0:00:02 > 0:00:08This is a story of a mystery. How can a man famous beyond words simply disappear?
0:00:09 > 0:00:12'He was the king of music hall revue
0:00:12 > 0:00:16'and to millions, the funniest man in the world.
0:00:16 > 0:00:20'Hollywood stars flocked to see him on stage.
0:00:20 > 0:00:23'Bob Hope said he was probably the best of them all.
0:00:23 > 0:00:28'He was a favourite of Winston Churchill, General Eisenhower
0:00:28 > 0:00:31'and members of the royal family.
0:00:31 > 0:00:36'He invented new forms of comedy and inspired an entire generation
0:00:36 > 0:00:39'of entertainment giants.'
0:00:40 > 0:00:43I remember seeing a man, a comedian with bright blue eyes
0:00:43 > 0:00:47and it was the first time I'd laughed hysterically at a character on the stage.
0:00:47 > 0:00:52He embodied the epitome of what I consider a good comedian.
0:00:52 > 0:00:57He walked funny, he talked funny, he had funny ideas.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01Clearly, he was such a supreme live performer,
0:01:01 > 0:01:07the people I've spoken to who've seen him, 60 years later, their recall of the words that he said, the lines...
0:01:07 > 0:01:12I just wish that he'd lived until the television age.
0:01:12 > 0:01:15Cos if you'd seen him in person, he was charismatic.
0:01:15 > 0:01:20'His influence went beyond music hall into the world of serious theatre.'
0:01:21 > 0:01:25Of all the people I've ever watched with the greatest delight,
0:01:25 > 0:01:29I think I still borrow from him freely and unashamedly.
0:01:29 > 0:01:32'His name was Sid Field
0:01:32 > 0:01:35'and there was a time when everyone knew it.
0:01:35 > 0:01:39'But today, he's all but forgotten.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41'And I want to find out why.'
0:01:41 > 0:01:47Join me as I uncover the amazing lost story of Sid Field.
0:01:57 > 0:02:02In 1994, I starred in a musical based on the life of Sid Field
0:02:02 > 0:02:06called What A Performance and I had to become him.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11That's me as Sid Field.
0:02:11 > 0:02:13And in order to become like Sid Field,
0:02:13 > 0:02:16I had to learn to breathe like him, to talk like him.
0:02:16 > 0:02:23And I had the good fortune of being trained by Sid Field's understudy, Jack Tripp,
0:02:23 > 0:02:26who taught me all Sid's tricks of the trade,
0:02:26 > 0:02:30how Sid would work an audience, how he would look at an audience,
0:02:30 > 0:02:34how he would befriend an audience almost immediately the moment he came on stage.
0:02:34 > 0:02:36And for the first time in my life,
0:02:36 > 0:02:41I got a feeling of what it was like to be a comedian
0:02:41 > 0:02:45and have the audience actually laugh at me.
0:02:45 > 0:02:50To become like this great man, Sid Field.
0:02:50 > 0:02:56The Daily Mail wrote about Sid Field that he was "the greatest English comedian since Charlie Chaplin"
0:02:56 > 0:03:00and yet the treasure chest of his life is tiny.
0:03:02 > 0:03:06'The problem is, as a live performer in the days before television,
0:03:06 > 0:03:10'there's precious little evidence of his genius.
0:03:10 > 0:03:15'He appeared in barely any films and the best known, London Town from 1946,
0:03:15 > 0:03:17'was a tragic failure.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20'Everyone who knew him condemned the movie
0:03:20 > 0:03:23'as a pale imitation of the real Sid.'
0:03:23 > 0:03:27- Get back in the chair! - But I was only trying to... - Get absolutely back in the chair!
0:03:27 > 0:03:31'To them, London Town was best forgotten.
0:03:32 > 0:03:35'There are fragments of news reel, like this,
0:03:35 > 0:03:38'his 1947 New Year's message from Pathe.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43'What's that, Sid?
0:03:43 > 0:03:47'Typically, the sound is missing.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54'But he did make an earlier film.
0:03:55 > 0:04:01'In 1940, Sid appeared in a low-budget movie called That's The Ticket.
0:04:02 > 0:04:08'But it hasn't been seen for years and was generally thought to be long since lost or junked.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14'That is, until we started making enquiries for this programme
0:04:14 > 0:04:17'and a dedicated film librarian tracked down
0:04:17 > 0:04:23'what may well be the last surviving copy deep in the vaults of the British Film Institute.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29'I've invited an expert in early comedy, Paul Merton,
0:04:29 > 0:04:33'to join me to see That's The Ticket for the very first time.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38'Could this be Sid Field's lost masterpiece?'
0:04:41 > 0:04:44- We've searched it and we understand it's empty.- Well?
0:04:44 > 0:04:46I'll have to show you the layout.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54Now, we're here
0:04:54 > 0:04:57and the safe's in this corner. We're wo...
0:04:59 > 0:05:01Hors d'oeuvre, sir?
0:05:02 > 0:05:05We're working on it when in comes the girl.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08They start shooting. So do we.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10- You wouldn't shoot a girl. - No choice.
0:05:10 > 0:05:13A case like this, it's her life or ours.
0:05:13 > 0:05:17You see, in a job like ours, you can't afford to let anybody stand in your way.
0:05:17 > 0:05:22In our business, if it comes to killing, well, that's just too bad.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29So you see, if you want to get on in this job,
0:05:29 > 0:05:31you've got to remember all I've told you.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38- Hors d'oeuvre, sir?- Yes.- Thank you.
0:05:40 > 0:05:42THEY LAUGH
0:05:42 > 0:05:47That is magnificent, to see that. I did not know that existed.
0:05:47 > 0:05:52I now know what a Sid Field moment is cos I've seen him do it.
0:05:52 > 0:05:55- It's like seeing a lost treasure, isn't it?- It's wonderful.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58It's a major piece of work from a major artist.
0:05:58 > 0:06:03It's suddenly discovering that Leonardo Da Vinci painted Mr Lisa.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05- HE LAUGHS - It is!
0:06:05 > 0:06:08- As well as the wife. - HE LAUGHS
0:06:08 > 0:06:11That's a major discovery, that.
0:06:11 > 0:06:16Sid Field has always been spoken of by comedians of his generation as being a great comedian
0:06:16 > 0:06:20and the visual evidence has been slight sometimes.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24You can see him in London Town, you can see the characters, you can't hear the reaction.
0:06:24 > 0:06:29In this film, all this material was very fresh, very new, he's bringing it to life as he's doing it.
0:06:29 > 0:06:36- No-one's seen it.- No. It's great. I want it. I want to show it to people. That's wonderful.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40- Meet any Indians on the way, sir? - Pardon?
