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Charlie Chaplin -

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cinema's first truly international
star. Born in London.

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Stan Laurel, born in Cumbria

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and one half of one of comedy's
greatest double acts.

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Ever since the heyday
of this glorious pair,

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British comedians have had fans
rolling in the aisles with laughter.

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In this programme
we're looking at some of the funniest

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home-grown film stars to make their
mark on British cinema audiences.

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We start with a man who, armed with
only a ukulele and a cheeky grin,

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became Britain's biggest box-office
star of the 1930s and '40s.

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So here is the great George Formby,

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explaining how his movie career
took off.

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People have said to me
many, many a time,

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"How did you start in pictures?"

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Well, have you ever felt that

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if you got the chance,
you could do a thing really well?

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Well, that's the way I felt
about pictures.

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And many years ago

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I came down to London

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and I even wrote my own scripts,
along with Beryl

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and a man called Arthur Mertz,
and we went all around the studios.

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They'd never heard of George Formby,

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the didn't even WANT to hear
about him.

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I went everywhere,
but nobody wanted to know at all,

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so back up to the provinces I went,
and we worked around for a long time

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and I was playing in a place
called Warrington, and a man called

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John E Blakeley came round

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and he said, "I'd like to make
pictures with you."

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I nearly grabbed his hand off.

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Anyway, he said, come up on Sunday
and we'll talk it over.

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So we went up on the Sunday,
and we talked it over and he said,

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"Yes, I'd like to make pictures,
but I haven't got a story."

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I said, "I have."

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And we brought out this little story
we had written,

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called "Boots! Boots!"
So the whole thing was settled,

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we came to London and we went
to the film studios. Studios(!)

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One room over a garage
in Albany Street!

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And when we wanted to start
making the picture,

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we had to press a button so that
they stopped the engines down below.

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Well, at the end of 14 days
we'd finished the picture,

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and it cost the large sum of £3,000.
Then came the time to sell it.

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Nobody wanted to buy it.

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At it did get a world premiere
in a place called Burslem.

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LAUGHTER

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It did, you know, and I'll never
forget because I went up there

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and, strange as it may seem,
it packed them out.

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Oh, and it was a lousy picture.

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LAUGHTER

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Ooh, it was so dark in places you
had to strike matches to see it.

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The courting couples liked it,
though.

51
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But at that time Basil Dean was
making a lot of very big pictures.

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He was going round the country

53
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trying to find what the different
salesmen wanted.

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And they said,
"We want George Formby pictures."

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He said, "Who's George Formby?"
He said, "Look through that window."

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And he saw a queue wrapped
right round the theatre,

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looking at "Boots! Boots!"

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So he got them to bring me down
to Ealing Studios, I signed

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a seven-year contract, and that was
the start of me making 22 films.

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And strange as it may seem,
every one was a success.

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George Formby's film persona

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was the lovably, innocent
cheeky chappie -

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territory also mined
with great success

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by the wonderful Norman Wisdom.

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But tickling a different funny bone
entirely were Britain's most

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critically successful
films of the period -

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the Ealing Comedies.

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Full of dark, satirical humour,
they won awards,

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were hugely influential,
and showcased some wonderful actors,

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including, of course,

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the incredibly versatile
Alec Guinness.

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Perhaps the richest vein
of your film career,

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although you might not agree,
was the Ealing comedies.

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Well, I was very lucky over that.

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Sir Michael Balcon sent me with
Robert Hamer, with whom

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I became great friends,
sent me the script

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of Kind Hearts And Coronets,

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just as I was going away on holiday,
asking me

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if I would play four parts in it.

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And I read it on a beach in France,
and I collapsed with laughter on the

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first page, and didn't even bother
to get to the end of the script.

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I went straight back to the hotel,
sent a telegram, saying,

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"Why four parts, why not eight?"

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The SPCK have provided us
with a large number of copies

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of the good book,
translated into Matabele.

86
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But as none of the natives can read
even their own language...

87
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You speak Matabele yourself?

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Not as a native.

89
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It would be most interesting
to hear a sample of the language.

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I'm afraid my Matabele
is a little rusty.

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Oh, come, my Lord.

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Daniel cast into the lions' den,
for example.

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HE SPEAKS GIBBERISH

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..Daniel...

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This is a colloquial rendering,
of course.

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Most interesting.

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Another Ealing Comedy -
greatly underestimated, I think -

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was Man In The White Suit.

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Well, I thought
that was a marvellous film.

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I thought Sandy Mackendrick did
a wonderful job on that.

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I remember being very angry
at a notice coming out

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saying it was an ignoble film,
because the suit

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disintegrated at the end
and people jeered and laughed.

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I thought they totally missed
the point of the whole thing.

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That was...

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I thought it was very original
and amusing to look at,

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and a kind of classic of its time.

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This was about a man who'd invented
an indestructible...

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Material, yes,
cloth that wouldn't ever wear out.

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THEY ALL LAUGH

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Look! It's coming to pieces!

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We're saved!

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Look! Look!

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Sir John, look! Sir John!

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LAUGHTER FADES INTO DISTANCE

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Look! Look! Look!

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Of course, the other Ealing Comedy
that everybody remembers is

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The Ladykillers. How do you think
that one stands out? 1955.

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I don't know,
I haven't seen that film.

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That was Sandy Mackendrick again.

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I would have thought all right.
I don't know!

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Let's have a look at a bit of it
anyway.

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Mrs Wilberforce? Yes?
I understand you have rooms to let.

