Nearly a Nasty Accident | |
---|---|
Directed by | Don Chaffey |
Written by | Jack Davies Hugh Woodhouse play Touch Wood by David Stringer David Carr |
Produced by | Bertram Ostrer |
Starring | Jimmy Edwards Kenneth Connor Shirley Eaton Eric Barker |
Cinematography | Paul Beeson |
Edited by | Bill Lenny |
Music by | Ken Jones |
Production companies | |
Distributed by | Britannia Films (UK) |
Release dates |
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Running time | 86 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Nearly a Nasty Accident is a 1961 British comedy film directed by Don Chaffey and starring Jimmy Edwards, Kenneth Connor, Shirley Eaton and Eric Barker. [1] [2]
The screenplay was by Jack Davies and Hugh Woodhouse, based on the 1958 BBC TV Sunday-Night Theatre play Touch Wood by David Stringer and David Carr. [3]
Alexander Wood is a cheerful, well-intentioned and mechanically minded aircraftman. He is also dangerously accident-prone. Always on the lookout for things to fix and improve, he constantly creates chaos and arouses the anger of the airbase commander, the promotion-seeking Group Captain Kingsley. Nevertheless Wood wins the heart of Corporal Jean Briggs.
The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "An air of desperation pervades the homely humours of this stereotype farce, in which Eric Barker and Richard Wattis contribute their standard Whitehall representations, and Jimmy Edwards explodes and stutters and wields his swagger-stick like a cane. Kenneth Connor, wrecking aircraft, flooding South Wales and generally costing the Air Ministry five million pounds in damages, shoulders the main burden of the sub-standard script. At his best, he manages to provide an echo of the late George Formby's gift for this kind of riotous-pathetic "'erk" portrayal; at his worst, he merely parodies Chaplin's little man." [4]
The Radio Times Guide to Films gave the film 3/5 stars, writing: "Jimmy Edwards teams with Kenneth Connor for this old-fashioned blend of slapstick and bluster. Although Edwards, his handlebar moustache bristling with indignation, is the nominal star as the RAF officer whose cushy lifestyle is shattered by the arrival of an accident prone mechanic, it's Connor's talent for timidity and catastrophe that makes this cataloqgue of disasters so amusing, Don Chaffey directs with undue fuss, and there's practised support from some stalwart players." [5]
Leslie Halliwell said: "Familiar faces just about save from disaster this underscripted comedy for indulgent audiences." [6]
The New York Times called the film "essentially a one-joke comedy hanging on the thinnest of plots." [7]
TV Guide said "Connor is a soldier who is obsessed with repairing things and is fascinated with anything mechanical, in this cute British comedy". [8]
Eric Sykes was an English radio, stage, television and film writer, comedian, actor and director whose performing career spanned more than 50 years. He frequently wrote for and performed with many other leading comedy performers and writers of the period, including Tony Hancock, Spike Milligan, Tommy Cooper, Peter Sellers, John Antrobus and Johnny Speight. Sykes first came to prominence through his many radio credits as a writer and actor in the 1950s, most notably through his collaboration on The Goon Show scripts. He became a TV star in his own right in the early 1960s when he appeared with Hattie Jacques in several popular BBC comedy television series.
Carry On England is a 1976 British comedy film, the 28th release in the series of the original 30 Carry On films (1958–1978). It was released in October 1976 and featured Carry On regulars Kenneth Connor, Jack Douglas, Joan Sims and Peter Butterworth. It was the second and last Carry On film for Windsor Davies, Diane Langton and Peter Jones, as well as the fifth and last for Patricia Franklin and the eighth and last for Julian Holloway. Patrick Mower, Judy Geeson and Melvyn Hayes make their only appearances in a Carry On film. The film was followed by That's Carry On! in 1977.
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Carry On Girls is a 1973 British comedy film, the 25th release in the series of 31 Carry On films (1958–1992). The film features regulars Sid James, Barbara Windsor, Joan Sims, Kenneth Connor, Bernard Bresslaw and Peter Butterworth. This Carry On featured neither Kenneth Williams nor Charles Hawtrey; Williams was unavailable because of stage commitments and Hawtrey had been dropped from the series.
Carry On Constable is a 1960 British comedy film, the fourth in the series of 31 Carry On films (1958–1992). It was released in February 1960. Of the regular team, it featured Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, and Hattie Jacques. Sid James makes his debut in the series here, while early regulars Leslie Phillips, Eric Barker, and Shirley Eaton also turn up, although Phillips did not appear again in the series for 32 years. It was the first "Carry On..." film to include some nudity with Connor, Hawtrey, Williams, and Phillips baring their behinds during a shower scene. The film was followed by Carry On Regardless 1961.
Dentist in the Chair is a 1960 British comedy film, directed by Don Chaffey and starring Bob Monkhouse, Ronnie Stevens, Eric Barker and Vincent Ball. The screenplay was written by Val Guest, and based on a novel by Matthew Finch. Additional scenes were written by Bob Monkhouse and George Wadmore.
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Eric Leslie Barker was an English comedy actor. He is most remembered for his roles in the popular British Carry On films, although he only appeared in the early films in the series, apart from returning for Carry On Emmannuelle in 1978.
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