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.

R.I.P. Barbara Windsor

I was shattered to hear about the death of Barbara Windsor yesterday. For me she's an icon, an essential part of British culture. She's known for two phases in her career. From 1964 to 1974 she was a comedy actress in the Carry On films, typecast as a dumb blonde. From 1994 to 2016 she appeared in the TV soap "Eastenders" as Peggy Mitchell, the matriarch of the Mitchell family and owner of the local pub, the Queen Vic. All British soaps are centred on a pub, so she was the main character for most of these years, until the character finally died of cancer in 2016.

In the 20 years between Carry On and Eastenders, she disappeared from the limelight. Her career was in a slump. She played minor roles on television, and she appeared in Christmas pantomimes. This is dealt with in the biopic "Babs". After hearing about her death I wanted to watch "Babs", but to my horror I found it was missing from my DVD collection. I forgot that I'd only watched it on Iplayer. Silly me. I quickly ordered it from Amazon, and I hope to receive it within a few days, if Christmas hasn't slowed the post down too much.

Since I didn't have any films starring Barbara Windsor available, I watched the 1973 Carry On Christmas Special, in which she plays a 13-year-old girl visiting Santa's grotto. If you think that Sid James looks nervous, just wait until she starts bouncing on his lap. She was actually 33 at the time, but she makes a good schoolgirl.

Barbara Windsor
6 August 1937 – 10 December 2020

The Belles of St. Trinian's (3 Stars)

When I watched the new St. Trinian's films recently I promised that I would compare them with the old films, which I haven't watched for more than 40 years. Today I'm watching "The Belles of St. Trinian's", which was released in 1954.

The story begins with the Sultan of Makyad sending his daughter Fatima to England for a good education. That's her on the right in the picture above. He selects St. Trinian's because it's in Barchester, the town where he keeps his racehorses. He's planning to place his horse Arab Boy in the upcoming Cheltenham Races.

The fourth form (Year Nine) girls find out that Arab Boy is certain to win despite being a 10/1 outsider. They pass on this information to the headmistress, Miss Fritton, who bets the whole of the school's cash reserves in order to pay off the school's debts. The headmistress's brother, Clarence Fritton, wants his own horse to win, so he arranges for the sixth form girls to steal Arab Boy before the race. The fourth form girls hear about the plans and try to steal the horse first.

The school seems to be made up of only two groups, the fourth form and the sixth form. Where are all the others? The fourth form girls are young and rebellious, while the sixth form girls are sexually precocious.

Clarence Fritton's daughter Arabella – in the reboot she's called Annabelle – offers a gratuitous upskirt view. The new films don't offer treats like this. It's a pity it's only in black and white. She's played by the 17-year-old New Zealand actress Vivienne Martin, appearing in her first film. Over the next 40 years she appeared in many television shows, including the Benny Hill Show and Eastenders.

The sixth form girls flirt with the jockey. That's Arabella again on the left. He thinks he's in for a treat, but they tie him up and knock him unconscious with a mallet.

Look who else is spending time with the sixth form girls. On the left is the South African actor Solomon Cohen, better known as Sid James, six years before his first Carry On film.

Another famous actor in a minor role is Roger Delgado, who went on to play the Master in "Doctor Who".

This was also the first film appearance of Barbara Windsor, who was 17 at the time. I watched carefully, but I couldn't recognise her. If anyone can point her out to me, please leave a comment.

Despite the film being saucier than the new films, it's not so enjoyable overall. The story concentrates more on the teachers and other adults than the schoolgirls themselves. I also don't like the idea that the school is divided, the fourth form following one adult and the sixth form another. They should be united against the world.

When the new St. Trinian's film was released in 2007, the cast of "The Belles of St. Trinian's" got in touch with one another for a reunion. Many of them had not seen one another for 53 years. It was intended to be a yearly event, but based on what I've found online the last time they met was in 2014. Here are seven of the naughty schoolgirls photographed on the 60th anniversary of the film. What beautiful ladies they've become! I wish I had seven photos from the original film to compare each girl then and now.

Babs (5 Stars)

I'll jump straight into the controversy about this biographical film by giving it a full five star rating. It was first shown on the BBC at 8pm yesterday, less than a day ago, but the first reviews are already online. Critics are mixed in their opinions. Some find it brilliant, others poor quality. According to an article in the Daily Mail, most viewers were disappointed, complaining that it was difficult to understand. I'll wait for more representative viewer polls to come in, but I can understand the viewer response. The film probably wasn't watched by its target audience. Barbara Windsor is best known as an actress in the long running soap opera "Eastenders". The film about her life is an intellectual, well crafted drama, the opposite of the trashy stories presented in soap operas.

First a word of explanation to my readers who aren't from England. Barbara Windsor is one of the best known actresses in England. She's known for two things in her career. She appeared in nine of the 30 Carry On films from 1964 to 1974; she appeared in "Eastenders" from 1994 to 2016. The Carry On films are still frequently repeated on British television, so she's well known as a Carry On star even to the younger generation.

What did she do between 1974 and 1994? Not much. After the last Carry On film her career was in a slow decline. She was famous for what she had done, but nobody was interested in seeing her any more. All she was offered was poor paying singing and comedy shows at English holiday resorts. That's where "Babs" begins. It's 1993, the low point of her career. We see her sleeping on a wooden floor on a pier, because she can't afford a hotel room before she goes on stage. Her father appears to her as she knew him when she was young. He encourages her to look back on her life, see where she went wrong and make a new start.