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Oh, the rooms, yes.
Won't you come in, please?

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Thank you. My name's Marcus.

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How do you do, Mr Marcus? Professor
Marcus. How do you do, Professor?

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Yes, I have two, right up...

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Oh, yes, would you excuse me
a moment

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while I put this away, please?

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SINISTER MUSIC PLAYS

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I'm afraid it's quite impossible
to make it hang evenly,

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Professor Marcus. Because
of the subsidence. Subsidence?

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From the bombing.
None of the pictures will.

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You have no other lodgers?

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No, the other floors
are no longer structurally sound.

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But the two rooms at the rear
are quite all right.

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Then, you live here all alone? Yes.

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I think I should tell you,

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Professor, I am unable to provide
breakfast or early morning tea.

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This is the sitting room,
and the bedroom is just down here.

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These rooms do need an airing,
don't they?

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I'm afraid there is no proper
service, and the view is, well...

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TRAIN WHISTLES AND SCREECHES

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Most exhilarating.

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One year before The Ladykillers,
British cinema audiences had

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been queuing in their hundreds
to see a comedy film that was

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so successful it would spawn six
sequels and a long-running TV series.

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It turned Dirk Bogarde,

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a relatively unknown actor
with serious aspirations,

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into one of the biggest stars
of the 1950s.

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You moved to a very successful
series of films,

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which were the Doctor films.

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When you were working in
what many people might consider

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unremarkable cinema,

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were you striving to do your best
within those circumstances,

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or were you not all that conscious
that it was unremarkable cinema?

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Look here, let's get one thing
absolutely straight.

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All I've ever been in the cinema
or in the theatre or in my books

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is an entertainer.

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Nothing more and nothing less.
That's all I am.

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And anything I do,
I do to the depths of my gut.

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I would never, as I said,
cheat anyone.

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I never considered those films

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as crappy or stupid
or whatever they were.

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They were there to pleasure people,

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they were there to pleasure people
who came to see us.

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You don't betray that faith.
You don't betray people who

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have staggered miles in a snowstorm
to get to the movie to see you.

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You do everything you can.

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And people met and married
in movies that I made.

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They dated.

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I have four generations of people
that I am directly responsible to.

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I couldn't possibly say
that I did anything more

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than do the best thing I COULD do
to the highest point of my ability,

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and never once looked down on it.
I never. I couldn't do.

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And I loved the cinema too much
anyway, that was another thing.

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It was growing and growing
and growing.

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When I found that a crew was
working, and that was working,

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and how it worked,
and this was working, the boom,

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all these wonderful things came in,
and I was being taken in again,

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into a force,
like I had been in the Army,

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and producing something
at the end of it.

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But I was very, very proud
of those films.

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I mean, some of them were rubbish,
I admit,

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but people like rubbish, you know.

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People don't want always
to be educated, illuminating...

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00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:05,160
DOG WHIMPERS

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Hurry along, there.

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Come on, hurry along.
Hold tight, please.

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BELL RINGS

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TYRES SCREECH

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WOMAN SCREAMS

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But in the Doctor films I said,
"Whatever I do

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"I've got to be a doctor,"

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because the one thing you must never
do, coming back to it again -

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cut it out if you don't want it -

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don't cheat an audience,
and I never did.

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And I was never funny in the Doctor
films. They THINK I was funny.

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00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:56,360
Audiences THINK I was funny,
but the people around me were funny,

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but I was always real, so that
when I had to deliver a baby

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00:13:00,120 --> 00:13:03,680
or take out a tooth or whatever
it was, you believed in it.

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00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:08,600
It was the hard core of the movie...
was Simon Sparrow.

203
00:13:09,960 --> 00:13:12,720
Morning, Sister. Morning,
Sir Lancelot. Everything ready?

204
00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:14,000
All ready, Sir. Splendid.

205
00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:21,560
Now, you just lie still, old fellow.

206
00:13:21,560 --> 00:13:24,320
I've just got to discuss your case
with these young doctors here.

207
00:13:24,320 --> 00:13:27,840
Take his pyjamas off, Sister.
You, examine his abdomen.

208
00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:32,480
Take that grubby fist away!

209
00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:34,400
The first rule of diagnosis,
gentlemen -

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00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:37,760
eyes first and most, hands next and
least, and tongue not at all.

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00:13:37,760 --> 00:13:38,960
Look!

212
00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:44,480
Have you looked? Yes, sir.
See anything? No, sir. Very good.

213
00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:46,120
Carry on.

214
00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:48,640
Gently, man! Gently!
You're not making bread.

215
00:13:48,640 --> 00:13:50,960
Don't forget,
to be a successful surgeon, you need

216
00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:53,520
the eye of a hawk, the heart
of a lion and the hands of a lady.

217
00:13:53,520 --> 00:13:55,080
You found it?

218
00:13:55,080 --> 00:14:00,120
Yes, sir. Well, what is it? A lump.
Well? What do you make of it?

219
00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:04,400
Is it kidney? Is it spleen?
Is it liver?

220
00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:07,440
Is it dangerous?
Don't worry, my good man.

221
00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:10,120
You won't understand our medical
talk... Um, you.

222
00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:13,520
What are we going to do about it?
Erm...

223
00:14:13,520 --> 00:14:16,880
Cut it out, man, cut it out!
Where shall we make the incision?

224
00:14:21,280 --> 00:14:24,520
Nothing like large enough.
Keyhole surgery, damnable.