0:06:40 > 0:06:44- Did you meet any Indians on the way? - Indians? What do you mean? - You've been scalped.
0:06:46 > 0:06:49'We may have found a lost film,
0:06:49 > 0:06:53'but that doesn't explain why Sid Field became the forgotten star.
0:06:56 > 0:06:59'So let's take this story from the beginning.'
0:07:02 > 0:07:06Sid was born on the most perfect day for a comic, April Fools' Day.
0:07:06 > 0:07:08The year, 1904.
0:07:08 > 0:07:12The place, Sparkbrook, Birmingham, in this street.
0:07:12 > 0:07:17Pretty unremarkable street, really, but then Sid himself could've ended up pretty unremarkable
0:07:17 > 0:07:20had it not been for two great influences in his life.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23'The first was his mother.
0:07:23 > 0:07:26'There are no photographs of her, but we do have a description.'
0:07:26 > 0:07:31Sid's mother, Bertha, was a dressmaker. She was short, a little stout,
0:07:31 > 0:07:35but with a personality that was able to make even the strongest manager crumble.
0:07:35 > 0:07:40She was to prove a guiding hand throughout much of Sid's show business career.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43In actual fact, Sid might not have had a career at all
0:07:43 > 0:07:48if it hadn't been for the influence of one other very famous comic.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54'Charlie Chaplin was a working-class boy who rose through the music halls
0:07:54 > 0:07:57'to become the most famous comedian the world had ever known.
0:07:57 > 0:08:00'And Sid wanted to be just like him.
0:08:01 > 0:08:07'Half a century later, silent cinema still had the power to inspire the young Paul Merton.'
0:08:07 > 0:08:11And I remember coming out of seeing this Buster Keaton film and I was 12 years old
0:08:11 > 0:08:16and thinking, "That's what I want to do. I want to do what he does"
0:08:16 > 0:08:21and it's a bit fanciful, but I almost felt as if there was a baton being proffered toward me.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24I really did. I felt...
0:08:24 > 0:08:30It was a big thing because I was watching something at that point that was 50 years old
0:08:30 > 0:08:35and it still had the power to work and to move and to make people laugh
0:08:35 > 0:08:39and I thought, "That has to be art. That is an art."
0:08:39 > 0:08:47Like so many comedians, I read that he was very influenced by the silent movies, especially Charlie Chaplin.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49Well, if he was born in 1904,
0:08:49 > 0:08:52certainly by the time Chaplin came along, he was 10, 11, 12,
0:08:52 > 0:08:57so ideal time to get influenced by a major comedian, really,
0:08:57 > 0:09:01and Charlie Chaplin would've been inescapable. He was the biggest comedian in the world
0:09:01 > 0:09:05through the fairly new medium of motion pictures at that point.
0:09:06 > 0:09:11'Inspired by his hero, young Sid began to do a busking act.
0:09:11 > 0:09:16'Years later he talked about it in the only recorded interview that exists.'
0:09:16 > 0:09:18It was doing Chaplin in the streets.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22I used to kid round with the kids and all that sort of business
0:09:22 > 0:09:25and the police caught me one day and said I'd get into trouble
0:09:25 > 0:09:28if I did it anymore because I was holding up the traffic.
0:09:28 > 0:09:32A lady saw me. She said to my mother, "Why don't you let him go on the stage?"
0:09:32 > 0:09:36# Now I went looking for work one day and wherever I came to look
0:09:36 > 0:09:38'And that's exactly what she did.
0:09:38 > 0:09:45'In 1916, many children were packed off to work in factories or farms from the age of 12.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49'A child performer could earn good money, about seven shillings and sixpence a week.
0:09:49 > 0:09:54'So when Mrs Field spotted an ad in the paper for a music hall troupe,
0:09:54 > 0:09:58'she had young Sid down the train station in no time.'
0:10:01 > 0:10:04Just imagine, you're 12 years old,
0:10:04 > 0:10:08you've never been in a group of people ever before, really,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11and your mother shoves some small change into your hand
0:10:11 > 0:10:14and pushes you off to Manchester with a group of strange children.
0:10:16 > 0:10:21'Sid got the job, but he was told he had to start immediately without any rehearsals.
0:10:21 > 0:10:26'To calm his nerves, they gave him a tot of port
0:10:26 > 0:10:28'and the habit of a lifetime had begun.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34'Just like his hero, Sid was now in music hall.
0:10:34 > 0:10:38'He had joined the chorus of the Kino Royal Juveniles,
0:10:38 > 0:10:41'a rather grand name for a travelling song and dance troupe.
0:10:44 > 0:10:47'Through the 19th century, the music hall had grown to become
0:10:47 > 0:10:50'the main form of working-class entertainment
0:10:50 > 0:10:54'and during the First World War, there were over 300 of them around the country.
0:10:56 > 0:10:59'For a shilling, soldiers home on leave could see a live show
0:10:59 > 0:11:03'likely to include singers, acrobats,
0:11:03 > 0:11:10'saucy comics, performing animals and juvenile troupes, like Sid's.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13'It could be a pretty bawdy place.'
0:11:15 > 0:11:18'Today, very little survives from that world.
0:11:18 > 0:11:21'Some fragments of film, a few scratchy recordings.'
0:11:26 > 0:11:30'And this, Wilton's Music Hall in London's East End.
0:11:30 > 0:11:36'A good place to find out more from the president of the British Music Hall Society, Roy Hudd.'
0:11:36 > 0:11:42It was tough. Here we are in one of the most famous early music halls of all time, Wilton's Music Hall.
0:11:42 > 0:11:46The halls were always attached to the pubs.
0:11:46 > 0:11:48Music halls, halls of music.
0:11:48 > 0:11:53Look at this place. You can imagine tables and chairs,
0:11:53 > 0:11:58packed out with boozy old geezers off the boats and the London docks.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01And it was that sort of place. It was like a northern club.
0:12:01 > 0:12:05'Perhaps not the most suitable environment for a 12-year-old boy,
0:12:05 > 0:12:08'let alone a whole gang of them.'
0:12:08 > 0:12:12There were lots of those little juvenile troupes. They seemed to be a big deal.
0:12:12 > 0:12:17And I think they got half a crown a show or something, so they were quite cheap to put on.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22'Although Sid never performed at Wilton's,
0:12:22 > 0:12:28'the walls once echoed to the same great British songs that would've been his bread and butter.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33'Conductor Charles Hazelwood knows the genre well.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36'He used to be the director here.'
0:12:36 > 0:12:39HE PLAYS DAISY BELL
0:12:44 > 0:12:48# But you'd look sweet upon the seat
0:12:48 > 0:12:52# Of a bicycle made for two
0:12:52 > 0:12:57- It's wonderful stuff, isn't it? - Isn't it? It's got this kind of come-hither lilt to it.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00You can totally see why people wanted to sing this material.
