Cor, Blimey! 2000

Cor, Blimey! 2000 Director Terry Johnson adapted his 1998 play Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick. Geoffrey Hutchings and Samantha Spiro played Sid James and Barbara Windsor in both the play and the film.

It's a TV movie about the romance between Sid and Barbara, they meet in 1964 on the set of Carry On Spying and Sid chased her for years, their 3 year affair started in 1973, in 1976 Barbara broke it off, Sid started drinking heavily, he died the same year, passing away from a heart attack on opening night of The Mating Season.

Some of the real incidents in Sid and Barbara's lives have been altered in the film, the Wikipedia page for the film lists several changes or inaccuracies. Like any biopic it needs to be taken with a pinch of salt.

Sid started acting in 1947, appearing in a good number of films before moving into TV, his sitcom Bless This House, always a favorite in our place back then, had 6 series under it's belt when he died.

Barbara's first film is a favorite of mine, the 1954 comedy The Belles Of St Trinians. She made a name for herself in the Carry On series, appearing in 9 of the films, and she had a great run on the popular soap EastEnders. She stopped acting at 80 and died 3 years later in 2020. Her life makes good reading, plenty of interesting things happened to our Babs.

I think I first started seeing Sid in the Carry On films, he appeared in 19 of the 31 films. They were on Canadian TV when I was a kid and I would have watched them, they had a certain adult level of humor even though they're fairly innocent by today's standards. The films through 1962 were written by Norman Hudis and the ones after were written by Talbot Rothwell, the wholes series was directed by Gerald Thomas.

There's a wealth of comic talent on screen, beside Sid and Barbara there's some of my favorite British character actors: Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims, Charles Hawtrey, Kenneth Connor, Peter Butterworth, Hattie Jacques, Bernard Bresslaw, Jim Dale and Leslie Phillips.

I've always enjoyed Sid as an actor but I think I wouldn't care that much for him in real life. This is true of so many of the interesting writers, artists and film makers who's work I've liked.

Both Sid and Barbara were married at the time of their affair. Being married never stopped Sid from chasing women. His passion fruit seduction technique is depicted in the film. Don't know if it's true or just a joke so they can wrangle the word cunnilingus in there. It's the sort of thing some of his characters on the Carry On films might do.

Sid seems to be homophobic in the film, he picks on Kenneth Williams, something Kenneth recounts in his diaries. I haven't read the book that came out with pieces of Kenneth's diaries so I don't have much to go on. Some say Sid was a man of a different age and in England being queer was a jailable offense before they got rid of that law in 1965. I have downloaded a TV movie about Kenneth, with Micheal Sheen as Kenneth, the clips I looked at make him seem rather sad and bitter. Cor, Blimey! is similar in it's take of Kenneth. Kenneth wasn't friends with Sid but he was friends of many show people including Babs.

Interesting movie but more for those that have an interest in Sid and the Carry On films. Another series I should dig out and watch again.

Comments

[John Roberts]

I think the whole thing was to work 2000s sleaze into it as much as possible. It just seems to me like they wanted to finally show people the sexual intercourse that Sid James alluded to getting in all those 'Carry On' comedies.

"Kenny" complains about his backside piles and leakage so often even the real Williams would complain about this one-trick pony droning on and on, had he saw it. Very little about his theatrical past and nothing about his upbringing. The actor looked little like him but I must admit he had his Kenneth Williams down pat (must have been practising for years!). A little more of Sid's relationship with Charles Hawtrey would have been nice.

And I am VERY anti-PC, but would Sid James really have disparaged Williams so often in public for his alleged homosexuality?

Samantha Spiro's Barbara Windsor was very good. The dark brown eyes were off-putting, if very lustful - couldn't they have used blue-coloured contacts?

Speaking of eyes, Geoffrey Hutching's (as Sid) were made to disappear! James originally had biggish soulful eyes, later surrounded by bags and natural dark circles - and where was his splodgy nose? Also should have done more work with a voice coach to make his accent sound more British and less (attempted) South African - it grated. As it was, except for the (spot-on) hair he looked like a shifty used car dealer.