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

Entry: The Ultimate Carry On Film Guide: 1958 - 1964 - A87899774
Author: Bluebottle - U43530

Back in Peer Review for better or worse.

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Thank you

I've been thinking about these Entries recently, and wondering why I find them so difficult in comparison with the Christmas and Laughing Entries, and then I had a thought - see what you think...

I wonder if these Entries have strayed too far away from the original concept of 'Ultimate Guide' Entries - your other 'Ultimate Guides' are companions to more detailed Entries about individual films, and they focus on the essence of a series and only include handy snippets of interesting information about each film. These Entries feel instead like you've written a book about Peter Rogers and the history of the Carry On films and cut it into three pieces. If it were a book it would have more than three chapters in it so the reader needs your help with 'chunking up the elephant'.

Anyway, make of that what you will

I could split this so that instead of each entry covering an average 10 films to have each entry cover five films, making a series of six entries in total? Do you think that would work?

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Okay, I've split this entry in half and will see what the reaction is. If favourable I may well split the others to have 5 films per entry rather than ten.

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Thanks <BB< - good idea, as this is the ultimate of Ultimate Guides, so I salute you for writing a book and appreciate you breaking it up into more chapters

I noticed some repetition that could be tweaked (eg of 'Ted Ray') but I read the Entry all in one sitting and was impressed by the flow of information. Great concluding paragraph

Just reading this again, as it will be good for it to leave Peer Review and join its companions

"In one scene Charles Hawtrey disguises himself as a nurse played by Marita Stanton, however he looks surprisingly similar to Student Nurse Nightingale (Rosalind Knight), who was seen in a scene set the day before." - is this saying that the scriptwriter made a joke that isn't as funny as you think it would be if Charles Hawtrey instead looked like the person he was impersonating?

"In many ways, Carry On Teacher is the most dated film of the series" - Corporal punishment in schools was banned in the 1990s, but 'blacking up' would also date a film? Is it true that 1950s schools contained books about how to commit crimes, or is that exaggeration for Carry On comic effect?

"the cast's panto work" - is there a link that can be added, and/or a few words to clarify what 'panto work' is?

Thanks for the read-through

I'll be honest – in the early 'Carry Ons', Charles Hawtrey is my favourite actor (particularly in the first films when Kenneth Williams was given little to do other than be snobby). Rosalind Knight would also prove she was capable of much more than she does in in the following film 'Teacher', so to me it seems a missed opportunity for them not to both have been given a larger role that plays on their shared physical resemblance. But perhaps they thought 'Marita Stanton is a much more attractive actress to see stripped to her (1950s) underwear'

I've tweaked that bit.

'In many ways, 'Carry On Teacher' is the most dated film of the series' – I didn't say it was the only dated film or that it has dated the most in every conceivable way, only that it has dated the most in many ways.
Films in a contemporary setting always date quicker than historical dramas. Caning was banned in state schools in 1986, but I would have thought that the expectation that a teacher would routinely cane students on a daily basis would have disappeared before then. The last blackface/brownface make-up in a major Hollywood film I can think of is 'Short Circuit 2' (1988). But I don't think you can directly compare stereotyping & racism with corporal punishment – that is like comparing and

I've tweaked the bit in 'Teacher' to make it clear that there are books on chemistry which include what chemicals combined cause explosions rather than specifically s on 'How to Commit Crime'

I've added a little about pantomimes too.
Oh no you haven't!
Oh yes I have!

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[this is GB in disguise] busy proof reading the other Carry On articles, searching for this one, found it's still in PR just must say that I *love* how you have applied the black & white version of the cartoon image to this first-in-the-series entry

Thanks <BB< - interesting about 'contemporary', and of course variation between similar organisations... (I was talking to my dad about it yesterday, and he went to a primary school where there was a very strong culture of corporal punishment led by one particular man (until a child was badly injured and parents got involved) but in his secondary school in the early 1950s it was not in favour)

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