0:13:00 > 0:13:04You're kind of pulled up by your belt and braces. # Daisy...
0:13:04 > 0:13:08And they would do that, wouldn't they? They literally would go... # Daisy
0:13:08 > 0:13:12It's an open sound and it's brazen, isn't it?
0:13:12 > 0:13:15Yeah. You've got this wonderful word. # Daisy, Daisy
0:13:15 > 0:13:17It's a lovely, big, wide-open vowel sound.
0:13:17 > 0:13:21People just want to wrap their lungs around a word like that and a melody like that.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25HE PLAYS FIRST LINE OF MELODY
0:13:25 > 0:13:30It's like that's perhaps the question or the statement positive, and here's the response.
0:13:30 > 0:13:34- HE PLAYS NEXT LINE OF MELODY It's so simple.- Yes. - But so effective.
0:13:34 > 0:13:39And everybody joins in and sings and they have a whale of a time.
0:13:39 > 0:13:41And that, to me, is the key of the music hall tradition
0:13:41 > 0:13:46and why it's easy to understand how it had such a secure place in the hearts of British people.
0:13:46 > 0:13:50I think we, as a culture, have always loved to wrap our lungs around a simple tune.
0:13:50 > 0:13:55# I'm Burlington Bertie, I rise at 10:30
0:13:55 > 0:13:59'In his touring troupe, Sid sang covers of songs like Daisy Daisy
0:13:59 > 0:14:05'and Ella Shields' 1916 chart-topper Burlington Bertie from Bow.'
0:14:05 > 0:14:07# I've just have a banana
0:14:07 > 0:14:09# With Lady Diana
0:14:09 > 0:14:13# I'm Burlington Bertie from Bow
0:14:13 > 0:14:19Charles, was there a sort of formula, a musical formula in this sort of music
0:14:19 > 0:14:22that would sort of tell the audiences what was going to happen?
0:14:22 > 0:14:27The thing that comes immediately to my mind is that sort of extended rallentando, sort of...
0:14:27 > 0:14:31HE SINGS
0:14:34 > 0:14:37Yeah, it's the philosophy of the elastic band,
0:14:37 > 0:14:40which all great song composers should know about.
0:14:40 > 0:14:45You have a nice verse which might be whimsical to set the scene. As you tease towards the chorus,
0:14:45 > 0:14:50you want to build the tension and excitement. This is where the elastic band comes in. You start to...
0:14:50 > 0:14:55And there comes a point where you can't pull it any further, it's got to go! And the chorus starts. So...
0:14:55 > 0:14:59# Where the balmy breezes play
0:14:59 > 0:15:00# Ohhhhhh
0:15:00 > 0:15:03# I do like to be beside the seaside
0:15:03 > 0:15:07You're off. That's the kind of call to arms the audience would've needed.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12'Sid was learning first-hand
0:15:12 > 0:15:15'how a song could get the audience on his side.
0:15:15 > 0:15:20'But he also began to show a particular talent for comedy.
0:15:20 > 0:15:24'And by the time the first war ended, Sid, now aged 14,
0:15:24 > 0:15:28'had been promoted to understudy a comic called Wee Georgie Wood.
0:15:29 > 0:15:33'No, that's not Sid, that's Wee Georgie,
0:15:33 > 0:15:36'a four-foot-nine man who went on stage as a school boy
0:15:36 > 0:15:40'and then came out with some very adult material.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44'In so many ways, Sid had to grow up fast.'
0:15:47 > 0:15:51You know, it's hard for me to believe that as a young boy from Birmingham,
0:15:51 > 0:15:5713, 14 years of age, Sid was literally on the move touring all the time.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02'Of course, life was no picnic for the kids he grew up with back in Sparkbrook.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07'At 14, they would be doing long hours on farms or in factories.
0:16:09 > 0:16:14'Compared to their life of drudgery, Sid had the life of Riley.'
0:16:14 > 0:16:18Playing Bristol and seaside towns like Newquay,
0:16:18 > 0:16:20Falmouth, Torquay,
0:16:20 > 0:16:24and even London's Holborn Empire.
0:16:25 > 0:16:30'Someone who also did an apprenticeship touring the country's less up-market venues
0:16:30 > 0:16:32'was Nicholas Parsons.'
0:16:32 > 0:16:35There's no truer thing in our profession,
0:16:35 > 0:16:38particularly when it comes to comedians and comics,
0:16:38 > 0:16:41than the more experience they've had
0:16:41 > 0:16:44facing difficult audiences, tough audiences
0:16:44 > 0:16:46in miserable clubs all over the country.
0:16:46 > 0:16:49And once they have been around a time
0:16:49 > 0:16:51and they've mastered their craft,
0:16:51 > 0:16:54the more experience they've had, when they get a big break,
0:16:54 > 0:16:58the more they're able to take advantage of it and make a name for themselves.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04'But Sid's big break was still two decades away
0:17:04 > 0:17:07'and a slow revolution was about to hit his world.
0:17:07 > 0:17:12'Music hall was changing. The introduction of new regulations
0:17:12 > 0:17:15'meant that alcohol was no longer allowed in the auditorium.
0:17:17 > 0:17:21'So the venues became less like pubs and more like theatres.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24'Music hall was turning into variety.
0:17:29 > 0:17:36'At the same time, new styles of music were arriving from across the Atlantic. There was ragtime.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45'And something called jazz.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47'But Sid took the changes in his stride.
0:17:48 > 0:17:52'He could sing, he could dance, and he'd do anything.
0:17:52 > 0:17:55'Revues, pantomimes, even circus acts.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58'So he just kept working in the provinces.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00'It wasn't a bad life.
0:18:00 > 0:18:03'But for him, the biggest thing to happen in the 1920s
0:18:03 > 0:18:07'was a 16-year-old dancer named Connie Dawkins.
0:18:09 > 0:18:14'So now it's time for me to meet someone who has a very direct link with that romance,
0:18:14 > 0:18:16'Sid and Connie's daughter, Diane.'
0:18:18 > 0:18:22That's my mother. She was obviously at dancing school.
0:18:22 > 0:18:24She could dance very beautifully.
0:18:24 > 0:18:29- Cos she was a chorus girl. - Connie?- Mm.
0:18:29 > 0:18:31Were they both in the Midlands?
0:18:31 > 0:18:37I suppose they met on tour somewhere and she was one of the dancing girls, I suppose.
0:18:37 > 0:18:39- And that's how they got together. - Yes.
0:18:39 > 0:18:44- Did you mother have a stage name? - No.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47- No, no, she wasn't as grand as that. - No.
0:18:48 > 0:18:52- No, she was just one of the girls. - One of the girls.