The film's style has been much criticised, so I'll try to describe it as best as I can. The whole film takes place in a series of flashbacks, from 1943 to 1968. (The years are approximate, which I'll go into below). Four different actresses play Barbara at different ages (child, teenager, twenties, aged 56), as well as the real Barbara Windsor appearing. In most of the scenes two incarnations of Barbara appear together. The 56-year-old Barbara, played by the excellent actress Samantha Spiro, stands watching her younger selves. Often she's accompanied by her father, with whom she discusses or argues about the choices she made in her life.

Jaime Winstone as Barbara Windsor, posing with the Kray twins.

Samantha Spiro as Barbara Windsor.

The film shows key points in Barbara's career, but omits many others. She was born in London in 1937 as Barbara Deeks. When she was 13 she began a career as a music hall singer and dancer. When she was 15 she adopted the stage name Barbara Windsor. After a few small film roles she appeared in highly acclaimed stage productions in 1963 and 1964, winning acclaim as a serious actress. In 1964 she appeared in "Carry on Spying", after which she was typecast as a dumb blonde with a lower class London accent and lost the respect of her peers.

More important than her career is the relationship with her father. He was no saint. He lost his temper and sometimes hit his wife, but Barbara idolised him. In 1993 (and presumably still today) she expressed regret that she hadn't spent more time with him. After her parents' divorce Barbara didn't see her father for more than ten years. When she finally found him, her stepmother didn't allow her to speak to him.

The film shows her affairs with men. Some of the men. She had many more affairs not shown in the film. The 56-year-old Barbara expresses regrets for all of her affairs. She says she was young and foolish, and her father confirms that the men weren't good enough for her.

Barbara Windsor in 1967.

I greatly enjoyed the way the film has been made. It's a much better biopic than "Hattie", the story of her fellow Carry On star Hattie Jacques. My only criticism is that the dates are unclear in the film itself. Apart from the opening scene in 1993 it's never stated when things happened. All the dates that I've given above are inserted from my own background knowledge, for instance I know when "Carry on Spying" was made. Some of the other details are more difficult for me to date precisely, such as when her parents were divorced.

This must have been a very emotional film for Barbara Windsor to appear in. She officially retired from acting last year, but she has returned to make "Babs", probably the biggest film of her life. She appears briefly in scenes during the film, and at the end she performs "Sunny Side of the Street", the song she used to sing with her father.

Barbara Windsor in 2017.

Grab your coat
And get your hat,
Leave your worries on the doorstep,
Life can be so sweet
On the sunny side of the street.

Can't you hear that pitter-pat?
And that happy tune is your step,
Life can be so sweet
On the sunny side of the street.

I used to walk in the shade
With those blues on parade,
But I'm not afraid,
Cos I'm a Rover
Who crossed over.

And if I never, never had a cent
I'd be rich as Rockafella,
Gold dust at my feet
On the sunny side of the street.

Samantha Spiro, Barbara Windsor, Jaime Winstone.

Carry On Spying (4½ Stars)

This is the ninth film in the Carry On series, made in 1964. Click here for a list of all 29 films. Maybe I'll rewatch them all in order one day, but it won't be soon. Not this year, probably not next year either.

"Carry On Spying" is memorable for two reasons. It was the last film in the series to be made in black and white, and it's also the first film in which Barbara Windsor appears.

The film is primarily a parody of James Bond, although it does have hints of other films, such as "Casablanca" and "The Third Man". Kenneth Williams stars as a British secret service agent who has to retrieve a formula stolen by Dr. Crow, the head of the Society for the Total Extinction of Non-Conforming Humans (STENCH). The adventure takes him and his companions to Vienna, Algiers and back to London.

In my opinion this is the funniest of the Carry On films. I admit that it's dated. None of the Carry On films have aged well. Their humour seems so archaic. Today I found myself not just laughing at the jokes, I was laughing at the way the jokes were supposed to be funny.

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I need to get my house and my DVD collection better organised. In my old house, where I lived until April this year, I had all my films in bookcases and easily accessible boxes. When I moved I had to leave two of my bookcases behind. I didn't have enough room for them in my new house. I had to store lots of my DVDs in boxes, and I made sensible choices, putting the ones in the boxes that I didn't think I would want to watch soon. My choices weren't perfect though. I decided to watch "Carry On Spying" last night, and I discovered to my horror that my Carry On films weren't in my bookcases. I had to search through the boxes in my storage compartment. As was to be expected, the Carry On films were in the bottom box at the back. That was frustrating, but I found it in the end.

Carry On Dick (4½ Stars)

This is the 26th film in the Carry On series. The film is about the adventures of Dick Turpin, known to his enemies as Big Dick. Dick is played by the wonderful South African actor, Sid James, whose birth name was Solomon Cohen. This was the last Carry On film he made before his death. If I had to name the actor in the Carry On team that I admire most it would be Sid James. Rest in peace.

Carry On Abroad (4 Stars)

This is the 24th film in the Carry On series. Friends and strangers from the same town go on a package holiday to a Spanish hotel that is still being built.

Carry On Matron (4 Stars)

This is the 23rd film in the Carry On series. A gang of criminals plan to rob a maternity hospital. An excuse for riotous laughs.