Sid James

Sid James

Birth : 1913-05-08, Hillbrow, Johannesburg, Union of South Africa

Death : 1976-04-26

History

Sid James (born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a South African-born English-based actor and comedian. He made his name as Tony Hancock's co-star in Hancock's Half Hour and also starred in the popular Carry On films. He was known for his trademark "dirty laugh" and lascivious persona. Bruce Forsyth summed up his talent thus: "He was a natural at being natural." Description above from the Wikipedia article Sid James, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Profile

Sid James

Movies

Sid James: Comedy Icon
Self (Archive Footage)
Celebrating the nearly 50-year-long career of one of Britain's most loveable celebrities.
The Unforgettable Sid James
Self
A profile of the comedy actor, best known for starring in many films of the Carry On franchise, with contributions from family, friends, co-stars and fans. The programme looks at his early life in South Africa, his start in films as a heavy in 1940s and 1950s crime thrillers, and his big break appearing in Hancock's Half Hour on radio and TV.
Stop Messin' About!: The Very Best of Kenneth Williams
(Archive footage)
Documentary and celebration of the life and career of British comedian Kenneth Williams.
To See Such Fun
Compilation of classic British comedy moments
Carry On Dick
Big Dick Turpin / Reverend Flasher
Dick Turpin is terrorising the countryside around Upper Dencher. Captain Fancey and Sergeant Jock Strapp plan to put an end to his escapades, and enlist the help of the Reverend Flasher. Little do they know that the priest leads a double life. Then Madame Desiree and her "Birds of Paradise" arrive in the village...
The World of Budgerigars
Himself
Sid James learns of the joys of owning a budgerigar.
Carry on Christmas
Santa (Mr Belcher) / Seed Pod / Sir Henry / Sgt Ball / Robin Hood.
Sid James as Father Christmas recounts times of the festive season through the ages, from life in stone age times. A country house party in the 18th Century. Christmas in the trenches during world war one. Next up is a Robin Hood send up with Sid as Robin.
Carry On Girls
Sidney Fiddler
Local councillor Sidney Fiddler persuades the Mayor to help improve the image of their rundown seaside town by holding a beauty contest. But formidable Councillor Prodworthy, head of the local women's liberation movement, has other ideas. It's open warfare as the women's lib attempt to sabotage the contest.
Carry On Abroad
Vic Flange
A group of holidaymakers head for the Spanish resort of Elsbels for a 4-day visit. When they get there, they find the Hotel still hasn't been finished being built, and the weather is awful. And there is something strange about the staff—they all look very similar. To top it all off, the weather seems to be having an adverse affect on the Hotel's foundations.
Carry On Matron
Sid Carter
A gang of thieves plan to make their fortune by stealing a shipment of contraceptive pills from Finisham maternity hospital. They assume disguises and infiltrate the hospital, but everything doesn't go according to plan. The hypochondriac consultant Sir Bernard Cutting, Matron and the doctors and nurses at Finisham have a habit of getting in the way.
Bless This House
Sid Abbott
The legendary Sid James stars as the head of a chaotic household in this movie spin-off from the hit ITV sitcom. Sid Abbott and his best mate Trevor (Peter Butterworth) enjoy home-brewing. Plans to turn their hobby into a profitable, if illicit, sideline come unstuck when a Customs and Excise officer (Terry Scott) moves in next door! What’s more, Sid’s outspoken and madcap family hinder neighbourly relations even further.
All This, and Christmas Too!
Sid Jones
Sid's daughter may be pregnant, but he is more interested in catching a pesky mouse. Things are further complicated by visits from an assortment of strange neighbours and relatives.
Carry On at Your Convenience
Sid Plummer
This is the tale of industrial strife at WC Boggs' Lavatory factory. Vic Spanner is the union representative who calls a strike at the drop of a hat; eventually everyone has to get fed up with him. This is also the ideal opportunity for lots of lavatorial jokes...
Carry On Henry
King Henry VIII
Henry VIII has just married Marie of Normandy, and is eager to consummate their marriage. Unfortunately for Henry, she is always eating garlic, and refuses to stop. Deciding to get rid of her in his usual manner, Henry has to find some way of doing it without provoking war with Marie's cousin, the King of France. Perhaps if she had an affair...
