h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hi <BB<

I'm subbing The Ultimate Carry On Film Guide: 1971 - 1973. The new version is A87936097 - please subscribe!

One question so far:

"period dramas made with the American market in mind."

Were they cheap or expensive to make?

Another question - what are Beauty Queen Cartoons?

Lastly: "One thing that didn't change was the cast's wage, which hadn't changed since 1958. Except for Sid James, Kenneth Connor and Charles Hawtrey who were paid £5,000 per film, the rest of the cast received a flat wage of £2,500 or less per film and no further royalties."

Does this need tweaking somehow? Some of the cast were sometimes paid £3,000 rather than £2,500?

Hi <BB<

I'm subbing 1974-1992 as well. The new version is A87934567 - please subscribe!

I have a few questions:

Is Barbara Windsor Harriett with two 't's in Carry On Dick or is it just one 't'?

Can I check the salary information here as well, please? - I found something online that indicates Barbara Windsor's Carry On career income was £30,500 but I don't know where that figure came from.

Does Patricia Franklin need to be in Bold?

What is a 'treatment'? (I daren't google 'Green Emmanuelle )

A87936097 - The Ultimate Carry On Film Guide: 1971 – 1973
"period dramas made with the American market in mind" - Were they cheap or expensive to make?
how long is a piece of string? Usually you could expect to be able to make a period drama quite cheaply. Most film companies had a wide selection of period costumes to choose from and there are also professional costumiers that they could hire period costumes from. Also as for locations, the UK has a wide range of stately homes etc, both public such as National Trust and English (etc) Heritage, but also privately owned. Many were delighted to allow location filming for a fee as they would receive a degree of publicity.

That said, if you are also hiring numerous horses, if your period drama includes, say, battle scenes or scenes at sea, costs could mount up. And if you, say, cast Marlon Brando as Henry VIII and promised to pay him the same wage he got for being in 'Superman', that would increase your budget by $20 million…

But on average – 'Cleopatra' aside, period dramas were comparatively cheap.

What are Beauty Queen Cartoons?
In the opening credits for 'Carry On Girls', each credit card featured a cartoon drawing by popular cartoonist 'Larry' featuring a beauty queen wearing a sash labelled 'Miss …'. So 'Miss Conception' is pregnant, 'Miss Hap' is falling out of her clothing etc…

We can tweak that sentence to:
"One thing that didn't change was the cast's wage, which hadn't changed since 1958. Except for Sid James, Kenneth Connor and Charles Hawtrey who were paid £5,000 per film, the rest of the cast received a flat wage of £3,000 or less per film and no further royalties."

<BB<

A87934567 - The Ultimate Carry On Film Guide: 1974 – 1992

Yes, Harriet should only have one

I found something online that indicates Barbara Windsor's Carry On career income was £30,500.

That's probably about right. The figure of under £30,000 I used was purely for her ten film appearances. She also appeared in all four episodes of 'Carry On Christmas', eight episodes of 'Carry on Laughing' and the 'Carry On' stage play from 4th September – 12th October 1973. These bump her over the £30,000 mark, but still only by £500.

Ah yes, Patricia Franklin should be in bold – she's in five films (but background roles in the first two – I'll update 68-70.)

A 'treatment' in this case means the first draft of a film/TV/radio etc script.

<BB<

Ah yes, it is the TV appearances that make the difference to the total earnings figure (the plays were not mentioned)

I updated Patricia Franklin - there was a fascinating typo that turned her into Patrocoam on one occasion, so that must have put her under the radar!

Can I just check the Emmannuelle timeline, please?

Lance Peters wrote the treatment for Green Emmanuelle, Peter Rogers changed it, then Lance Peters wrote Carry On Emmannuelle, and Peter Rogers completely rewrote it?

"But on average – 'Cleopatra' aside, period dramas were comparatively cheap. " - Aha, I see

I added that explanation of the cartoons as a footnote

Is it correct that Barbara Windsor received £4,000 for her first film? If so, that was cunning of Peter Rogers, to lure her in with a small bonus and then put her on the same low wages as everyone else...

With the Emmannuelle timeline, that's pretty much it. Lance Peters wrote a treatment for 'Green Emmanuelle', Peter Rogers said, 'I like this, can you make it more 'Carry On' like, so along these lines' giving extensive notes, Lance Peters changed his treatment into 'Carry On Emmannuelle' which Peter Rogers rewrote and rewrote again (there were 3 'Carry On Emmannuelle' drafts, the biggest change turned Barbara Windsor's character into three different characters following her refusal to appear and also removed other scenes deemed too expensive and/or offensive).