225
00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:26,880
Couldn't see anything. Like this.

226
00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:30,800
Now, don't worry, this is nothing
whatever to do with you. Now, you.

227
00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:34,240
When we cut through the skin, what's
the first substance we shall find?

228
00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:37,040
Subcutaneous fat, Sir. Quite right.

229
00:14:37,040 --> 00:14:40,960
Then we come across the surgeon's
worst enemy, which is what?

230
00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:42,800
Speak up, man!

231
00:14:42,800 --> 00:14:44,920
Blood, you numbskull!

232
00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:46,360
You cut a patient,

233
00:14:46,360 --> 00:14:49,440
he bleeds until the processes
of nature form a clot and stop it.

234
00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:53,160
This interval is known
scientifically as the bleeding time.

235
00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:54,760
You, what's the bleeding time?

236
00:14:54,760 --> 00:14:56,920
Ten past ten, Sir.

237
00:14:56,920 --> 00:15:02,000
A classic line! And James Robertson
Justice proved to be so popular

238
00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:06,360
playing the demanding surgeon
Sir Lancelot Spratt,

239
00:15:06,360 --> 00:15:10,000
he ended up appearing in
all seven of the Doctor film series.

240
00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:14,720
Now, it has been said of you you're
an actor who doesn't need to...

241
00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:17,920
play a part, because the parts
you're cast for

242
00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:20,640
you very often resemble,
um, physically

243
00:15:20,640 --> 00:15:24,840
and that in fact you play along
with your own personality.

244
00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:27,200
Now, how much is that true? Well...

245
00:15:27,200 --> 00:15:29,920
I would like to suggest that...

246
00:15:29,920 --> 00:15:33,160
the answer is that if one
behaves absolutely

247
00:15:33,160 --> 00:15:36,280
as one does in private life
in front of the screen,

248
00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:39,880
it would come over...far too vague,
in other words,

249
00:15:39,880 --> 00:15:44,160
there must be a conscious effort
to UNDERPLAY a part.

250
00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:47,200
Even if you are more or less
doing it as you would,

251
00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:50,520
er, do it yourself.

252
00:15:50,520 --> 00:15:54,320
It still must be brought down a bit,
otherwise it would be a firing.

253
00:15:54,320 --> 00:15:56,920
So that you're really underplaying
your own personality?

254
00:15:56,920 --> 00:15:58,760
I hope so.

255
00:15:58,760 --> 00:16:01,360
Even if a character
like Sir Lancelot Pratt,

256
00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:03,040
the doctor of the doctor series...

257
00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:07,120
Sir Lancelot Spratt,
if you don't mind. Spratt. Er...

258
00:16:07,120 --> 00:16:12,160
Well, yes, he was of course founded
on somebody that I knew very well.

259
00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:16,440
Er, who was also a great
ornithologist

260
00:16:16,440 --> 00:16:18,240
and a great surgeon

261
00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:20,080
and used to...

262
00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:22,840
he had a wonderful team

263
00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:25,320
in the operating theatre

264
00:16:25,320 --> 00:16:27,640
at the hospital...

265
00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:30,680
of which he was a
very senior surgeon.

266
00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:35,200
And they were all quite used to him,
but he had a nervous habit

267
00:16:35,200 --> 00:16:38,600
of using the most terrible language
all the time he was operating.

268
00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:42,880
Everybody was quite used to this,
and knew that it meant nothing,
it was just a nervous thing.

269
00:16:42,880 --> 00:16:44,000
And, er...

270
00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:47,120
I know a lot of people
will remember him

271
00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:49,880
if I say, use the word 'snorker'.

272
00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:53,200
INTERVIEWER LAUGHS
And I won't mention his real name,

273
00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:57,040
but that will bring back memories to
a great number of people.

274
00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:04,560
Of course, nurses, doctors,
and matrons

275
00:17:04,560 --> 00:17:07,000
were also exploited to comic effect

276
00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:10,240
in Britain's most enduring
comedy series....

277
00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:12,520
the Carry On films.

278
00:17:12,520 --> 00:17:14,360
With a popular cast

279
00:17:14,360 --> 00:17:18,960
delivering more than double the
normal share of double entendres,

280
00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:23,880
their saucy postcard humour
lasted for a total of 31 films.

281
00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:27,120
And in 1970,

282
00:17:27,120 --> 00:17:31,360
the BBC turned up on the set
of number 19,

283
00:17:31,360 --> 00:17:34,040
Carry On Up The Jungle.

284
00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:37,320
Well, our films really started,
as you say, by accident.

285
00:17:37,320 --> 00:17:41,240
We had a script given to us
of an army comedy

286
00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:43,600
which nobody else seemed to want

287
00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:46,800
and Peter Rogers and myself decided
it would make a funny picture.

288
00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:49,120
So, we knocked it into shape

289
00:17:49,120 --> 00:17:52,240
and the distributors liked the
picture, but didn't like the title,

290
00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:55,560
so they changed it, in confidence,
to Carry On Sergeant.

291
00:17:57,440 --> 00:17:58,840
All right, turn around.

292
00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:02,240
Now, breathe deeply.

293
00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:04,240
In, out.
HE EXHALES DEEPLY

294
00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:08,160
Say 99. Ninety...nine.
HE COUGHS

295
00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:09,360
Overheat.

296
00:18:09,360 --> 00:18:10,800
Something's wrong, eh?

297
00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:14,880
Congratulations, you have a perfect
heart and lungs. Wha...