Carry on Again Christmas
Long John Sil
The second of the four Carry On Christmas specials, this one loosely recounts the story of Treasure Island with Sid James as Long John Silver and Barbara Windsor, strangely, as Jim Hawkins. The writing never quite builds up any steam, and many of the jokes were recycled from previous films anyhow. This special was filmed in black and white -- strangely, since the previous one was in color. I generally love the look of black and white, and the earliest films in the Carry On series do fine with it. But here it is used ineffectively and feels like a budgetary concession, which I'm sure it was.
Carry On Loving
Sidney Bliss
The Wedded Bliss computer dating agency aims to bring together the lonely hearts of Much-Snoggin-in-the-Green. Its owner, Sidney Bliss, has enough complications in his own love life, but still produces a pamphlet called "The Wit to Woo". The strange collection of hopefuls lead to some outlandish matches, and jealousies are bound to lead to trouble
Carry on Christmas
Ebenezer Scrooge
Ebenezer Scrooge is a misery on Christmas, not allowing people money or doing anything to share Christmas cheer around his employees or acquaintances. While Scrooge is visited by three ghosts we see how his penny pinching has affected those around him.
Carry On Again Doctor
Gladstone Screwer
Dr. Nookey is disgraced and sent to a remote island hospital. He is given a secret slimming potion by a member of staff, Gladstone Screwer, and he flies back to England to fame and fortune. But others want to cash in on his good fortunes, and some just want him brought down a peg or two.
Carry On Camping
Sid Boggle
Sid and Bernie keep having their amorous intentions snubbed by their girlfriends Joan and Anthea, so when they decide to take them on a holiday to Paradise Camp, they think they're off to a nudist colony—but they couldn't be more wrong, and meet up with the weirdest bunch of campers you can imagine.
Carry On Up the Khyber
Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond
Sir Sidney Ruff-Diamond looks after the British outpost near the Khybar pass. Protected by the kilted Third Foot and Mouth regiment, you would think they were safe, but the Khazi of Kalabar has other ideas—he wants all the British dead. But his troops fear the 'skirted-devils, who are rumoured not to wear any underwear.
Carry On Doctor
Charlie Roper
Francis Bigger, a notorious charlatan who tours the country lecturing on the subject of mind over matter, slips off the platform in the middle of his performance and ends up in hospital under the care of Dr Tinkle. The hospital is about to enter a period of total chaos.
Carry On Don't Lose Your Head
Sir Rodney Ffing
The time of the French revolution, and Citizen Robespierre is beheading the French aristocracy. When word gets to England, two noblemen, Sir Rodney Ffing and Lord Darcy Pue take it upon themselves to aid their French counterparts. Sir Rodney is a master of disguise, and becomes "The Black Fingernail", scourge of Camembert and Bidet, leaders of the French secret police.
Where the Bullets Fly
Mortuary Attendant
In a spoof of the spy genre a secret agent chases a missing formula that can drain nuclear energy from an element named Spurium,
Carry On Cowboy
Johnny Finger, the Rumpo Kid
Stodge City is in the grip of the Rumpo Kid and his gang. Mistaken identity again takes a hand as a 'sanitary engineer' named Marshal P. Knutt is mistaken for a law marshal. Being the conscientious sort, Marshal tries to help the town get rid of Rumpo, and a showdown is inevitable. Marshal has two aids—revenge-seeking Annie Oakley and his sanitary expertise.
Tokoloshe
Harry Parsons
A young African boy is rescued from a witchdoctor's death curse. He travels to the big city where a blind white man becomes his protector.
Three Hats for Lisa
Sid Marks
French movie pin up Sophie Hardy is Lisa Milan, a gorgeous Continental film star who's just arrived at Heathrow. She's in London for the premiere of her latest film, but within minutes she's beenw hisked away by her number one fan, Johnny Howjego and his Cockney pals Sammy, Flora and Cabbie Sid.
The Big Job
George Brain
A gang of hapless crooks, led by Sidney James, successfully perpetrate a robbery only to be caught after the fact. Fifteen years later they emerge from prison intent on retrieving their stolen loot - and discover a police station has been built over its hiding place.
Carry On Cleo
Marc Anton
Two Brits—inventor Hengist Pod, and Horse, a brave and cunning fighter—are captured and enslaved by invading Romans and taken to Rome. One of their first encounters in Rome leaves Hengist being mistaken for a fighter, and gets drafted into the Royal Guard to protect Cleopatra.