0:18:54 > 0:18:56'While their romance blossomed,
0:18:56 > 0:19:00'show business was about to change again.'
0:19:00 > 0:19:02# Swanee, how I love you, how I love you
0:19:02 > 0:19:05# My dear old Swanee
0:19:05 > 0:19:07'In October 1927,
0:19:07 > 0:19:11'Al Jolson brought sound to the motion pictures.'
0:19:13 > 0:19:17'From now on, every singer and comedian in every little theatre
0:19:17 > 0:19:21'would have to compete with Hollywood's finest talent.
0:19:21 > 0:19:26'But Sid was more worried about his love life than the future of live performance.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30'His mother didn't seem to approve of Connie.'
0:19:30 > 0:19:34Bertha Field tried her best to frighten Connie away.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37"Some of his family were in asylums, you know?" she'd say.
0:19:37 > 0:19:42And, "Sometimes Sid acts very peculiar".
0:19:43 > 0:19:47But Connie was having none of it. She knew she'd found her man.
0:19:47 > 0:19:51# Now I've found the right girl, oh, what a girl
0:19:51 > 0:19:57'But it wasn't until 1933 that they plucked up the courage to defy Mrs Field.'
0:19:57 > 0:20:01Sid told Constance, "Be ready, 10:15 Friday morning."
0:20:01 > 0:20:05"Why?" "We're going to get married. But don't tell a soul!
0:20:06 > 0:20:09"I don't want it getting back to my mother!"
0:20:09 > 0:20:11# You've scored a bull
0:20:11 > 0:20:13# Now my search has ended
0:20:13 > 0:20:16# Bye-bye the past
0:20:16 > 0:20:22So, here's Sid in his brand new Trilby and off they go for the wedding feast.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26Wedding feast? Well, instead of champagne, it's a cup of tea.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29And instead of caviar, fish and chips.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32Which also doubles as a wedding cake.
0:20:32 > 0:20:37And then they pledged their love to each other over this banquet
0:20:37 > 0:20:39with Connie wearing her gleaming wedding ring,
0:20:39 > 0:20:43and then it's a quick bite and off to do the show.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52- Look at that with the nice jacket. - Yes. And cigarette.- And cigarette.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55'In 1936, after Diane came along,
0:20:55 > 0:20:58'the family bought a house in the Birmingham suburbs.'
0:20:58 > 0:21:02- That's you there, isn't it? - That's me, yes. HE LAUGHS
0:21:02 > 0:21:08He used to chase us up the stairs. He had four little false teeth here
0:21:08 > 0:21:11and he used to lift them with his tongue so they were like that
0:21:11 > 0:21:14and he'd put a towel over his head and chase us all round the house.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17And it was lovely, cos we screamed ourselves silly.
0:21:17 > 0:21:21You know what it's like. Has anybody ever chased you up the stairs?
0:21:21 > 0:21:24- You can't just get up there quickly enough!- No.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27So he was always fooling about, yes. Lovely.
0:21:27 > 0:21:32'However, Sid still had to spend most of his time away on tour,
0:21:32 > 0:21:34'despite now being a father.'
0:21:34 > 0:21:38I used to wish I had one that came home from the office every evening
0:21:38 > 0:21:43- with nice sharp pencils that I could draw with.- I think that's what my children say about me sometimes.
0:21:43 > 0:21:47Cos we didn't see him from one end of the week to the other.
0:21:50 > 0:21:54'Through the 30s, Sid was gradually working his way up the billing
0:21:54 > 0:21:58'in a series of variety shows that toured the provinces.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02'To entertainment historians, it's an interesting period.'
0:22:04 > 0:22:09The titles are fascinating. Red Hot And Blue Moments.
0:22:09 > 0:22:12One Exciting Night. Hot Ice.
0:22:12 > 0:22:16These are all part of folklore now.
0:22:18 > 0:22:21APPLAUSE
0:22:21 > 0:22:25'Sid was making a name for himself and catching people's eye.
0:22:25 > 0:22:29'Amongst them, a future comic legend, Spike Milligan.'
0:22:29 > 0:22:36I saw my very, very first variety show at the New Cross Empire with my mother and father.
0:22:36 > 0:22:41I'd never been to one before. The show was called Red Hot And Blue Moments.
0:22:41 > 0:22:44And I remember seeing a man, a comedian, with bright blue eyes
0:22:44 > 0:22:49and it was the first time I'd really laughed hysterically at a character on the stage.
0:22:49 > 0:22:54Years later when I went to Leeds and I saw Piccadilly Hayride, I realised that man was the great Sid Field.
0:22:54 > 0:22:59He did something that not very many comics do today.
0:22:59 > 0:23:02He walked funny, he talked funny,
0:23:02 > 0:23:07he had funny ideas, his timing was out of this world.
0:23:07 > 0:23:09Everything he did was funny.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14'When the Second World War broke out,
0:23:14 > 0:23:17'the big time was still eluding him.
0:23:17 > 0:23:23'Like it or not, the movies were now the number-one form of entertainment.
0:23:23 > 0:23:29'During the war, the cinemas of Britain sold about 1.4 billion tickets a year.
0:23:29 > 0:23:33'And while Sid was doing panto in a regional theatre,
0:23:33 > 0:23:36'40 million people saw Gone With The Wind.
0:23:37 > 0:23:42'But in 1942, something happened that would revolutionise his life.
0:23:44 > 0:23:46'He teamed up with Jerry Desmonde.
0:23:46 > 0:23:51'He was a straight man who much later worked with Nicholas Parsons.'
0:23:51 > 0:23:56It was a dream combination and so...
0:23:56 > 0:23:59And that's what Sid Field needed,
0:23:59 > 0:24:03someone who was the epitome of this distinguished, elegant man.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06And he was perfect for Sid to bounce off.
0:24:06 > 0:24:10- Will you stop being so stupid and come back?- Why do you keep saying "let's go" then?
0:24:10 > 0:24:15When I say let's go, I don't mean let's go, I mean stay here and let's go!
0:24:16 > 0:24:21'It was as if Morecambe had finally found Wise.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24'Jerry was a comedy dancer playing in Streatham
0:24:24 > 0:24:29'and at first was reluctant to play the straight man to Sid's more earthy characters.'
0:24:29 > 0:24:34Jerry was in real life as he was on the stage. That was Jerry Desmonde.
0:24:34 > 0:24:38A charming, lovely, distinguished, very formal sort of person.
0:24:38 > 0:24:41- When you say "let's go"...- Yes?
0:24:41 > 0:24:45- ..you don't mean let's go.- No.- You mean stay here and let's go.- Yes.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50'They were different, too, in how they approached the material.
0:24:50 > 0:24:54'Jerry said that Sid never relied on the scripts for laughs.