298
00:18:14,880 --> 00:18:17,800
No, Doctor.
My heart hangs by a thread.

299
00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:19,680
By a rope, my boy.

300
00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:21,560
Rope? What do you mean?

301
00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:25,400
He doesn't understand, my heart...
Lie down.

302
00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:27,160
Ooh!

303
00:18:27,160 --> 00:18:28,200
HE STRAINS

304
00:18:28,200 --> 00:18:29,960
Good. How's that?

305
00:18:29,960 --> 00:18:31,080
HE STRAINS

306
00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:33,040
Remarkable. Stand up.

307
00:18:33,040 --> 00:18:35,400
Uh... Stand still.

308
00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:36,800
HE GIGGLES
Cough.

309
00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:38,000
HE COUGHS

310
00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:40,600
A-ha. A-ha. You see?

311
00:18:40,600 --> 00:18:41,880
Fantastic.

312
00:18:41,880 --> 00:18:43,480
What is? Stomach's a model.

313
00:18:43,480 --> 00:18:45,720
You've got a digestive system
like an incinerator.

314
00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:49,160
I went and saw Carry On Camping
in Blackpool one afternoon,

315
00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:53,040
I was up there for a summer season.
I've never heard anything like it.

316
00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:56,280
First of all,
you couldn't get into the cinema.

317
00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:57,720
You just couldn't.

318
00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:01,280
I just happened to know the manager
and I went and stood at the back.

319
00:19:01,280 --> 00:19:03,760
I'd never heard such laughter.

320
00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:25,120
Are you the owner of this site? Nah.

321
00:19:25,120 --> 00:19:26,960
Where is he? Gone for a P. Oh.

322
00:19:26,960 --> 00:19:29,080
Here he comes now.

323
00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:32,840
BIRDS TWEET

324
00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:40,000
Well, we've basically tried
to make...broad,

325
00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:42,840
bawdy, if you like,
even vulgar humour,

326
00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:45,360
which has a family appeal
and which at the same time

327
00:19:45,360 --> 00:19:48,200
never actually takes
the mickey out of the institution,

328
00:19:48,200 --> 00:19:49,640
but only the people in it.

329
00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:53,360
We don't want to make people
frightened of hospitals,
policeman and fireman.

330
00:19:53,360 --> 00:19:56,560
But we don't mind taking the fun out
of the actual policeman themselves.

331
00:19:56,560 --> 00:19:59,040
The lovely thing, really,
is that in the Carry Ons

332
00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:01,120
you get a chance to sort of...

333
00:20:01,120 --> 00:20:05,280
play all sorts of roles, you know,
which is...great fun.

334
00:20:05,280 --> 00:20:07,120
I played a hell of a lot of
different roles,

335
00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:08,360
but they're all me...

336
00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:10,720
with different hats on.

337
00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:12,000
SID LAUGHS

338
00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:15,720
These pictures are so successful.
I'm a big hit in Japan.

339
00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:18,560
And they had to queue up
in Los Angeles and...

340
00:20:18,560 --> 00:20:20,200
and in India, believe it or not.

341
00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:22,640
The lovely thing with the Carry Ons
of course it's like

342
00:20:22,640 --> 00:20:25,280
coming back to school after
the holidays, cos...

343
00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:28,080
you know the people
that you're working with.

344
00:20:28,080 --> 00:20:30,560
And as you get to know them,
of course,

345
00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:33,200
your timing becomes
that much tighter...

346
00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:37,240
and there's just
a very happy atmosphere.

347
00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:41,120
I always feel sorry for a newcomer
because he feels strange,

348
00:20:41,120 --> 00:20:44,160
cos it is really
like coming into somebody's family.

349
00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:48,280
But, er, we've never ever
had any trouble with newcomers,

350
00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:50,080
really, cos we just belt 'em.

351
00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:51,680
You know, Thomas, our director,

352
00:20:51,680 --> 00:20:54,720
is as responsible as anybody
for the success with the films,

353
00:20:54,720 --> 00:20:56,840
he's directed them all,

354
00:20:56,840 --> 00:20:59,120
he keeps us in order,

355
00:20:59,120 --> 00:21:02,040
quite rightly, we have to do
what we're told

356
00:21:02,040 --> 00:21:06,680
and we discuss everything
together as friends would

357
00:21:06,680 --> 00:21:10,480
and, um...he's got firm hand
over the controls.

358
00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:13,280
The competition is murder.
You have got to look after yourself.

359
00:21:13,280 --> 00:21:15,440
I just make a habit of playing
against the others.

360
00:21:16,600 --> 00:21:20,120
And that... Because I'm not strictly
a comic. I'm not a comic at all.

361
00:21:20,120 --> 00:21:25,000
These other blokes are comedians,
I'm more of a sort of re-actor.

362
00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:27,840
So I let them do it and then
I throw a couple of counterpunches.

363
00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:29,280
It's all I can do.

364
00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:32,920
Our scriptwriter, Talbot Rothwell,
has an enormous fund of gags.

365
00:21:32,920 --> 00:21:35,960
I think he has a Victorian
gag book at home.

366
00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:37,960
And, you know, basically,

367
00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:41,440
our pictures are of the same format,
with the same people.

368
00:21:41,440 --> 00:21:44,480
Different locales
and different incidents that happen

369
00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:47,640
but basically it is
a formula which the public expect.

370
00:21:51,400 --> 00:21:55,760
Word-play and period costume also
featured heavily in the films

371
00:21:55,760 --> 00:22:00,840
of another comedy gang who entered
the world of cinema in the 1970s.

