Follow That Camel
15	1967: starring Frankie Howerd as hospital patient Francis Bigger		Doctor
16	1968: Kipling parody. Sid James plays Sir Sidney Ruff–Diamond; Bernard Bresslaw plays Burpa chief Bungdit Din. The Khasi of Khalabar (Kenneth Williams) plots to dispel the tough image of the 3rd Foot & Mouth Regiment ("the Devils in Skirts") by proving that they wear underpants under their kilts. Many scenes filmed on Snowdon (commemorated since 2005 by a plaque in Llanberis)		Up the Khyber
17	1969: "The Carry On team refuse to let sleeping bags lie". Plumbers Sid Boggle and Bernie Lugg take their girlfriends to "Paradise", thinking it's a nudist camp. There they meet a party from the Chayste Place finishing school – including matron Miss Haggard (Hattie Jacques). Includes the famous moment when Barbara Windsor loses her bikini top		Camping
18	1969: Jim Dale's last appearance before Columbus (1992)		Again Doctor
19	1970: Tarzan parody. Features an expedition to darkest Africa in search of the Oozlum bird, which is said to fly in ever–decreasing circles until it disappears up its own rear end. Frankie Howerd, in his second and last Carry On appearance, stars as Professor Inigo Tinkle		Up the Jungle
20	1970: features the Wedded Bliss dating agency, run by Sid Bliss (Sid James) and Sophie Plummet (Hattie Jacques)		Loving
21	1971: subtitle was originally going to be Anne of a Thousand Lays. Henry VIII (Sid James) is infatuated with the lovely Bettina – the role that Barbara Windsor later described as her favourite in Carry On; Kenneth Williams plays Thomas Cromwell		Henry
22	1971: the first commercial failure; featured union trouble at lavatory factory W. C. Boggs & Son (thought to upset the series' core working class audience). Known outside the UK as Carry On Round the Bend. After criticism of his leering at young girls (particularly in … Camping), Sid James plays a put–upon husband, similar to the role he played in TV sitcom Bless This House		At Your Convenience
23	1972: set in a maternity hospital; a gang led by Sid Carter (James) attempts to steal the stock of contraceptive pills		Matron
24	1972: features a trip to the Spanish resort of Elsbels, where the hotel proves to be unfinished		Abroad
	Charles Hawtrey makes his last appearance, as Eustace Tuttle – before before being dropped, allegedly because of his drinking
25	1973: the first one that neither Kenneth Williams nor Charles Hawtrey (see above) appeared in: Councillor Sid Fiddler (James)'s plan to hold a beauty contest, to attract visitors to the seaside resort of Fircombe, runs into trouble with "women's libbers" led by June Whitfield. Features Robin Askwith's only Carry On appearance		Girls
26	1974: the last appearances of Sid James, Hattie Jacques and Barbara Windsor (although the last returned to present That's Carry On)		Dick
27	1975: starring Kenneth Williams as Prof. Roland Crump, and German sex symbol Elke Sommer (on a fee of £30,000 – reputedly Carry On's biggest ever, jointly with Phil Silvers in Follow That Camel) as Russian Prof. Vooshka, on an archaeological dig for Roman remains on a caravan site		Behind
28	1976: features an experimental mixed–sex anti–aircraft battery during World War II. A box–office disaster (no major Carry On stars)		England
29	1977: compilation, presented by Kenneth Williams and Barbara Windsor		That's Carry On
30	1978: the only one to be certificated AA. Suzanne Danielle plays the title role		Emmannuelle
31	1992: starring Jim Dale in the title role. Cast includes Rik Mayall, Maureen Lipman, Alexei Sayle, Nigel Planer and Julian Clary. Leslie Phillips plays the King of Spain; June Whitfield plays his queen – a role refused by both Joan Sims and Barbara Windsor		Columbus

Most appearances in Carry On films (26)		Kenneth Williams
Second most appearances, and most by a female (24); married to Kenneth Williams in Cleo, Sid James in Abroad and Up the Khyber, Bill Maynard in At Your Convenience, and Kenneth Connor in Matron		Joan Sims
Third (23)		Charles Hawtrey
Arguably the actor most associated with Carry On: 19 appearances, all in leading roles – often as a lecherous womaniser, which caused problems in his private life		Sid James
14 appearances, playing a matron in five of them (Nurse, Doctor, Camping, Again Doctor, Matron); also played a cameo as a nursing sister in Regardless, when Joan Hickson played the Matron. Otherwise, often played the wife of Sid James's character		Hattie Jacques

Barbara Windsor – arguably the female counterpart to Sid James, as the actress most associated with Carry On – only appeared in nine films (not counting the 1977 compilation That's Carry On!). As well as those listed above, Kenneth Connor (17), Peter Butterworth (16), Bernard Bresslaw (14) and Jim Dale (11) all appeared in more Carry On films than Barbara Windsor.