0:24:54 > 0:24:56'The audience showed him where the laughs were.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00'And without that interaction, he never really worked on film.'
0:25:00 > 0:25:04- What do I do with this bag? - Oh, dear, oh, dear. What do you think you do with the bag?
0:25:04 > 0:25:07- I'm asking you a civil answer.- Oh.
0:25:07 > 0:25:10What do I do with the bag?
0:25:10 > 0:25:17'Nicholas Parsons was lucky enough to see this golfing sketch how it should've been. Live.'
0:25:17 > 0:25:22I must say, when he walked on for that golfing sketch, Sid had such an engaging personality,
0:25:22 > 0:25:26you started to smile. You just knew it was all going to be funny.
0:25:26 > 0:25:32Jerry was a perfect foil. Simple dialogue, but the way Sid played it made you roar with laughter.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34- Put a ball down.- Right.
0:25:34 > 0:25:38- That's right. Now make the tee.- What?
0:25:38 > 0:25:41- Make the tee. - I thought you wanted to play golf.
0:25:41 > 0:25:45'Someone else who saw the original sketch was Eric Sykes.'
0:25:45 > 0:25:50- You felt that you wanted to protect him.- Oh.
0:25:50 > 0:25:56And Jerry Desmonde, too, was such a brilliant feed
0:25:56 > 0:26:00that you could understand his frustration
0:26:00 > 0:26:02at not being understood.
0:26:02 > 0:26:06For heaven's sake, get a stick in your hand!
0:26:06 > 0:26:10'Soon after he teamed up with Jerry, Sid's fortunes started to turn.
0:26:10 > 0:26:16'They caught the eye of top theatre impresario George Black,
0:26:16 > 0:26:18'the Cameron Mackintosh of the time,
0:26:18 > 0:26:22'and he was putting together a new musical revue for the West End stage.'
0:26:23 > 0:26:29After more than 20 years in the wilderness, Sid Field was about to arrive.
0:26:29 > 0:26:34'His new revue would be here, just off Leicester Square.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39'Established acts were away entertaining the troops
0:26:39 > 0:26:43'so George Black chose undiscovered talent for his cast.
0:26:43 > 0:26:46'His title was catchy.'
0:26:46 > 0:26:48Strike A New Note. And this is the programme.
0:26:48 > 0:26:53And it really does give a flavour of what it must have been like here in the Prince of Wales Theatre.
0:26:53 > 0:26:56It's cheap wartime paper.
0:26:56 > 0:27:00And "the rising generation" hints of Dad's Army.
0:27:00 > 0:27:06Full of performers either too young to fight, or like Sid Field, too old.
0:27:06 > 0:27:09Here's something you'd never see in a programme of today.
0:27:09 > 0:27:15Look. "This theatre is disinfected throughout with Jeyes' Fluid."
0:27:18 > 0:27:22Many of the show's line-up would've become famous stars in their own right.
0:27:22 > 0:27:28For example, here we have two teenagers at the time, Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise.
0:27:30 > 0:27:35- Now then. - HE LAUGHS - Bernard, Donald.- It is indeed!
0:27:35 > 0:27:38'Singer Bernard Hunter and dancer Donald Reed
0:27:38 > 0:27:42- 'were with the show from the start.' - Just the same.- Thank you!
0:27:44 > 0:27:48'The opening night was March 18th 1943
0:27:48 > 0:27:53'and for Sid, it was the chance he'd been waiting for all his life.'
0:27:53 > 0:27:56Tell me about the first night. What was that like?
0:27:56 > 0:28:03Well, sensational, cos Sidney came round to shake hands with everybody
0:28:03 > 0:28:07before that curtain went up, and he was trembling like an aspen.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14The orchestra launched into their first number.
0:28:15 > 0:28:18Three minutes, please!
0:28:18 > 0:28:21This is the moment that Sid has been dreaming of.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24His act practised to perfection.
0:28:28 > 0:28:32Made up, dressed up, possibly ginned up, who knows?
0:28:32 > 0:28:35Sid is anything but ready to go on stage.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38He is petrified!
0:28:38 > 0:28:43Straight man Jerry Desmonde began his introduction for Sid.
0:28:43 > 0:28:45"Now, ladies and gentlemen,
0:28:45 > 0:28:50"one very bright and promising young man was overlooked at the auditions.
0:28:50 > 0:28:56"So to be fair to him, we're bringing him onto the stage right now to show us what he can do."
0:28:56 > 0:29:01- APPLAUSE - He glances to the wings and sees Sid like a rabbit in the headlights.
0:29:01 > 0:29:06"I've got no spit! I can't go on! I won't!"
0:29:06 > 0:29:08APPLAUSE
0:29:08 > 0:29:12Finally, Sid is literally thrown onto the stage.
0:29:14 > 0:29:18- They had to push him on the stage. He wouldn't go on.- Really?- Yes.
0:29:18 > 0:29:20They had to shove him on.
0:29:24 > 0:29:28'In those days, it was the newspaper theatre reviews
0:29:28 > 0:29:32'that could make or break a show or a performer.
0:29:32 > 0:29:37'After any opening night, the cast usually stayed up to read the first editions.'
0:29:39 > 0:29:43Mr Collie Knox, a critic writing for the Daily Mail, said,
0:29:43 > 0:29:46"I've attended many a thrilling first night in my time,
0:29:46 > 0:29:50"John Gielgud as Hamlet and the electric success of Laurence Olivier as Richard III,
0:29:50 > 0:29:56"but never before have I heard such gales of laughter and applause whirling around the theatre
0:29:56 > 0:29:59"as I did on that historic Field night.
0:29:59 > 0:30:01"The man in front of me laughed so helplessly
0:30:01 > 0:30:04"he had to be carried out and given first aid."
0:30:04 > 0:30:08But suddenly he was a national star then.
0:30:08 > 0:30:13And everybody was flocking to the Prince of Wales Theatre to see the show, Strike A New Note.
0:30:15 > 0:30:20After years of struggle and battle, Sid Field had made it,
0:30:20 > 0:30:25and he literally broke down and cried when he realised he was a discovery.
0:30:27 > 0:30:31'It was a moment he recalled on the one and only surviving radio interview.'
0:30:32 > 0:30:37The first night, of course, was a terrific thing in my life.
0:30:37 > 0:30:41I didn't even realise that I should be the success I turned out to be.
0:30:41 > 0:30:43But within three weeks,
0:30:43 > 0:30:48- the bills were up there, "Sid Field, the new funny man". It was a great thrill when I saw that.- I bet.
0:30:48 > 0:30:54- Overnight, Dad was this huge... - Yes! Ta-da!
0:30:54 > 0:30:58I mean, literally, go to bed one night,
0:30:58 > 0:31:03- wake up in the morning and your lives will have changed.- Yes.