372
00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:04,800
But where the Carry On films were
dismissed by most critics,

373
00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:08,280
the Monty Python films received rave
reviews -

374
00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:12,440
give or take the odd
religious controversy.

375
00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:17,480
Their first foray into cinema was The
Holy Grail starring Graham Chapman

376
00:22:18,200 --> 00:22:22,720
as King Arthur and co-directed
by the Python's two Terrys -

377
00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:24,720
Gilliam and Jones.

378
00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:28,560
DRAMATIC MUSIC

379
00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:42,160
How do two people who have
never directed

380
00:22:42,160 --> 00:22:45,040
a film before in their lives,
direct a film?

381
00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:46,920
Well...
HE LAUGHS

382
00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:48,880
We are learning as we do it.
That's what's nice,

383
00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:51,520
we've been given a film to
learn how to make films on.

384
00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:53,120
They're pretty good.

385
00:22:53,120 --> 00:22:55,960
They're pretty good. They're both
very visually orientated.

386
00:22:55,960 --> 00:22:59,080
Very aware of picture compositions.

387
00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:02,480
Ingmar Bergman is going to be really
jealous of this one!

388
00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:07,520
There's a slight joke about us that
we make about them, that the jokes

389
00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:10,880
tend to be a bit secondary to
whether it looks good, you know.

390
00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:12,440
So we keep sort of...

391
00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:14,640
When they say, "more smoke",
"more smoke"

392
00:23:14,640 --> 00:23:16,720
and this kind of thing,
because we have hardly had

393
00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:21,640
a shot yet that we haven't had smoke
or some such arty visual effect.

394
00:23:21,640 --> 00:23:25,280
We tend to ask them how many laughs
there are in smoke, you know,

395
00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:27,280
just to keep them,
as it were, thinking of that.

396
00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:29,080
But that's the only criticism.

397
00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:32,960
Up with the cow,
as high as you can to start with.

398
00:23:32,960 --> 00:23:34,760
You've got your questions ready.

399
00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:37,200
I know I've got my questions ready.

400
00:23:37,200 --> 00:23:41,480
Which of these questions would you
most not like to answer?

401
00:23:41,480 --> 00:23:43,760
The first couple of days,
we just sort of leapt into it,

402
00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:44,960
and immediately...

403
00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:47,560
First of all, we had chosen
an impossible location,

404
00:23:47,560 --> 00:23:48,920
about a half mile up Glencoe.

405
00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:51,800
So everything have to be humped
by Sherpas up the mountain.

406
00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:53,880
We got up there,
the very first shot of the film,

407
00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:56,720
the big moment the camera turns,
and it jammed!

408
00:23:56,720 --> 00:23:59,040
So we didn't have a sound camera.

409
00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:01,640
And all our great plans were
suddenly up in the air.

410
00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:04,040
We panicked and we just had to
try to get a film made.

411
00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:08,520
In this incredible location,
no camera and no experience,

412
00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:09,880
that's the worst of it.

413
00:24:09,880 --> 00:24:12,160
Where is the other Terry now?
He's directing.

414
00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:13,560
He's directing the film.

415
00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:16,320
Charlie, you come to this mark
there, to where he is.

416
00:24:16,320 --> 00:24:20,040
We do tag team directing.

417
00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:22,320
Can you give me a brief
synopsis of the film,

418
00:24:22,320 --> 00:24:25,160
is that possible in the space
of half an hour or so?

419
00:24:25,160 --> 00:24:27,600
Well, I don't think it is, really.
I don't think it is.

420
00:24:27,600 --> 00:24:30,840
Try in 30 seconds. Right...

421
00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:33,880
It's about a search
for the Holy Grail,

422
00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:37,920
which is a large sort of creature,
a bit like a dodo.

423
00:24:37,920 --> 00:24:40,320
With a big beak.

424
00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:43,040
And people are trying to find
this Grail.

425
00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:49,720
Do they?

426
00:24:50,800 --> 00:24:54,000
No. No. Isn't that rather a letdown?
Don't you feel that the audience...?

427
00:24:54,000 --> 00:24:57,040
It's a big letdown. The whole film
is a great anti-climax.

428
00:24:57,040 --> 00:24:59,280
John, apart from being
interviewed by Film Night,

429
00:24:59,280 --> 00:25:03,320
what are the real horrors of
film-making on location?

430
00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:08,200
Apart from the interviews,
well, there is the sheer discomfort.

431
00:25:08,200 --> 00:25:12,480
The sheer... Am I too heavy? No.
No, that's fine. No.

432
00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:14,920
Move up a little bit.
That's better.

433
00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:17,120
How do you prevent boredom
from creeping in?

434
00:25:17,120 --> 00:25:21,160
Well, I don't, really.
Boredom creeps in daily.

435
00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:24,960
We sit in our rent-a-van
and think what we could be doing

436
00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:27,400
if we weren't making films.

437
00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:32,520
DRAMATIC MUSIC

438
00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:48,240
INAUDIBLE

439
00:25:50,040 --> 00:25:51,600
HE BLOWS A RASPBERRY

440
00:25:53,520 --> 00:25:57,200
After the last of the Python films,
John Cleese scored

441
00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:02,240
a huge international hit with his
1988 comedy A Fish Called Wanda.

442
00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:07,120
Also featuring Michael Palin.