The Beauty Jungle
'Butlins' Judge
A Bristol typist joins the world of beauty contests.
Carry On Cabby
Charlie Hawkins
Speedee Taxis is a great success, which means its workaholic owner Charlie starts neglecting Peggy, his wife. Suddenly a fleet of rival taxis appears from nowhere and start pinching all the fares. The rivals are Glamcabs, and they have a secret weapon. All their drivers are very attractive women! Who's behind Glamcabs? It's open warfare and only one fleet can survive!
We Joined the Navy
Dance Instructor
Lt Commander Badger, RN: an exceptionally likeable fellow, the Artful Bodger has one besetting sin a shining honesty which compels him to say the right thing at entirely the wrong time! When untimely remarks to some new recruits are splashed across the tabloids, the rush is on to find him a new posting somewhere far away.
Carry On Cruising
Captain Wellington Crowther
Captain Crowther's lot is not a happy one! Five of his crew have to be replaced and at such short notice before the voyage begins there isn't much to choose from. Not only does he get the five most incompetent shipmates ever to sail the seven seas, but the passengers turn out to be a rather strange bunch too. The SS Happy Wanderer will never be the same.
What a Whopper
Harry Sutton
A writer attempts to raise some cash by writing a book about the Loch Ness Monster. No publisher will take it because they all think there isn't really a monster. The writer and some of his friends make a fake monster and take photographs and then travel to Scotland to see if they can convince the locals.
What a Carve Up!
Sid Butler
Ernie's Uncle Gabriel has just died but to claim his inheritance he must spend the night in the ancestral family home with the rest of his rather eccentric relatives. Ernie's imagination has been affected by his constant immersion in cheap horror novels, but his wildest fears turn out to be justified when the guests begin to drop dead.
Raising the Wind
Sid
'Carry On' director Gerald Thomas helms this comedy caper featuring early appearances by James Robertson Justice, Sid James, Leslie Phillips, Kenneth Williams, Liz Fraser and Eric Barker. The film follows the hi-jinks of a group of music students who move into a shared flat in order to cut costs and have somewhere to practice their instruments. Things get tricky when Mervyn Hughes (Phillips) accidentally sells one of his compositions to an advertising agency and risks losing his scholarship. Can he and his friends find a way to raise the money to buy back the song rights?
Double Bunk
Sid Randall
When newly weds Jack and Peggy face eviction, they are tricked into buying a run down houseboat. After rebuilding the engine, they take their friends Sid and Sandra, on a local trip down the river to Folkestone, but somehow they end up in France, and with no fuel and supplies, they resort to desperate actions to get back home.
The Green Helmet
Richie Launder
After suffering a near fatal accident in his last race over the hill, top British race car driver Greg Rafferty, is about to call it quits when he gets a telegram from racing car tire manufacture Joseph Bartell. He wants Greg to test out his latest invention, a heat resistant car tire, in actual racing competition.
A Weekend with Lulu
Café Patron
Fred, Tim and Deirdre plan a fun weekend break on the coast. What they didn't make allowances for was the company of Deirdre's mother who insists on coming along as her daughter's chaperone.
Carry On Regardless
Bert Handy
It's non stop romps as the Carry On team deliver the goods in one of the rudest and funniest of the Carry On films. The cast are all on top form as a bunch of no-hopers who join an agency in the search for a job. The anarchy mounts as they do a series of odd jobs, including a chimps tea party, trying to stay sober at a wine tasting and demolishing a house.
The Pure Hell of St. Trinian's
Alphonse O'Reilly
The fourth form monsters' latest trick is their best ever – they have burned down St Trinian’s school! As the girls stand trial, the police breathe a sigh of relief, but miraculously the judge's infatuation with a student means the school is freed. For the authorities, it means a new reign of terror as the girls of St Trinian’s regroup with gleeful anticipation.
Watch Your Stern
Chief Petty Officer Mundy
When the details of a secret torpedo are destroyed by an incompetent seaman, the crew of the ship rally round, when the Admiral needs the plans to show to a visiting scientist.
Carry On Constable
Sergeant Frank Wilkins
With a flu epidemic running rife, three new bumbling recruits are assigned to Inspector Mills police station. With help from Special Constable Gorse, they manage to totally wreck the operations of the police force and let plenty of criminals get away, even before they arrive at the station. They all have to prove themselves or else they'll be out of a job and Sergeant Wilkins will be transferred. Sub-plots include romances between Wilkins and Moon, Constable and Passworthy.
