Posters from cheeky Carry On comedy sell for over £12,000 at auction

Going, going, carry on! Iconic film posters from cheeky Carry On comedy film series sell for more than £12,000 at auction

• One poster sold for three times its estimate, despite being a little grubby  

Iconic film posters from the Carry On comedy film series have sold for more than £12,000 at auction.

The brash banners from the bawdy British 60s classics are known for their seaside postcard-style humour and smuttiness.

Leading the way for auctioneers was the risque poster for the 1963 caper Carry On Cabby which surprised auctioneers despite being a little bit grubby and sold for three times its estimate.

The 30 by 40 inch poster depicts a yellow Glamcab being pushed by a female cab drivers and features caricatures of stars Kenneth Connor, Hattie Jacques, Charles Hawtrey and Esma Cannon in the cab with Sid James thumbing a lift.

It trounced its original £700-1,000 estimate and sold for £2,210 at Ewbank’s vintage posters auction on Friday, August 4. 

The Carry On Cabby poster for the film released in 1963 was described as being in ‘generally excellent condition’ and  trounced its original £700-1,000 estimate and sold for £2,210

Carry On Spying eclipsed its £500-800 estimate to sell for £1,690 at Ewbank’s vintage posters auction on Friday

It was described as being in ‘generally excellent condition’ but has ‘some light browning, pen title on reverse.’

In total, 44 Carry On posters went under the hammer and sold for £12,600.

Also among the highlights was the poster from Carry On Spying, which eclipsed its £500-800 estimate to sell for £1,690.

The poster features a pistol-toting, Fez-wearing Kenneth Williams surrounded by a scantily clad Barbara Windsor, Bernard Cribbins and Charles Hawtrey.

Carry On Cowboy’s poster, featuring Sid James firing a revolver, clipping Hawtrey’s feather headdress, with chorus girl Angela Douglas watching, sold for £1,105.

Other sales included a smaller Carry On Cabby poster which was bought for £1,040, a Carry On Jack one sold for £975, Carry On At Your Convenience for £234, and a Carry On Dick for £208. 

Ewbank’s partner and auctioneer Alastair McCrea said: ‘It’s an irony that while the Carry On films often relied on saucy postcard humour, they are viewed as coming from a simpler, more innocent age, these days, and that creates a great deal of nostalgia.

‘With all the other qualities the designs share, this is a section of the vintage poster market that has been holding up very well indeed.”

Carry On Cowboy’s poster, featuring Sid James firing a revolver, clipping Hawtrey’s feather headdress, with chorus girl Angela Douglas watching, sold for £1,105

The Carry On franchise is now criticised for being sexist but remains loved by some for their slapstick humour

The Carry On film posters were designed by Tom Chantrell, this is believed to contribute to their value and high sales at auction 

The Carry On films were credited with launching the career of the late Dame Barbara Windsor, and cementing Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims, and Leslie Phillips.

In total, 31 films, four Christmas specials and a television series were produced between 1958 and 1992.

They are now criticised for being sexist but remain loved by some for their slapstick humour. 

The last Carry On movie to hit the big screen was Carry On Columbus in 1992, which was labelled the ‘worst British film ever made’ by a poll of industry experts in 2004.

A Ewbank’s spokesperson said: ‘The Carry On brand of slapstick comedy with groanworthy puns may seem dated these days.  

Film posters from the Carry On comedy film series have sold for more than £12,000 at auction

The Carry On movies were credited with launching the career of the late Dame Barbara Windsor, and cementing Kenneth Williams, Joan Sims, and Leslie Phillips

‘But as Ewbank’s Vintage Posters auction showed, a huge appetite remains for posters associated with the franchise.

‘More than 40 appeared here, with many going well over estimates to provide a premium-inclusive total of more than £12,600 for this section of the sale.

‘The fact that Tom Chantrell, arguably the most celebrated of 20th century British film poster artists, designed the series would have helped.

‘Top prices came for some of the most iconic films in the Carry On stable, as long as the accompanying artwork was lively, colourful and included at least one of the best-loved actors among the cast.’

Source: Read Full Article