443
00:26:07,120 --> 00:26:11,000
Its director was the then 78-year-old
Charles Crichton,

444
00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:15,760
who Cleese chose specifically because
decades before he had directed

445
00:26:15,760 --> 00:26:18,600
Ealing Comedies
The Man in the White Suit

446
00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:21,160
and The Titfield Thunderbolt.

447
00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:23,800
That's the tradition that
I come from. The Ealing Comedies.

448
00:26:23,800 --> 00:26:26,440
Those are the ones
I loved when I was a kid.

449
00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:30,880
And to make one in that vein, but
with that slightly black edge,

450
00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:33,880
which I really personally
prefer in comedy.

451
00:26:33,880 --> 00:26:35,560
I call it wickedness.

452
00:26:35,560 --> 00:26:40,240
It is... Please don't take it
seriously, it's all pretend.

453
00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:43,680
But I love that real edge
to the comedy.

454
00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:47,360
A Fish Called Wanda
turned out to be Britain's

455
00:26:47,360 --> 00:26:52,400
biggest international comedy film for
years until 1994, when the world fell

456
00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:57,640
head over heels in love with a
floppy-haired posh boy

457
00:26:57,640 --> 00:26:59,920
and his amorous misadventures.

458
00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:06,240
I assumed we had completely fouled
it up and certainly...

459
00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:10,000
I mean, I never watched any rushes
until the last day

460
00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:12,560
when Mike Newell came up to me
at lunchtime

461
00:27:12,560 --> 00:27:15,920
and said, "Come along."
We are showing some rough assembly.

462
00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:17,640
"You've got nothing to lose now,

463
00:27:17,640 --> 00:27:19,640
"it's only one afternoon's work
left."

464
00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:22,720
So I went along and I sat there with
about 50, no,

465
00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:26,880
about 100 cast and crew watching
this thing

466
00:27:26,880 --> 00:27:28,560
and there wasn't a laugh in it!

467
00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:34,280
You know, in the months that
followed,

468
00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:36,600
I really thought
I was going to have to emigrate.

469
00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:39,360
Making a film is less than
half of the process.

470
00:27:39,360 --> 00:27:42,560
It's the way that you distribute it
that is going to make or break it.

471
00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:45,960
And I was very keen that the film
open in America first.

472
00:27:45,960 --> 00:27:49,400
And I thought if it could
come into the UK with some good

473
00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:52,040
views from the States,
people would sit up and take note.

474
00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:57,040
When we all flew over to America to
first screen the movie,

475
00:27:57,040 --> 00:28:02,080
we had absolutely zero expectation
that we would get one laugh at all

476
00:28:02,520 --> 00:28:04,240
in the audience.

477
00:28:04,240 --> 00:28:06,840
Good luck.

478
00:28:06,840 --> 00:28:10,040
They were very worried,
on both sides of the Atlantic,

479
00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:13,320
that I was their top of the bill.
Totally unknown, really.

480
00:28:13,320 --> 00:28:15,520
Hi, we've got 30 seconds
to make this commercial

481
00:28:15,520 --> 00:28:17,760
for a new comedy called
Four Weddings And A Funeral

482
00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:20,160
starring the absolutely
fabulous Andie McDowell. Hi.

483
00:28:20,160 --> 00:28:22,960
We've only got 30 seconds as we
spent absolutely every last penny

484
00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:25,280
on making the film as excellent
and funny as possible.

485
00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:27,680
I think it is pretty funny,
what do you think, Andie? Yes.

486
00:28:27,680 --> 00:28:30,200
So, this is the last 30 seconds
of film we have in the camera.

487
00:28:30,200 --> 00:28:33,040
So I'll stop rabbiting on cos I'm
just some git with stupid hair who

488
00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:37,120
you've never heard of and Andie's a
fabulous goddess, every time
she opens her mouth it's heaven,

489
00:28:37,120 --> 00:28:39,280
so I'll shut up - over to Andie
to tell you everything

490
00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:41,520
you need to know about Four
Weddings And A Funeral.

491
00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:44,080
It's a really funny film. I think.
But don't take my word for it.

492
00:28:44,080 --> 00:28:45,960
Take Andie's. Well, it's like...

493
00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:52,280
Well, after Four Weddings,
I was in despair

494
00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:55,520
and unemployed for a few months

495
00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:58,960
and suddenly then the film started
to do incredibly well in America.

496
00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:01,600
There are British things which
export particularly well

497
00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:03,680
and I think humour is one

498
00:29:03,680 --> 00:29:07,480
and I think what they call heritage
is another.

499
00:29:07,480 --> 00:29:11,360
Not that this is a period film,
but I think they like the flowers

500
00:29:11,360 --> 00:29:13,560
and the quintessential
Englishness of it,

501
00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:17,320
that, for some reason, Americans
seem to find that very droll.

502
00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:20,080
I've discovered
that in my travels in America.

503
00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:24,160
You have only really got to say,
"gosh" or "by jiminy" -

504
00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:25,840
to get a huge laugh.

505
00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:28,640
Oh, no. Another wedding
invitation...

506
00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:32,080
'I've gone from being
semi-failure actor to'

507
00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:36,240
lots and lots of jobs. To the point
of absurdity, where now,

508
00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:41,240
even totally unsuitable scripts
about 70-year-old Irish nuns.

509
00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:44,040
People say,
Hugh Grant could play that.

510
00:29:44,040 --> 00:29:47,120
It's bloody frightening,
because you just feel huge pressure.

