Babs (5 Stars)

Florence Keen is Barbara Windsor.

Honor Kneafsey is Barbara Windsor.

Jaime Winstone is Barbara Windsor.

Samantha Spiro is Barbara Windsor.

Barbara Windsor is Barbara Windsor.

Yesterday I received the film "Babs" on DVD, just in time for Christmas. I wish I could have watched it immediately after Barbara Windsor's death on 10th December, but it's better late than never. This TV film was made in 2017, but set in 1993, when her career was rock bottom. She had to sleep on a wooden floor in a pier, because she didn't have enough money for a hotel. That was scandalous for an actress of her stature. The only one with her is her husband Scott Mitchell, who was 26 years younger than her. She calls him her toyboy, but he was the first good man in her life. And she had a lot of men. The film shows only a few of them.

While Scott leaves to buy her some fish and chips she reflects on her life and what went wrong. There are four actresses who play Barbara Windsor: Florence Keen (age 6), Honor Kneafsey (age 13), Jaime Winstone (age 22 to 35) and Samantha Spiro (age 56). In addition, the real Barbara Windsor, aged 79, appears in a few scenes.

What makes this film so good as a biopic is the way it's told. Barbara's father appears to her the way he looked when she was a child, and he accompanies her through the past, commenting on her memories, sometimes arguing with her.

Here we see 56-year-old Barbara watching herself when she was in her mid twenties. This mixture of timelines is what makes the film a masterpiece. When the 25-ish Barbara sits crying, 56-year-old Barbara takes her in her arms to comfort her. Sometimes the interaction is even more complex. When 25-ish Barbara is sitting in a cafe arguing with her husband, 56-year-old Barbara's father is saying that it's all her own fault. 25-ish Barbara turns to them to contradict what they're saying, but she's distracted when she sees 79-year-old Barbara sitting in silence by the wall.

So what went wrong in Barbara's life? The answer is clear: it was her father. He was a kind and loving father, but he got on badly with her mother. He swore at her, and he sometimes hit her. Barbara loved her father and took his side in the arguments. The crisis came when she was 13. She testified in court against her father in the divorce proceedings, and he was so disappointed that he walked out of her life. He refused to see her for the next 10 years. This broke her heart, and it's possibly the reason why she spent her life falling for bad men.

After playing a few minor film roles, she joined Joan Littlewood's theatre group. After appearing on stage in several plays and musicals, she was highly praised by critics. Joan told her that she had great talent and shouldn't waste her time with trashy comedies. Barbara didn't listen to her, and she became a regular in the Carry On films. Those trashy comedies were amazing works of art, and they made Barbara famous for the films she appeared in from 1964 to 1974. Even though she only appeared in nine of 29 Carry On films, she's the first person most people name when talking about the film series. (Some people say there were 31 films, but I don't include two of them).

That's where the film stops. We see nothing of her return to fame in 1994 as a regular actress in "Eastenders". Her success on television eclipsed her fame in the Carry On films. She played the part of Peggy Mitchell until Peggy died of cancer in 2016. Later in the year Barbara Windsor was knighted. That was a crowning award for her long career.

Dame Barbara Windsor
6 August 1937 – 10 December 2020

Farewell to a wonderful, elegant lady who spent most of her acting career pretending to be crude.