The 'Carry On' films were British comedy films that were released through the 1950' to the 1970's. They were directed by Gerald Thomas and produced by Peter Rogers. They featured such well known names as Kenneth Williams, Sid James, Joan Sims, Hattie Jacques and Barbara Windsor.
The early films that were shown for the start date in 1958 through to approximately 1962 were black and white as was usual at the time and were written by a man called Norman Hudis. These films were predominantly shot around some kind of profession and were called:- Carry On Sergeant, Carry On Nurse, Carry On Teacher, Carry On Constable, Carry On Regardless and Carry On Cruising.
From 1963 onwards colour versions of the films were made and their coincidence with the 'swinging sixties' made them more sexually liberal in the jokes and situations they portrayed. Of the eras that they span, this remains the most popular. At this time it was a gentleman called Talbot Rothwell who was writing the screenplay for the films. There were a fair few titles released during this period which were:- Carry On Cabby, Carry On Jack, Carry On Spying, Carry On Cleo, Carry On Cowboy, Carry On Screaming, Carry On Doctor, Don't Lose Your Head, Follow that Camel, Carry On up the Kyber, Carry On Again Doctor. The films 'don't lose your head' and 'follow that camel' were released by a different distributor hence the lack of the 'Carry On' title, however, they were eventually re-released with the Carry On bit in the name.
The films then continued into the 70's with Talbot Rothwell still writing the screenplay. However, though the sexual content did actually become a little stronger the public were no longer so shocked by this and the films took a dip in popularity. The titles of some of the films released during this period were:- Carry On Up the Jungle, Carry On Loving, Carry On Henry, Carry On at Your Convenience, Carry On Matron, Carry On Abroad, Carry On Girls, Carry On Dick.
Joan Sims had the longest running stint on the show as an actress, she was in Carry On Cleo right through to the last Carry On film, with the exception of Carry On Emmanuel.