And the Same to You
Sammy Gatt
Dickie Dreadnought is the boxing-mad nephew of pious clergyman Reverend Sydney Mullet. To mollify his disapproving uncle, Dickie embarks on an elaborate plan to keep his budding boxing career a secret, with he and his tough-talking promoter Wally Burton both pretending to be devout 'men of the cloth'.
Upstairs and Downstairs
P.C. Edwards
On marrying the boss's daughter, Richard takes his father-in-law's advice to hire a live-in domestic. He soon finds good help is hard to come by. Run-ins follow with dipsomaniacs, bank robbers, a Welsh lass who takes one look at London and runs, and an Italian charmer who turns the place into a bawdy house. Then when Ingrid arrives from Sweden things actually start to get complicated.
Idol on Parade
Herbie
A rock'n'roll idol is drafted into the wrong regiment.
The 39 Steps
Perce Baker
In London, a diplomat accidentally becomes involved in the death of a British agent who's after a spy ring that covets British military secrets.
Too Many Crooks
Sid
Accident-prone Fingers runs a pretty unsuccessful gang. They try and rob wealthy but tricky Billy Gordon - who distrusts banks and fears the Inland Revenue - but he sees Fingers and the boys off. So they decide to kidnap his daughter, only to end up with his wife Lucy. Gordon makes out he couldn't be more pleased, spuring Lucy to take charge of the hopeless bunch of villains.
Desert Mice
Bert Bennett
A World War II farce that follows the antics of an ENSA (Entertainment National Service Association) group. Fresh from the music halls, they bumble their way from army camp to camp.
Make Mine a Million
Sid Gibson
Sid Gibson is a soap powder salesman who decides what he really needs is TV advertising. The problem is, he's absolutely broke. He calls upon his friend Arthur Ashton, who arranges to sneak a plug for Sid's suds into a live TV spectacular. The public goes bananas for the product but to maintain sales Sid and Arthur must arrange for ever more outrageous plugs on TV shows. The Ascots races, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo - no show is safe.
The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw
The Drunk
English gunsmith, Jonathon Tibbs travels to the American West in the 1880s to sell firearms to the locals. He inadvertently acquires a reputation of quickness on the draw due to his wrist mounted Derringer style weapon. Soon gaining the post of sheriff, he endeavours to clean up the town using what skills he has—and by multilateral diplomacy.
I Was Monty's Double
Porter YMCA
The incredible but true story of how an impersonator was recruited to impersonate General Montgomery to mislead the German's about his intentions before the North Africa campaign.
The Man Inside
Franklin
A detective tracking a stolen gem begins to suspect there's more to the case than just theft.
Next to No Time
Albert, Cabin Steward
Unassuming planning engineer David Webb finds himself on the Queen Elizabeth to New York with instructions to negotiate a high-powered loan. His lack of confidence means he is completely out of his depth, at least until he finds his personality changes every day during the hour the ship's clocks stop to make allowance for their westward passage.
Another Time, Another Place
Jake Klein
In England during WWII, an American news correspondent’s affair with a married British correspondent ends tragically when he is killed in action. Fearing a nervous breakdown as a result of his death, she travels to Cornwall to mourn with his family without any intention of revealing her relationship with him.
The Silent Enemy
Chief Petty Officer Thorpe
The Mediterranean, 1941/42 - Axis forces are using frogmen and manned torpedoes to attack previously impregnable harbours. The Allied forces need to come up with something to answer this threat, which they find in the form of Lt. Lionel "Buster" Crabb.
Hancock's Half Hour: Volume 1
Thirty-five years after his premature death in 1968 Tony Hancock was voted Britain's best-ever comedy performer. Here's a chance to see what made him so special - the surviving episodes from Series 2 and Series 3 of Hancock's Half Hour, plus a Christmas special. Episodes include: "The Alpine Holiday", "Air Steward Hancock", "The Last Of The Many", "The Lawyer: The Crown vs Sidney James", "Competitions: How To Win Money And Influence People" and "There's An Airfield At The Bottom Of My Garden". The Christmas special is "Hancock's Forty-Three Minutes: The East Cheam Repertory Company".