0:31:03 > 0:31:07We used to go for lunch at the Trocadero on a Saturday
0:31:07 > 0:31:12and then walk back to the Prince of Wales
0:31:12 > 0:31:14and I used to like that, cos I used to think,
0:31:14 > 0:31:20"This is my daddy! This is my daddy!" I didn't say it, but I liked everybody to know that he was mine.
0:31:20 > 0:31:24- Did people stop him?- Oh, you couldn't have a meal in peace.- No?
0:31:24 > 0:31:28- This is without television.- Yes! - This is being in a theatre show.
0:31:28 > 0:31:32- And they knew him. It's quite extraordinary.- It is extraordinary.
0:31:33 > 0:31:38Amongst all those people who were influenced by the great Field,
0:31:38 > 0:31:42none was influenced more than Tony Hancock.
0:31:42 > 0:31:48Graham Stark had the privilege of being present in the audience with Tony Hancock
0:31:48 > 0:31:52when Hancock first set eyes upon Sid Field
0:31:52 > 0:31:57and the sketch that reached home was called The Blizzard Of The Bells.
0:31:59 > 0:32:03And Sid played a rather moth-eaten music professor.
0:32:06 > 0:32:08Pardon me.
0:32:08 > 0:32:13And at this point, Tony and Graham were collapsing in laughter.
0:32:13 > 0:32:16BAND PLAY SLOW MELODY
0:32:16 > 0:32:18HE TAPS BELL
0:32:18 > 0:32:20BAND PLAY SLOW MELODY
0:32:20 > 0:32:22HE TAPS BELL
0:32:22 > 0:32:24BAND PLAY SLOW MELODY
0:32:24 > 0:32:26BOINGING
0:32:27 > 0:32:31And Tony grabbed Graham by the arm and he said,
0:32:31 > 0:32:35"That's the man for me. That's the man for me."
0:32:35 > 0:32:38And what he meant was, this was the star
0:32:38 > 0:32:42that was going to be the guiding light for the rest of his career.
0:32:42 > 0:32:45The man's so utterly stupid, I could scream.
0:32:45 > 0:32:48I could've had my music lesson with Miss Panthorp.
0:32:48 > 0:32:53'As well as his timing, audiences also loved his chameleon-like ability
0:32:53 > 0:32:56'to create a whole range of comic characters.'
0:32:56 > 0:32:59- I might be a mug in here, but I ain't outside. - You'll very soon be outside!
0:32:59 > 0:33:02'He switched from posh music professor...'
0:33:02 > 0:33:06Sometimes I finish before the orchestra's even started!
0:33:06 > 0:33:10- '..to cockney wide boy.' - Right-oh, nice and bright.
0:33:10 > 0:33:12# You ought to see me...
0:33:12 > 0:33:16'Each character might then appear in a series of sketches.
0:33:16 > 0:33:19'It's a comedy style we know so well,
0:33:19 > 0:33:22'but back then, it was groundbreaking.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26'One of the most popular characters was a fella by the name of Slasher Green.'
0:33:29 > 0:33:33Everyone in wartime Britain was familiar with the Slasher Greens,
0:33:33 > 0:33:35the wide boys that run the black market.
0:33:35 > 0:33:39Sid's genius, though, was spotting that spivs, as they were called,
0:33:39 > 0:33:41would be a rich vein for comedy.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44- I'll play you a tantivy. - Tantivy? What's that?
0:33:44 > 0:33:47Tantivy. It's like a hunting song.
0:33:47 > 0:33:49All about hounds and horses and that.
0:33:49 > 0:33:52'Slasher Green was doing his bit for the war effort.
0:33:52 > 0:33:57'Invasion planning for D-Day was underway, but even planners need a break.'
0:33:58 > 0:34:02I remember a lot of important people came round to see you in that show
0:34:02 > 0:34:05- and one of them was General Eisenhower.- That's right, yes.
0:34:05 > 0:34:08He said, "I've heard so much about this guy Field from my men."
0:34:08 > 0:34:11He was very complimentary to me
0:34:11 > 0:34:15and said, "Field, you're doing a grand job with my boys. Thank you very much."
0:34:15 > 0:34:19- I bet you were very proud of that. - I was, very proud indeed.
0:34:22 > 0:34:27# I'm going to get lit up when the lights go up in London
0:34:27 > 0:34:30'One of Sid's numbers from the show, I'm Going To Get Lit Up,
0:34:30 > 0:34:32'became a huge wartime hit.'
0:34:32 > 0:34:36BOTH: # You will find me on the tiles, you will find me...
0:34:36 > 0:34:41'The song was so iconic that Winston Churchill chose it
0:34:41 > 0:34:45'for one of the most important secret signals of the entire war.
0:34:45 > 0:34:49'When it broadcast on the radio, resistance fighters in Europe
0:34:49 > 0:34:53- 'knew that D-Day was imminent.' - # More, much more
0:34:53 > 0:34:58When the dark cloud of wartime lifted, everybody flocked here to Piccadilly Circus
0:34:58 > 0:35:01and there was only one song they wanted to hear.
0:35:01 > 0:35:07Sid's song. I'm Going To Get Lit Up When The Lights Go Up In London.
0:35:09 > 0:35:13# The city will sit up when the lights go up in London
0:35:13 > 0:35:17# We'll all be lit up as the Strand was
0:35:17 > 0:35:19# Only more, much more
0:35:19 > 0:35:22# And before the party's played out
0:35:22 > 0:35:26# They will fetch the fire brigade out
0:35:26 > 0:35:30BOTH: # To the littest uppist scene you every saw
0:35:30 > 0:35:34Bravo! Bravo!
0:35:35 > 0:35:38- Bravo!- You're very kind. Thank you very much.
0:35:38 > 0:35:40Wonderful. Wonderful.
0:35:40 > 0:35:46- A little tearful, but nevertheless, a great man. - Takes the guts out of you.
0:35:47 > 0:35:49A great man.
0:35:50 > 0:35:54- I wish I had a drink. - THEY LAUGH - You lift it up to Sid.
0:35:54 > 0:35:56He would've loved that.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01'The roaring triumph of Strike A New Note
0:36:01 > 0:36:04'led to a follow-up show, Strike It Again.
0:36:04 > 0:36:10'And as the war ended, Sid was riding high on success.'
0:36:10 > 0:36:15Strike It Again ran through VE Day until August bank holiday 1945
0:36:15 > 0:36:18and it didn't close through a lack of audience. No.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22It closed because Sid Field set his sights elsewhere.
0:36:22 > 0:36:24The movies.
0:36:28 > 0:36:30'And this is where he came.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33'Britain's answer to Hollywood - Shepperton Studios.
0:36:33 > 0:36:38'After almost 30 years, he'd finally reached the top on the stage.