511
00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:49,760
And I miss very much the old days

512
00:29:49,760 --> 00:29:52,400
when one was just doing a kind of
a supporting part and if you

513
00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:55,440
were good it was a bonus and if you
weren't, it didn't really matter.

514
00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:58,600
Equally, if the film was a success
that was a bonus,

515
00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:01,360
but if it wasn't, it was art,
so it didn't matter.

516
00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:07,440
Four Weddings, Bridget Jones,
the Full Monty...

517
00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:11,600
these are some of the biggest British
hits of recent cinema history -

518
00:30:11,600 --> 00:30:16,640
but we're going back to the '60s
for our final film funnyman.

519
00:30:17,360 --> 00:30:21,040
To some, Peter Sellers
is the greatest comedian

520
00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:23,280
Britain has ever produced.

521
00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:26,920
He broke new ground
in radio with The Goons,

522
00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:29,360
appeared with Alec Guinness
in The Ladykillers

523
00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:33,280
and starred in comedy classics
like Dr Strangelove

524
00:30:33,280 --> 00:30:35,480
and I'm All Right Jack -

525
00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:38,520
and then, of course, there were
the hugely successful

526
00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:43,600
Pink Panther series -
and possibly his greatest creation,

527
00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:46,560
Inspector Jacques Clouseau.

528
00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:49,280
Peter, where does the character
of Clouseau come from?

529
00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:52,280
Is it observation, or are
you digging about inside yourself

530
00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:53,560
to find aspects of him?

531
00:30:53,560 --> 00:30:56,520
No, um...it's difficult
to say, Barry, now,

532
00:30:56,520 --> 00:30:59,840
because, you know,
I've been doing it so long... Um...

533
00:31:01,680 --> 00:31:03,880
"Come from"...

534
00:31:03,880 --> 00:31:07,920
I think, you know, when I first did
The Pink Panther in Rome, years ago,

535
00:31:07,920 --> 00:31:10,800
he was just a straightforward
French detective.

536
00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:14,280
As a matter of fact, Peter Ustinov
was playing the role at that time -

537
00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:18,000
and I was going to go into Topkapi
with Jules Dassin.

538
00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:21,040
I successfully talked my way out
that in an interview

539
00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:23,200
at the Dorchester,
and Peter left the film

540
00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:25,400
because of some problems -
we crossed over,

541
00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:28,280
he went into Topkapi as the taxi
driver, and I went into this.

542
00:31:28,280 --> 00:31:30,480
And it worked out great for us both.

543
00:31:30,480 --> 00:31:33,800
But getting back to that,
let's think, now -

544
00:31:33,800 --> 00:31:37,200
I don't know,
we just decided to make him

545
00:31:37,200 --> 00:31:40,480
one of those very serious...

546
00:31:40,480 --> 00:31:45,440
I mean, the size of his moustache
is to give him, in his own mind,

547
00:31:45,720 --> 00:31:47,880
some masculinity, you know?

548
00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:52,040
And very serious, but completely
hopeless at his job -

549
00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:55,440
very serious detective,
but completely bad at it -

550
00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:56,760
useless at it, you know?

551
00:31:56,760 --> 00:31:58,960
But he's kind of vaguely etched in,
isn't he?

552
00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:02,000
We don't know very much about him,
except that he's a detective

553
00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:04,640
and he lives with this Japanese
whom he keeps fighting.

554
00:32:04,640 --> 00:32:07,680
Yes. But presumably you know
more about him than that,

555
00:32:07,680 --> 00:32:09,080
in order to portray him.

556
00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:13,040
Well, I know that he goes to this
lunatic, um...disguisologist,

557
00:32:13,040 --> 00:32:15,640
who sells him
these terrible disguises.

558
00:32:15,640 --> 00:32:19,240
He's a very romantic man -
he tries very hard with the women,

559
00:32:19,240 --> 00:32:22,720
but he obviously doesn't make it
with them, er...too much.

560
00:32:22,720 --> 00:32:25,360
Although he probably
will in the next one.

561
00:32:25,360 --> 00:32:29,840
Um... He's... He believes sincerely,
as I was just saying,

562
00:32:29,840 --> 00:32:32,440
that he's probably one of
the greatest

563
00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:34,080
living detectives in the world -

564
00:32:34,080 --> 00:32:36,520
and also, on top of it,

565
00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:41,200
the sad thing is that he knows
deep down that he isn't.

566
00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:44,240
But he doesn't want anybody
else to know, you know?

567
00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:45,600
I believe everything...

568
00:32:47,080 --> 00:32:49,120
..and I believe nothing.

569
00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:51,720
I suspect everyone...

570
00:32:51,720 --> 00:32:53,400
and I suspect no-one.

571
00:32:55,280 --> 00:32:57,080
I gather the facts...

572
00:32:57,080 --> 00:32:59,680
examine the clues...

573
00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:01,760
and before you know it...

574
00:33:01,760 --> 00:33:03,120
the case is solved. Hm!

575
00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:07,400
Oh, yes, there is much here
that does not meet the eye.

576
00:33:07,400 --> 00:33:09,640
Mm, that is quite obvious.

577
00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:11,040
Oh...

578
00:33:12,680 --> 00:33:14,960
Ahem... What was that you said?

579
00:33:14,960 --> 00:33:17,760
Nothing, Monsieur. Hm, all right.

580
00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:20,600
You can go now.

581
00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:22,400
Yes, Monsieur.

582
00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:25,480
But do not try to leave.