Only appearance in Carry On was as Captain Keene, commander of the Kalabar detachment of the 3rd Foot and Mouth Regiment, in Carry On Up the Khyber

Roy Castle

The Pink Panther

Director of the Pink Panther movies		Blake Edwards
Animators		De–Patie, Freleng
The Pink Panther is actually a		Diamond
Inspector Clouseau's first name		Jacques
Clouseau's manservant		Cato
Cato played by		Bert Kwouk
Clouseau's boss: Chief Inspector		Dreyfus
Chief Inspector Dreyfus played by		Herbert Lom
Played British businessman and jewel thief Sir Charles Lytton (a.k.a. The Phantom), in the original (1963) film – intended as the star of the series, but eclipsed by Sellers's success as Clouseau		David Niven
Played Clouseau in Inspector Clouseau, 1968		Alan Arkin
Played Clouseau in the 2006 relaunch, The Pink Panther		Steve Martin

1964 sequel – the first to feature Lom as Dreyfus and Kwok as Cato		A Shot in the Dark
1975: Sellers returns as Clouseau. Christopher Plummer plays Lytton		Return of the Pink Panther
1976: Dreyfus tries to blackmail world leaders into assassinating Clouseau. Dialogue includes "do you 'ave a rheum?" and "does your dog bite?"		Pink Panther Strikes Again
1978: ignores Strikes Again, seen by some as the true sequel to Return of		Revenge of the Pink Panther
1982: released after Sellers's death, but included footage of him (his widow successfully sued Edwards for tarnishing her husband's memory)		Trail of the Pink Panther
1983 attempt to continue the series with Ted Wass as Detective Clifton Sleigh in place of Sellers as Clouseau. Includes a celebrated cameo appearance by Roger Moore as Clouseau following plastic surgery (credited as Turk Thrust II, filmed during a break from Octopussy)		Curse of the Pink Panther
1993 relaunch featuring Roberto Benigni as Clouseau's illegitimate son		Son of the Pink Panther

St. Trinian's

The four original St. Trinian's films	1954		The Belles of St. Trinian's
	1957		Blue Murder at St. Trinian's
	1960		The Pure Hell of St. Trinian's
	1966		The Great St. Trinian's Train Robbery

George Cole's character		Flash Harry
Headmistress (Miss (Millicent) Fritton – not named in the books?)		Alastair Sim
Police Sergeant Ruby Gates		Joyce Grenfell
1980 revival		Wildcats of St. Trinian's
Sgt. Gates in the 1980 revival		Maureen Lipman
Flash Harry in the 2007 revival		Russell Brand
Headmistress (Miss Camilla Fritton) in the 2007 and 2009 revivals		Rupert Everett
Appears as himself, hosting a TV quiz show, in the 2007 revival		Stephen Fry

The Wright–Pegg–Park–Frost Trilogy

This section is about a so–called 'trilogy' of films directed by Edgar Wright, written by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg, produced by Nira Park, and starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The heading is a clumsy way of not giving away the answer to the first question.

(If you haven't heard of any of the above people, or if the only one you've heard of is Simon Pegg, you're not alone. But the films are of a type that's popular with quizzers – slightly juvenile comedy, with elements of various movie genres – and I bet you've seen at least one of them.)

Title of the trilogy

The (Three Flavours) Cornetto Trilogy

Titles of the films:

2004		Shaun of the Dead
2007		Hot Fuzz
2013		The World's End

Others

Played Timothy 'Timmy' Lea in the 1970s Confessions sex comedy series		Robin Askwith
Genevieve (1953): the title character was a		Car
Genevieve: make		Darracq
Norman Wisdom's surname in his films		Pitkin
His usual officious superior, played by Edward Chapman		Mr. Grimsdale
Star of Orders are Orders (1954), The Rebel (1961), The Punch and Judy Man (1962); also appeared in Those Magnificent Men ... (1965) and The Wrong Box (1966)		Tony Hancock
Stars of The Intelligence Men, That Riviera Touch, The Magnificent Two		Morecambe & Wise
1959: the bankrupt Duchy of Grand Fenwick declares war on the USA, hoping to take advantage of its customary largesse to its defeated enemies, but gets hold of the deadly Q–bomb		The Mouse that Roared
Stars Peter Sellers in three roles: Duchess Gloriana XII, prime minister Count Rupert Mountjoy, and military leader Tully Bascomb
1937: Will Hay plays a haunted station master; loosely based on Arnold Ridley's play The Ghost Train, but took its title from a Music Hall song; remade in 1958 as Up the Creek, starring Peter Sellers		Oh! Mr. Porter

© Haydn Thompson 2017–24