0:36:38 > 0:36:41'Now he had the chance to make it in the movies
0:36:41 > 0:36:44'and be seen by an audience of millions.
0:36:45 > 0:36:49'All he needed was a big hit film.'
0:36:51 > 0:36:54For the film company J Arthur Rank, it seemed a sure bet.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58Britain's most famous stage comic would become Britain's most famous film comic.
0:36:58 > 0:37:03A £1 million blockbuster starring the hottest talent in town.
0:37:03 > 0:37:06THEY SING
0:37:09 > 0:37:13With sumptuous sets and extravagant dance routines,
0:37:13 > 0:37:16the film aimed to wake up grey, post-war Britain.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21'But Sid was lost in those sumptuous sets
0:37:21 > 0:37:24'and the dances went on forever.
0:37:24 > 0:37:29'And worse than that, his comedy just didn't work.'
0:37:31 > 0:37:36You felt for him all the time because you were...you were hurting.
0:37:36 > 0:37:39It's almost like putting...
0:37:41 > 0:37:46- ..Nureyev in Strictly Come Dancing. - Yeah.
0:37:46 > 0:37:51And to watch... I was suffering for him.
0:37:51 > 0:37:53# Miser, miser, you're getting worse
0:37:53 > 0:37:59'One of Sid's co-stars was a child actress already famous in her own right, Petula Clark.'
0:37:59 > 0:38:02# Spend a few coppers, old man
0:38:02 > 0:38:06I was playing his daughter and so it was important, I suppose,
0:38:06 > 0:38:09that we got along well, and we certainly did.
0:38:10 > 0:38:14Because he was a warm, generous man
0:38:14 > 0:38:19and I felt, playing those scenes with him, that he was sort of like a dad.
0:38:19 > 0:38:24- # No, you can't keep a good dreamer down - Now the funny chorus.
0:38:24 > 0:38:29'There was a huge atmosphere around the making of this.
0:38:29 > 0:38:34I'm not sure that Sid fitted in well to that...
0:38:36 > 0:38:38..you know, tra-la-la thing that was going on.
0:38:38 > 0:38:41He was a very down-to-earth kind of man.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44- You'd like a little... - Some of that, please.- Some of what?
0:38:44 > 0:38:46- That.- One of these? I thought you would, yes.
0:38:46 > 0:38:49'The first film that Sid appeared in, That's The Ticket,
0:38:49 > 0:38:52'was shot fast and loose in just three weeks.'
0:38:52 > 0:38:55- This?- Thank you.- You'll get it whether you like it or not.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58'That way of working seems to have suited him better.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01THEY SING
0:39:01 > 0:39:06'But with the massive sets, huge casts and enormous Technicolor film crew,
0:39:06 > 0:39:10'the London Town shoot must have been painfully slow.'
0:39:11 > 0:39:15Sid hated being filmed. He described the camera as,
0:39:15 > 0:39:20"Coming at me like a blood-thirsty dragon, ready to pick up my mistakes."
0:39:20 > 0:39:23He wasn't comfortable without the audience.
0:39:23 > 0:39:26The rehearsal could make the crew laugh,
0:39:26 > 0:39:30but in the take, everybody had to be dead quiet and it, kind of...
0:39:30 > 0:39:36He was of that breed of musical comedian, so was the last of the line, more or less.
0:39:36 > 0:39:42They needed the audience. They needed to feed off it. They needed to get a reaction.
0:39:44 > 0:39:49'Geoffrey Macnab has written a definitive history of the Rank movie empire.'
0:39:49 > 0:39:54So what was it about the film that made it fail? Why do you think it failed?
0:39:54 > 0:39:58It wasn't a comedy for domestic consumption, low budget,
0:39:58 > 0:40:03where you could just have fun, do it quickly, and move onto the next one.
0:40:03 > 0:40:07But nor was it a great artistic endeavour, like a Red Shoes.
0:40:07 > 0:40:11It fell disastrously between two stalls.
0:40:11 > 0:40:15The sadness is, because of that, Sid Field didn't have a film career.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18And because he didn't have a film career,
0:40:18 > 0:40:22you ask somebody in the street, "Who is Sid Field?" they won't know.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25And they might well know who Arthur Askey is,
0:40:25 > 0:40:28they might know who George Formby is.
0:40:28 > 0:40:30They might even know who Tommy Trinder is.
0:40:30 > 0:40:34And Sid Field, who was probably on a level above these comedians,
0:40:34 > 0:40:37is forgotten, and that's the sadness of it.
0:40:39 > 0:40:42'I can only imagine Sid's frustration.
0:40:42 > 0:40:45'The blockbuster that should have made his name live forever
0:40:45 > 0:40:48'went down like a lead balloon.
0:40:48 > 0:40:55'But London Town's failure didn't affect Sid's popularity with his faithful live audience.'
0:40:55 > 0:40:57Next came Piccadilly Hayride,
0:40:57 > 0:41:01which gave him over 700 sell-out performances.
0:41:01 > 0:41:04It was an incredible showcase of talent.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10'Piccadilly Hayride was a smash right from the start.
0:41:12 > 0:41:16'Songs from the show were made famous by the likes of Frank Sinatra.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19'Ever heard this one?'
0:41:19 > 0:41:24# They've got an awful lot of coffee in Brazil
0:41:24 > 0:41:30- How do you do? - 'The show also launched the career of, amongst others, Terry Thomas.
0:41:32 > 0:41:36'And for Sid, it confirmed his place in show business royalty,
0:41:36 > 0:41:39'the king of comedy.'
0:41:39 > 0:41:44One night I was up in this bar having a drink. It was between the houses.
0:41:44 > 0:41:49And there were one or two people in and a babble of conversation.
0:41:49 > 0:41:52And suddenly the conversation dropped, like that.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55And the door opened and in walks Sid Field.
0:41:55 > 0:41:58And he had the make-up on for the second half.
0:41:58 > 0:42:01And he came and stood next to me.
0:42:03 > 0:42:08Well, of course, everybody's now looking at him with awe.
0:42:08 > 0:42:13I can't remember what he was having because from that moment I was tongue-tied.
0:42:13 > 0:42:19If he had asked for a barrel full of goldfish
0:42:19 > 0:42:24I would still have accepted it and said, "I'll have the same."
0:42:24 > 0:42:27In the same room as Sid Field?
0:42:30 > 0:42:34'During the war, Sid's most popular persona was the spiv Slasher Green.
0:42:34 > 0:42:39'But later, another of his character types became everyone's favourite.
0:42:39 > 0:42:43'Today, it's one of the most common types of comedy around.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47'But then it was new and very daring.'