583
00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:28,720
Everyone in this household
is under suspicion.

584
00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:29,960
Yes, Monsieur.

585
00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:34,240
The humour in the Pink Panther films

586
00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:37,880
is rather similar, isn't it,
to The Goon Show's zany humour?

587
00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:41,520
Well, it... I think all humour
has something in common, but...

588
00:33:41,520 --> 00:33:43,080
MAN SPEAKS IN FRENCH

589
00:33:43,080 --> 00:33:45,800
HE MIMICS FRENCH

590
00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:51,480
I see what you mean!

591
00:33:51,480 --> 00:33:53,920
HE IMITATES ECCLES

592
00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:57,480
HE SINGS "Camptown Races" AS ECCLES

593
00:33:57,480 --> 00:34:01,080
So, how similar is the brand
of zany comedy in The Pink Panther?

594
00:34:01,080 --> 00:34:03,440
Er...well, it's pretty wild,
you know?

595
00:34:03,440 --> 00:34:05,520
We're doing some mad things in this,

596
00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:07,520
we're telling taxi drivers
to follow that car,

597
00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:09,040
and they get out and run after -

598
00:34:09,040 --> 00:34:12,760
things like that,
and all kind of other mad things.

599
00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:17,800
Um, I don't think it has a direct
affinity with Goon humour, no, um...

600
00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:20,440
but it's pretty wild.

601
00:34:23,160 --> 00:34:25,360
That Clouseau is timeless,
because he represents

602
00:34:25,360 --> 00:34:30,400
something in all of us
that doesn't change, essentially.

603
00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:32,440
Certain customs may change,

604
00:34:32,440 --> 00:34:37,520
but the essential man doesn't
change - Clouseau doesn't.

605
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:42,280
The fallible, bumbling screw-up,
if you will, he...

606
00:34:45,520 --> 00:34:47,560
..he's essential in all of us,

607
00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:52,240
and he provides us with the ability
to laugh at ourselves.

608
00:34:52,240 --> 00:34:54,240
Right, here we go.
Right, action, Peter.

609
00:34:54,240 --> 00:34:56,360
Talking about Blake Edwards
and yourselves,

610
00:34:56,360 --> 00:34:58,080
you seem to have some
sort of rapport.

611
00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:00,560
What is it that exists between you?

612
00:35:00,560 --> 00:35:02,600
We're rather like Laurel
and Hardy that way.

613
00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:06,240
We seem to...well,
we know, you know,

614
00:35:06,240 --> 00:35:08,960
his sense of humour
is very much like mine,

615
00:35:08,960 --> 00:35:11,800
he finds the same
sort of things as I do funny.

616
00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:15,160
Little dogs and cats and birds...
HE SQUAWKS

617
00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:17,600
..and things like that, you know?

618
00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:21,000
Animals from the rear,
all kinds of things like that,

619
00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:24,120
situations -
he spots them very quickly.

620
00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:26,320
We both see the funny -
and he's also a great giggler,

621
00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:27,720
it's great working with him.

622
00:35:27,720 --> 00:35:29,600
What do you think this special
rapport is,

623
00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:31,320
that you and Peter Sellers
seem to have?

624
00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:33,640
We're both crazy.
HE CHUCKLES

625
00:35:36,360 --> 00:35:38,960
Peter Sellers' influence
is still clear today,

626
00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:42,680
with stars like Steve Coogan
and Sacha Baron Cohen

627
00:35:42,680 --> 00:35:45,720
describing him as a major influence -

628
00:35:45,720 --> 00:35:48,080
and as for Sellers himself -

629
00:35:48,080 --> 00:35:53,080
well, one of his biggest influences
was the man we started off with -

630
00:35:53,520 --> 00:35:55,200
George Formby,

631
00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:59,760
proving that good comedy is
handed down through the generations.

632
00:35:59,760 --> 00:36:03,160
AS GEORGE FORMBY: Heh, heh -
turned out nice again, hasn't it?

633
00:36:03,160 --> 00:36:05,040
One, two, three...heh-four!

634
00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:08,760
MUSIC: When I'm Cleaning Windows
by George Formby

635
00:36:13,560 --> 00:36:17,720
# Now I go cleanin' windows
to earn an honest bob

636
00:36:17,720 --> 00:36:22,160
# For a nosy parker
it's an interestin' job

637
00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:25,040
# Now it's a job
that just suits me

638
00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:27,280
# A window cleaner you would be

639
00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:29,720
# If you could see what I can see

640
00:36:29,720 --> 00:36:31,760
# When I'm cleanin' windows

641
00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:34,160
# Honeymooning couples too

642
00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:36,440
# You should see them bill 'n' coo

643
00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:38,640
# You'd be surprised
the things they do

644
00:36:38,640 --> 00:36:41,000
# When I'm cleanin' windows

645
00:36:41,000 --> 00:36:43,520
# In my profession I'll work hard

646
00:36:43,520 --> 00:36:45,640
# But I'll never stop... #

647
00:36:45,640 --> 00:36:48,800
BOTH: # I'll climb this
blinkin' ladder

648
00:36:48,800 --> 00:36:50,840
# Till I get right to the top

649
00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:53,480
# The blushin' bride
she looks divine

650
00:36:53,480 --> 00:36:55,600
# The bridegroom, he is doin' fine

651
00:36:55,600 --> 00:36:57,760
# I'd rather have his job than mine

652
00:36:57,760 --> 00:36:59,960
# When I'm cleanin' windows. #