The Story of Esther Costello
Joe Ryan
Eighteen-year-old Esther has been deaf and blind since the accident which killed her mother. Wealthy Margaret Landi, a native of Esther's village in Ireland, is talked into helping to educate and possibly heal Esther. Margaret grows to love Esther as a daughter, but finds Esther's innocence threatened by sleazy promoters and her own sleazy ex-husband. Radiant performance by Heather Sears. Based on a book that nearly had Helen Keller's co-workers suing for libel due to perceived parallels between Carlo Landi and the husband of Annie Sullivan
A King in New York
Johnson - TV Advertiser
A recently-deposed "Estrovian" monarch seeks shelter in New York City, where he becomes an accidental television celebrity. Later, he's wrongly accused of being a Communist and gets caught up in subsequent HUAC hearings.
Campbell's Kingdom
Tim
Given only six months to live, Englishman Bruce Campbell goes to Canada to claim "Campbell's Kingdom", the land he inherited from his grandfather. In order to clear his grandfather's name and prove there is oil on the land, Campbell must face up to a ruthless contractor and work against the clock to find oil before "Campbell's Kingdom" is flooded by a new power dam.
Hell Drivers
Dusty, Truck Driver
An ex-con trying to go clean ends up working for a crooked trucking company swindling money.
The Shiralee
Luke
An Australian "swagman" finds his wife with another man, so he takes the daughter, Buster, with him. On the road together, going from town to town and from farm to farm, father and daughter explore new depths of understanding and bonding.
Quatermass 2
Jimmy Hall
In England, a group of space scientists led by Bernard Quatermass, who have developed plans for the first Moon colony, learn that a secret, ostensibly government-run, complex of identical design has been built in a remote part of England and is the focus of periodic falls of small, hollow "meteorites" originating in outer space. Quatermass determines to investigate and uncovers a terrifying extraterrestrial life form which has already begun action to take over the Earth.
The Smallest Show on Earth
Mr. Hogg
Jean and Bill are a married couple trying to scrape a living. Out of the blue they receive a telegram informing them Bill's long-lost uncle has died and left them his business—a cinema in the town of Sloughborough. Unfortunately they can't sell it for the fortune they hoped as they discover it is falling down and almost worthless.
Interpol
Joe - First Bartender
Spurred on by the death of his drug-addicted sister at the hands of ruthless narcotics kingpin Frank McNally, U.S. drug enforcement agent Charles Sturgis embarks on an investigation that takes him from New York to London, Lisbon, Rome, Naples and finally Athens in pursuit of McNally's shapely associate, Gina Broger.
Dry Rot
Flash Harry
Comedy about a trio of not particularly bright bookmakers who try to fix a horse race.
The Iron Petticoat
Paul
Captain Vinka Kovalenko defects from Russia, but not for political reasons. She defects because she feels discriminated against as a woman. Captain Chuck Lockwood gets the order to show her the bright side of capitalism, while she tries to convince him of the superiority of communism. Naturally, they fall in love, but there's still the KGB, which doesn't like the idea of having a defected Russian officer running around in London.
Trapeze
Snake Charmer
A pair of men try to perform the dangerous "triple" in their trapeze act. Problems arise when the duo is made into a trio following the addition of a sexy female performer.
Wicked as They Come
Frank Allenborg
A ruthless woman takes advantage of gullible men to climb up the social ladder.
Ramsbottom Rides Again
Black Jake
Bill Ramsbottom sells his English pub and drags his family off to Canada where he has inherited a ranch from his grandfather Wild Bill Ramsbottom. He ends up tangling with outlaw Black Jake, an Indian chief Blue Eagle, and the local law.
A Kid for Two Farthings
Ice Berg
Joe is a young boy who lives with his mother, Joanna, in working-class London. The two reside above the tailor shop of Mr. Kandinsky, who likes to tell Joe stories. When Kandinsky informs Joe that a unicorn can grant wishes, the hopeful lad ends up buying a baby goat with one tiny horn, believing it to be a real unicorn. Undaunted by his rough surroundings, Joe sets about to prove that wishes can come true.
The Extra Day
Barney West
Director William Fairchild's 1956 British comedy takes a peek into the private lives of various performers employed as extras in a new film that's currently shooting.
The Deep Blue Sea
Man outside bar
A woman is unhappy in her marriage to a boring, stiff judge, so she takes up with a wild-living RAF pilot, who ends up being more than she can handle. (TCM.com)
Joe Macbeth
Banky
A gangster's wife drives him to kill as she pushes him to the top.
