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<blockquote data-quote="Mel O&amp;#039;Drama" data-source="post: 78380" data-attributes="member: 23">Last night I watched another pseudo Carry On: Watch Your Stern.It&#039;s not written by a writer associated with the series. But it&#039;s produced by Peter Rogers; directed by Gerald Thomas, has music by Bruce Montgomery and has a cast including Kenneth Connor, Leslie Phillips, Joan Sims, Hattie Jacques, Sid James, David Lodge and Victor Maddern so we&#039;re certainly in the territory. And it feels like part of the series.Watch Your Stern feels very much like a vehicle for Kenneth Connor&#039;s versatile character acting. His usual-for-this-era bumbling underdog gets into so much trouble that - abetted by his equally-usual-for-this-era crush-that-he&#039;s-too-shy-to-admit-his-feelings-to (Joan Sims again, following on from their romance in Constable) -&nbsp; he is forced to disguise himself; first as a bearded old Scottish scientist and - when that fails - as a middle aged woman.When watching Connor&#039;s performances in recent years I sometimes recall reading the Charles Hawtrey bio The Man Who Was Private Widdle, where the author expressed great contempt for Connor&#039;s style. I seem to remember he described him as a &quot;pain in the arse&quot;. It&#039;s true that Connor can overdo the gurning and mugging on occasion, and I can understand how someone could find his style offputting. Let&#039;s face it, though, the same can be said tenfold for Hawtrey. Personally I&#039;ve long enjoyed Kenneth&#039;s contributions to British comedy and find him not just funny but very likeable. There&#039;s a great deal of very enjoyable farce which is set up very well and all comes to a head when Kenneth is fighting off a grizzled old sea captain disguised as scientist Agatha Potter while the real Agatha Potter is mistaken for a man in drag. Poor Hattie gamely made this indignity work, though I imagine it&#039;s not an enviable arc for an actress to have thrust upon them.Kind of a precursor to Cruising. And funnier at times.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Mel O'Drama, post: 78380, member: 23"] Last night I watched another pseudo Carry On: [I]Watch Your Stern.[/I] It's not written by a writer associated with the series. But it's produced by Peter Rogers; directed by Gerald Thomas, has music by Bruce Montgomery and has a cast including Kenneth Connor, Leslie Phillips, Joan Sims, Hattie Jacques, Sid James, David Lodge and Victor Maddern so we're certainly in the territory. And it feels like part of the series. [I]Watch Your Stern [/I]feels very much like a vehicle for Kenneth Connor's versatile character acting. His usual-for-this-era bumbling underdog gets into so much trouble that - abetted by his equally-usual-for-this-era crush-that-he's-too-shy-to-admit-his-feelings-to (Joan Sims again, following on from their romance in [I]Constable[/I]) - he is forced to disguise himself; first as a bearded old Scottish scientist and - when that fails - as a middle aged woman. When watching Connor's performances in recent years I sometimes recall reading the Charles Hawtrey bio [I]The Man Who Was Private Widdle[/I], where the author expressed great contempt for Connor's style. I seem to remember he described him as a "pain in the arse". It's true that Connor can overdo the gurning and mugging on occasion, and I can understand how someone could find his style offputting. Let's face it, though, the same can be said tenfold for Hawtrey. Personally I've long enjoyed Kenneth's contributions to British comedy and find him not just funny but very likeable. There's a great deal of very enjoyable farce which is set up very well and all comes to a head when Kenneth is fighting off a grizzled old sea captain disguised as scientist Agatha Potter while the real Agatha Potter is mistaken for a man in drag. Poor Hattie gamely made this indignity work, though I imagine it's not an enviable arc for an actress to have thrust upon them. Kind of a precursor to [I]Cruising[/I]. And funnier at times. [/QUOTE]

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