Announcing the Exploring “Carry On” Blog Series!

We’ve come to that point where The Wonderful World of Cinema (me) wants to expand its horizons and do something very original: a blogging series! I’m kidding; this is not original at all as it has been done by several bloggers before. However, this is something that allows a blog to personalize itself a little and concentrate on one subject for a certain period and explore the various facets of the chosen theme. I was inspired to create my series when I was looking at various ones last week created by different bloggers during the past year,  such as Annette from Hometown to Hollywood with her Gold Diggers series or Lea at Silent-Ology with her Shiek Month series. Of course, these are just examples among many others, and the lessons we can learn from that is that there are as many subjects as you could possibly think about. Some people will focus on a film series; some will focus on a genre, an actor, a time in cinema history, etc.

I always thought the idea of creating its series was a highly appealing one and, mostly, fun. I didn’t start one before because, while I had some ideas in mind, I wasn’t ready to break the ice yet. Remember: that is committing yourself to a subject for some time. Of course, some series are expended over a week, a year or even a month. I guess it depends on your subject and how much time you want to dedicate yourself to it. Now that I’m thinking about it, I guess that my Marathon stars posts were a kind of series. It consisted of watching several never-seen-before films starring a certain actor and then write my feedback for each of these films in a blog post. However, I used one blog post/actor rather than one blog post/film. I’ve done it for Olivia de Havilland, William Holden, Dolores Hart and then, as part of the 1st and 2nd edition of the Marathon Stars Blogathon, with Claire Trevor and Tallulah Bankhead. So, could we consider that a series???

Now, why did I suddenly decided to start my blogging series, apart from being inspired by other bloggers? There’s this series of British comic films, the Carry On films, that were released from the late 50s until the late 70s and with a last one released in the 90s. There was a total of 31 films. A TV series was also created, as well as stage shows, and Christmas specials. British comedy has always been my cup of tea. I was aware that the Carry On films existed for quite some times. These have the reputation of being overall silly and crazy films, maybe over the top but, lots of fun as well and maybe at the origin of many guilty pleasures. No, the Carry Ons aren’t known as masterpieces, but they own their place and importance in British Cinema History.

That being said, recently, I was in the mood and curious to finally watch some Carry On films and, once and for all, check what it was all about. A few years ago, I discovered a lovely British comedy called Please Turn Over, starring Julia Lockwood, Jean Kent, Leslie Phillips, and Ted Ray. It is pertinent to point out that Please Turn Over‘s director, Gerald Thomas; its producer, Ray Rogers, and its writer, Norman Hudis were all part of the Carry On team. Yet, is Please Turn Over a Carry On film? While it was released after the first Carry On film, Carry On Sergeant (1958), it is not considered to be one. However, its a close cousin and could easily be an “unofficial” Carry On. If you compare it with Carry On Sergeant, the story is obviously not the same, but the type of humour is very similar.

Anyway, yesterday, I gave myself the go and finally watched a first Carry On film. I said to myself, if I enjoy it, I will do a series on my blog dedicated to the comic British films series and discover them with you. The film was Carry On Sergeant, which I’ve mentioned before. Verdict? I loved it! It was totally my type of humour, and I was either laughing or smiling all way through. Therefore, my decision was made, and I became motivated enough to start that blogging series. Now, I’m not at all claiming that I’m reinventing the wheel by doing so. I’m sure other bloggers before me have done something similar with Carry On movies. After all, it was quite a popular franchise in the UK. There’s even a blog entirely dedicated to called, well you’ve guessed it, Carry On Blogging!

Looking forward to watch many Kenneth Williams’s films!

That is how I intend to organize things for that blogging series:

1- Watch as many of the Carry On films as possible AND in chronological order.

2- After each viewing, write a little report, a little appreciation of the film in question in a blog post. I don’t think I’ll opt for deep analysis. That is more a way to discover with you how the Carry On films evolved through the years and how I’m personally perceiving and liking them.

Just like these films, I hope my blog posts will be fun and dynamic!

I’m not sure how long this will take since there are 31 films (I’ll be only focusing on the films, not the TV series). I’m thinking, maybe, a month. But then, I will probably have to skip a few days for university duties, other blogging articles not connected to the series, etc. So, we’ll see as it progresses!

I hope you’ll be many to follow the series on The Wonderful World of Cinema and, If you’re a newcomer to the Carry On World like me, that you’ll make some discoveries, and be tempted to start your own exploration!

Stay tuned as the Carry On Sergeant review should be published soon!