John and Julie
Mr. Pritchett
The adventures of two children who runaway to London to see the coronation of Queen Elizabeth.
The Glass Cage
Tony Lewis
A circus barker stages a sensational new act, the world's longest fast undertaken by “Sapolio”, on view in a glass cage. But this act also results in several murders, a kidnapping, and a poisoning!
Out of the Clouds
Henry, the Gambler
A day following workers at an airport
A Yank in Ermine
Nightclub manager
An American airman inherits an Earldom in England along with the small matter of $3 million on the proviso that he gives up his US citizenship. Unsure if he is prepared to make the sacrifice he takes a trip with his two best friends to try our his new title, but will he be able to cope with the British aristocracy?
It's a Great Day
Harry Mason
Big screen spin off from the BBC TV series The Grove Family, ostensibly the first British soap opera. Bob Grove, a builder has problems with the council, over building supplies that he needs to complete a job on a local housing estate. Under pressure to finish the job, his son gets them from a local crook. When the council find out, they call in the police, so the Grove family get together, to clear themselves, in time for the grand opening.
Aunt Clara
Honest Sid
A wealthy old man dies and leaves his holdings--including a brothel and a gambling den, racing greyhounds and a sleazy bar--to his eccentric Aunt Clara. Clara vows to "clean up" her new establishments, but complications ensue when she visits the crooked gambling den--just as it's being raided by the police.
The Crowded Day
Joe, the Night Watchman
One day in the lives and loves of the staff in a large department store.
Orders Are Orders
Ed Waggermeyer
An American movie company wants to shoot a science-fiction film using a British army barracks as a location, and its soldiers as actors.
The Belles of St. Trinian's
Benny
The unruly schoolgirls of St Trinian's are more interested in men and mischief than homework and hockey. But greater trouble than ever beckons when the arrival at the school of Princess Fatima of Makyad coincides with the return of recently expelled Arabella Fritton, who has the kidnap of a prize racehorse on her mind. The first film in the classic comedy series.
Seagulls Over Sorrento
Charlie Badger
A Navy lieutenant is borrowed by the British to supervise torpedo experiments after one of their scientists is killed.
For Better, for Worse
The Foreman (as Sidney James)
In postwar London a young graduate and his girlfriend decide to marry. Her well-to-do parents are not convinced, but they agree once he has got a £5.10.0 job and a 30/- a week single-room flat. The newly-weds find money fearfully tight, the flat cramped, the neighbours a trial, and her parents always hovering. Can faith conquer all? Is there some way of getting rid of tea-leaves except down the sink?
Father Brown
Bert Parkinson
Works of art are disappearing, stolen by a master thief, a master of disguise. Father Brown has two goals: to catch the thief and to save his soul.
The Rainbow Jacket
Harry
A champion jockey is banned from racing so spends his time helping a young lad to become the next champion.
The House Across the Lake
Beverly Forrest (as Sidney James)
Sensuous and desirable, Carol Forrest has always attracted the attention of men. Expert in the art of manipulation and control she married an older man, loving only his vast wealth and continued to amuse herself with indiscreet affairs. But when neighbour Mark Kendrick lets slip that her husband intends cutting her out of his will Carol concentrates all her attentions on the unsuspecting Kendrick, obtaining his help to dispose of this irritating obstacle.
The Weak and the Wicked
Syd Baden
Jean Raymond an upper class woman with a gambling addiction, is given a twelve-month prison sentence resulting from her inability to pay her debts. At first she is overwhelmingly depressed by life in the women's prison; gradually, however, her misery is relieved by the many close friends she makes there. This sympathetic drama traces the contrasting lives and often faltering progress of the inmates of a women's prison.
Escape by Night
Gino Rossini
An Italian racketeer on the run in London holes up in a disused theatre with a hard-drinking journalist out to get the full story.
The Wedding of Lilli Marlene
Fennimore Hunt
The story leading up to the wedding of Lilli Marlene.
Park Plaza 605
Supt. Williams (as Sidney James)
Suave private investigator Norman Conquest intercepts a secret message and meets a beautiful but foreign blonde lady in room 605 of the Park Plaza hotel. But when Conquest wakes up in the room the next morning he is lying next to a dead body. With the mysterious blonde nowhere to be seen, Conquest soon becomes the police s number one suspect with Inspector Williams following his every move. In order to clear his name, Conquest enlists the help of Pixie Everard (Joy Shelton), but the going gets rough when he discovers that the murder is connected to a stash of stolen diamonds. As gun-happy gangs of communists and Nazi sympathizers turn up the heat, Conquest has to solve the murder whilst staying one step ahead of both the gangs and the police.