Barbara Windsor indeed was paid £4,000 for 'Carry On Spying' – but at that point she was a guest star, not a regular. Peter Rogers was prepared to pay guests quite well – so when Sid James (who was paid a maximum of £5,000) was unavailable he was happy to pay Harry H Corbett £12,000 and Phil Silvers £30,000 to step in for roles written for Sid. Barbara Windsor didn't return to the 'Carry On' films until 1967, at which point she was a regular and was paid a mere £1,500.

<BB<

Thank you - both Entries are ready for you to read and let me know if you're ready for them to go to the next stage

The Ultimate Carry On Film Guide: 1971 – 1973
This entry looks good to me with one tweak to be made:
'He had previously played a gang of robbers in The Big Job' > 'he had previously played the leader of a gang…'

<BB<

Perhaps change 'meaning only children over 14 could see it.' to 'only those over 14 could see it', other than that I think this is good to go!

<BB<

Tweaks have been made and the Entries have been sent on their way to the next stage.

(I had assumed The Big Job was like Kind Hearts and Coronets )

Hi <BB<

I'm subbing The Ultimate Carry On Film Guide: 1968 - 1970. The new version is A87938040 - please subscribe!

I had a few little questions:

"Surprisingly, although Pinewood Studios' mansion house doubled as Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond's residence, location filming took place outside the Home Counties."

What is the Home Counties in this context, and why is that a surprise?

"as well as nearby houses" - as well as outside nearby houses?

"Jacki Piper, who was the only Carry On actor ever to be placed under contract. She had signed a three-year contract to solve the recurring problem of needing to find a lead young female actress, although Valerie Leon has finally achieved a large enough role to be billed on the first card."

What is the first card? Did Jacki Piper get billed on the first card?

Thanks again

The Home Counties are the counties closest to London (Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey, and Sussex) and virtually all 'Carry On' filming took place there, particularly Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Middlesex as they were closest to Pinewood.

If you look at: http://www.carryon.org.uk/location_frm.htm you can see that the only filming outside London and the Home Counties was for Khyber. (Stock footage such as of a ship at sea or Southampton Docks doesn't count, nor does the few seconds' helicopter aerial photography bit filmed over Cassington in Oxfordshire for Emmannuelle as Kenneth Williams didn't actually skydive nude, he was in front of a blue screen at Pinewood).

This is surprising as for location filming in the Home Counties, Peter Rogers would expect the cast and crew to make their own way there at their own expense, but for Snowdon he had to pay both transport and accommodation. Also Peter Rogers got very homesick and disliked being away from home himself.

'outside nearby houses' As opposed to inside houses?
'Location filming took place in Pinewood Studios' fields and orchards, as well as roads and houses located nearby.'

Hmm, there appears to be two different opening sequences to 'Jungle' and in one, Valerie and Jackie are on the first card but on the other they are both on the second. So saying 'She had finally made the first card except for when she hadn't' doesn't make any sense. So on reflection it is better to cut the mention of the first card entirely.
(Essentially the first card is the first one after the Title Card in the opening credits that lists the main cast in the film, so typically say, 'Sid James, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Jim Dale, Hattie Jacques, Barbara Windsor, Bernard Bresslaw, Joan Sims' and then the second + cards would list the less prominent/famous people on, 'Peter Butterworth, Patsy Rowland, Peter Gilmore, David Lodge' etc.)

<BB<

Aha, thank you very much for that link - I can visualise the geography much better now (I know the words 'Home Counties', 'Essex', 'Kent' and suchlike, but my mental image of them 'down South' is vague )

"Location filming took place in ... nearby houses" did sound funny! Tweaked

Ah, that is interesting about the two different opening sequences - well found... I can visualise the cards, now as I've seen them in other films of the period

It's ready for you to check through and let me know if there is anything else you would like before it goes to the next stage

You don't need sound to read opening credits.
Can you add 'Much Snogging-on-the-Green, England, early 1970s' to the 'Setting' box under 'Carry On Loving'? Once done this can keep calm and Carry On

<BB<

Aha - thank you. That has been done and the Entry has carried on to the next stage

!

<BB<

Hi <BB<

I'm Sub-editing The Ultimate Carry On Film Guide: 1965 - 1967. The new version is A87938905 - please subscribe!

Just three questions:

In relation to Carry On Don't Lose Your Head, "Producer Peter Rogers responded by writing to her estate" - what was he responding to?

"Unusually a French actress, Dany Robin, was cast to play Frenchwoman Jacqueline" - why is that unusual?

"Bedpanarama" - just checking it's not spelled "Bedpanorama"