{"id":146103,"date":"2023-12-11T20:37:06","date_gmt":"2023-12-11T20:37:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebritywshow.com\/?p=146103"},"modified":"2023-12-11T20:37:06","modified_gmt":"2023-12-11T20:37:06","slug":"bimbos-not-a-bit-of-it-the-carry-on-girls-always-outsmarted-the-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebritywshow.com\/tv-movies\/bimbos-not-a-bit-of-it-the-carry-on-girls-always-outsmarted-the-men\/","title":{"rendered":"Bimbos? Not a bit of it. The Carry On girls always outsmarted the men"},"content":{"rendered":"

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It was 5.30am and still dark when Sally Geeson arrived at Pinewood Studios to start filming Carry On Abroad. In spring 1972, the comedy franchise already had legions of adoring fans, tickled pink by its bawdy humour. But the 21-year-old actress wasn\u2019t sure what reception to expect from the established cast.<\/p>\n

She had heard, for instance, that Kenneth Williams could be \u201ctough\u201d with newcomers. So, it was with slight trepidation that Sally climbed the stairs to the makeup room \u00aduntil, suddenly, something made her stop dead on the spot.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could hear this hysterical laughing coming from the makeup room,\u201d the actress, now 73, recalls today. \u201cI thought, \u2018Who is that? What is that?!\u2019\u201d Edging closer, she poked her head around the door. \u201cBarbara Windsor was there laughing her head off and so was Charles Hawtrey in the makeup chair,\u201d she remembers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey looked round, I said, \u2018Hello, I\u2019m Sally,\u2019 and they said, \u2018Oh, hello Sally.\u2019 They were so nice and friendly, I thought, \u2018I\u2019m going to enjoy this, I know I am.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

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Her instincts soon proved right. \u201cThere was never an unhappy moment,\u201d Sally continues. \u201cI used to get home and I\u2019d be tired, and I\u2019d say to my boyfriend: \u2018Oh, I\u2019m worn out laughing.\u2019\u201d The actress appeared in three Carry On<\/em> films altogether, including 1973\u2019s Carry On Girls<\/em>, whose 50th anniversary has been celebrated with a lavish new book, The Carry On Girls<\/em>, written by husband and wife team Gemma and Robert Ross.<\/p>\n

The couple wanted to pay homage to \u00adthe fun, feisty and determined women \u2013 from Hattie Jacques and Joan Sims to June Whitfield and, of course, Barbara Windsor \u2013 who helped popularise the much-loved series alongside leading men Sid James and Kenneth Williams.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe films show women having a good laugh,\u201d says Gemma.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you can see Hattie and Joan aren\u2019t always acting because they genuinely find what they are saying is funny, whether it\u2019s opposite men or women.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Rather than being merely bimbos or nags, she says the female characters were empowered figures who outsmarted men or were in on the jokes. Robert agrees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re very strong characters. They \u00adare sexually confident and the men are a bit silly, but it\u2019s a comedy film and everybody\u2019s a bit silly.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see Kenneth Williams with his trousers around his ankles as much as you see Barbara Windsor in a bikini. It\u2019s all a comedy of embarrassment and sexual frustration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although fashions and tastes in humour change over time, often according to younger generations who decide what is in vogue or is no longer deemed acceptable, the Carry On films continue to delight all ages.<\/p>\n