Will Any Gentleman...?
Mr. Hobson
A trip to the theatre changes a meek bank clerk's life, as he undergoes hypnosis and leaves without being woken up. Suddenly, he believes he is the world's greatest lover and becomes a terrorizing Casanova.
The Square Ring
Adams
Boxing drama following the lives of 5 different fighters and their reasons for becoming boxers.
The Flanagan Boy
Sharkey (as Sidney James)
Johnny Flanagan did not have the privileges of a good education or wealthy background but the streets developed his natural talent to be a great fighter. His enormous potential to reach the top is born out of a string of spectacular successes. All of which is brought to a halt when he develops a physical relationship with his manager's wife, the beautiful but manipulative Lorna. His naive temperament is no match for her callous, dispassionate scheming and he unwittingly becomes a pawn in Lorna's ultimate plan... .to murder her husband.
The Titfield Thunderbolt
Harry Hawkins
When British Railways announce the closure of the Titfield to Mallingford branch line a group of local residents make a bid to run it themselves, backed by a monied member of the community who is attracted by the complete lack of licensing hours on trains. Unfortunately the local bus company starts to use methods that can hardly be seen as fair competition.
The Yellow Balloon
Charlie
A young boy is blackmailed by a crook who saw him unwittingly cause his friend's death.
Cosh Boy
Desk Sergeant
Roy Walsh is a brash and enterprising thug who bullies his friends into subservience. He and his gang assault and rob people on the street, but things get increasingly dangerous when their behavior escalates to larger crimes.
Is Your Honeymoon Really Necessary?
Hank Hanlon
Based on a 1944 West End stage success with Ralph Lynn, this is a classic bedroom farce for those who like them that way -- its theatrical origins acknowledged in the credits and clearly apparent when most of the action takes place with characters popping in and out of a single-room set -- enlivened by a sex-pot performance by Diana Dors as blackmailing first wife Candy.
Miss Robin Hood
Sidney (as Sidney James)
In this delightful fantasy adventure, a mild-mannered writer of adventure stories for girls (Richard Hearne) finds himself presented with an intriguing proposition from an elderly fan (Margaret Rutherford). She suggests that they conspire to steal a secret whiskey formula from ruthless distillers, who themselves stole it from her family in years gone by. With the recipe back in hand however, it's not long before they attract attention from the Inspectors of Scotland Yard.
Venetian Bird
Bernardo
Private eye Edward Mercer travels to Venice to locate a man due a reward for his aid in the war. Shortly after arriving, he becomes the prime suspect in the murder of his local contact. In his quest to clear his name, Mercer uncovers a conspiracy. Even the local magistrate seems to be working against him, and Mercer begins to suspect the man he came to find is behind it all.
Father's Doing Fine
Taxi Driver
Lady Buckering, an English widow, has four daughters; Doreen, married to Dougall and about to give birth at home, and Gerda, Bicky and Catherine. The story revolves around the impending birth and the love affairs of the other three daughters; Bicky, with eccentric student Roly; Gerda, married to artist Wilfred; and Catherine, in love with the landlord's son, Clifford Magill. In addition, the impoverished Lady Buckering is being courted by Dr. Drew. Written by Les Adams
Time, Gentlemen, Please!
Eric Hace
Because of its high productivity and "almost" 100 per cent employment, the town of Hayhoe, England is expecting a visit from the Prime Minister. The "almost" is because of Dan Dance (Eddie Byrne), an old rogue who would rather drink and philosophize than work. The Village Council are determined to have a perfect record so they connive to have the old man put into the alms-house which has been unoccupied for many years, where he must abide by rules laid down 400 years ago. A new Vicar arrives and discovers that, because of the circumstances created by the Council, Dan Dance is entitled to 6,000 pounds a year at the expense of the village.
Gift Horse
Ned Hardy, Landlord Golden Bull
Compton Bennett's war drama The Gift Horse follows the fortunes of ageing destroyer The Ballantrae and her crew from the time they come together in 1940 until the climactic raid on occupied St Nazaire in 1942. Trevor Howard plays Lt Cmdr Hugh Alginon Fraser, the newly appointed captain, back in service after having left the navy following a court martial.
Emergency Call
Danny Marks
A 5-year-old child is diagnosed with leukaemia and has only days to live. Her only hope is a blood transfusion, but her blood type is extremely rare, so the race is on to find the donors.
Tall Headlines
Mr. Spencer, neighbor
A family is torn apart when their eldest son is hanged for the murder of a young girl.
I Believe in You
Sergeant Body
A drama about parole officers to follow the successful Ealing police story of "The Blue Lamp"(1950) . Various sub-plots follow the parole officers and their charges.
The Magic Box
Army Sergeant
Now old, ill, poor, and largely forgotten, William Freise-Greene was once very different. As young and handsome William Green he changed his name to include his first wife's so that it sounded more impressive for the photographic portrait work he was so good at. But he was also an inventor and his search for a way to project moving pictures became an obsession that ultimately changed the life of all those he loved.
Lady Godiva Rides Again
Lew Beeson
Marjory Clark wins a competition in her Midland town and finds herself in a Festival of Britain procession as Lady Godiva - though not in the buff. This leads by way of a suspect beauty competition to the show-business world of London. But it could be a slippery slope for simple home-town Marge.
The Lavender Hill Mob
Lackery
A meek bank clerk who oversees the shipments of bullion joins with an eccentric neighbor to steal gold bars and smuggle them out of the country.
The Galloping Major
Bookmaker
A syndicate is set up to buy a racehorse, but they end up buying the wrong one by mistake. Unfortunately the horse is useless on the flat, so they try entering him as a jumper.
Talk of a Million
John C. Moody
A family reduced to imminent poverty by the father's disinclination to work; an American lawyer looking for the heir to half a million pounds; the scene is set for a hilarious tale of creative deception!
The Lady Craved Excitement
Carlo
A music-hall performer and her boyfriend find themselves caught up in the machinations of a trio of not particularly bright crooks.
Last Holiday
Joe Clarence
George Bird is a salesman of agricultural machinery who finds out that he hasn't long to live. On his doctor's advice, he goes to an exclusive seaside resort to spend his savings on one last holiday.
The Man in Black
Henry Clavering / Hodson
Henry Clavering suspects his second wife Bertha is trying to drive his daughter (by his first marriage) insane, to stop her inheriting his money. He decides to use his yoga skills to pretend to be dead, and thereby expose her villainy.
Give Us This Day
Murdin
Exiled from Hollywood due to the blacklist, director Edward Dmytryk briefly operated in England in the late 1940s. Though filmed in its entirety in London, Dmytryk's Give Us This Day is set in New York during the depression. Fellow blacklistee Sam Wanamaker is starred as the head of an Italian immigrant family struggling to survive the economic crisis.
Paper Orchid
Freddy Evans (as Sidney James)
Paper Orchid is a 1949 British crime film directed by Roy Ward Baker, with a script written by Val Guest. It featured Hugh Williams, Hy Hazell and Garry Marsh. It is perhaps most notable for an early film appearance of Sid James, later to find success through the Carry On series.
The Small Back Room
At the height of World War II, the Germans begin dropping a new type of booby-trapped bomb on England. Sammy Rice, a highly-skilled but haunted bomb-disposal officer, must overcome his personal demons to defeat this new threat.
Once a Jolly Swagman
Rowton
A factory worke quits his job to become a motorcycle racer.
The Front Page
Hildy Johnson
Earl Williams is due to be hanged tomorrow, and he's innocent. When Earl escapes from his cell, journalist Hildy Johnson seems likely to land the scoop of the century - but all he wants is to leave town.
No Orchids for Miss Blandish
uncredited
Filmed in England but set in New York, No Orchids For Miss Blandish tells of a sheltered heiress who is abducted on her wedding night by a trio of cheap hoods, in what starts out as a jewel robbery and turns into a kidnapping/murder when one of them kills the bridegroom. More mayhem ensues as the three kidnappers soon end up dead.
Nightbeat
Nixon (as Sidney James)
After the war is over, two army pals take opposite paths in civvy street. One becomes a petty criminal, the other becomes a policeman.
Black Memory
Eddie Clinton
Cockney Danny Cruff is the son of a man wrongly accused of murder. Danny decides to solve the mystery himself by hobnobbing with London's underworld. To do this, he poses as a juvenile delinquent.
Look at Life: Market Place
Self - Commentator
A look into London's street markets and how they're suffering to compete with supermarkets.