0:42:47 > 0:42:51He did that sketch, which was unique at the time,
0:42:51 > 0:42:54which he played a camp photographer.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58- No, no, I'm sorry. Doesn't suit you one bit.- Really?- No.
0:42:58 > 0:43:01- Of course, my hair isn't done. - Mm. Even so.
0:43:01 > 0:43:06That had not been done on the stage. The general public didn't know what they were laughing at,
0:43:06 > 0:43:10- it was just somebody very sweet and lovely and precious.- Yes.
0:43:10 > 0:43:16But he was sending up people who were camp. And it was a wonderful impersonation.
0:43:16 > 0:43:21And he did it with such style and aplomb, it was hysterical.
0:43:21 > 0:43:23Something on the lines of, erm...
0:43:23 > 0:43:27- Yes.- Yes, oh, good. - We'll have these books with you.
0:43:27 > 0:43:32Sid set the trend for this gossipy form of camp humour,
0:43:32 > 0:43:36which Frankie Howerd built upon with a more crumpled exterior.
0:43:37 > 0:43:39Ooh!
0:43:39 > 0:43:44- Kenneth Williams... - ..which was a rotten shame, wasn't it? Oh, it was a shame!
0:43:44 > 0:43:49- He put a lot into that, didn't you? - Everything.- Tell him, you put a lot into it. He put his pension in.
0:43:49 > 0:43:53Larry Grayson... LAUGHTER
0:43:53 > 0:43:57There's so much of Larry which is pure Sid.
0:43:57 > 0:44:03And then, in more recent times, Julian Clary, Graham Norton and so on. It's an unbroken line.
0:44:05 > 0:44:11'In fact, where would television comedy be today without those camp characters.
0:44:11 > 0:44:17'But Sid discovered that it was a rich vein of comedy possibilities in another way.'
0:44:17 > 0:44:19- What's your name? - LAUGHTER
0:44:19 > 0:44:23- Lee. Have you been to the gym? - LAUGHTER
0:44:23 > 0:44:28'The camp character could work the audience more than any other.
0:44:28 > 0:44:32'There was a licence to make comments that would otherwise come over as just aggressive
0:44:32 > 0:44:34'or downright rude.'
0:44:34 > 0:44:38I think you could keep your legs slightly closer together.
0:44:38 > 0:44:40Yes. It's a bit upsetting.
0:44:40 > 0:44:42I'm trying to work here.
0:44:44 > 0:44:50'I've come to Leicester to see how, 60 years later, it still works for Julian Clary.'
0:44:50 > 0:44:55It's important to me to know who's in the front row cos there's quite a lot of interaction.
0:44:55 > 0:44:58And see who's there to play with.
0:44:58 > 0:45:03- I look for a heterosexual couple. - Oh, good. - That's my, kind of, way in.
0:45:03 > 0:45:08I know Sid was heckled a lot and people used to shout at him and he used to love that.
0:45:08 > 0:45:13- Has anybody heckled you? - Oh, yes. I encourage it.- Do you?
0:45:13 > 0:45:17- Yes, cos it's not... They haven't come to see a Chekhov play.- No.
0:45:17 > 0:45:21And it can create a bit of improvisation.
0:45:21 > 0:45:25And certain places, you know, a really witty heckle is fabulous.
0:45:25 > 0:45:29'When I was preparing to play Sid on stage,
0:45:29 > 0:45:33'I got a host of tips from his understudy, Jack Tripp.'
0:45:33 > 0:45:36I would come on to do my sketches like this.
0:45:36 > 0:45:39And I'd start working.
0:45:39 > 0:45:43Jack, who was teaching me, and he knew Sid Field,
0:45:43 > 0:45:46he'd say, "No, no, no!"
0:45:46 > 0:45:49- So he'd say, "I'll show you."- Yes.
0:45:49 > 0:45:52This is what he showed me Sid would do.
0:45:52 > 0:45:54He would come on.
0:45:54 > 0:45:58He would trip. He would look at the audience,
0:45:58 > 0:46:02he would get them on his side then he would start the sketch.
0:46:02 > 0:46:05So he'd come on like this, the same foot every time, and he'd go,
0:46:05 > 0:46:10"Oh!" and look at them and go, "Oh, dear", you know. And then start.
0:46:10 > 0:46:12APPLAUSE
0:46:15 > 0:46:19- Was that the original mince, do you think?- He did mince. - He really did mince.
0:46:19 > 0:46:22All that mincing backwards and forwards.
0:46:22 > 0:46:25That photographer sketch, he was doing this all the time.
0:46:25 > 0:46:31People are asking me what mincing means. I should have referred to Sid Field, really.
0:46:31 > 0:46:35- He really did mince.- Yes. - I'm really going to look forward to watching you tonight now,
0:46:35 > 0:46:41having had this conversation, because I'm fascinated by comedy.
0:46:41 > 0:46:45- There may not be a laugh to be had. - Here in Leicester?
0:46:47 > 0:46:52'Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, Mr Julian Clary!
0:46:52 > 0:46:54CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:46:56 > 0:47:00'Eyeliner and pink Rollerblades.
0:47:00 > 0:47:04'The clothes have changed, but the interaction with the audience is pure Sid.
0:47:04 > 0:47:07'His comic legacy lives on.'
0:47:07 > 0:47:09CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:47:12 > 0:47:15How kind. Thank you. Mind you don't peak too early.
0:47:15 > 0:47:21- LAUGHTER - Is that a heterosexual couple slipped through the net here?
0:47:21 > 0:47:24Good evening. Nice to see you having a proper night out.
0:47:24 > 0:47:29Because I know you heterosexuals prefer to stay at home, don't you?
0:47:29 > 0:47:34- Eating food covered in breadcrumbs. - LAUGHTER
0:47:34 > 0:47:36Watching Top Gear.
0:47:36 > 0:47:39Leslie, you actually saw Sid Field live on stage.
0:47:39 > 0:47:43He worked an audience, didn't he? He used an audience.
0:47:43 > 0:47:48Yes, well, I had a rather super girlfriend. I was quite young still.
0:47:48 > 0:47:52And I was doing quite well with her. I had my arm round her and touching her up a bit, you know?
0:47:52 > 0:47:55And he saw it from the stage.
0:47:55 > 0:47:59CRASHING
0:48:01 > 0:48:05And he picked me out and started to send me up rotten.
0:48:05 > 0:48:08And all the audience turned round and watched me and him.
0:48:08 > 0:48:10And he used me in his show.
0:48:10 > 0:48:15- So he really used an audience? - Oh, absolutely.
0:48:15 > 0:48:19Yes, he could walk... He used to walk out into the audience.
0:48:20 > 0:48:22He was part of the audience.
0:48:22 > 0:48:27And he came out with some fairly strong stuff about this bird I was with, you know.
0:48:27 > 0:48:31- Really?- Oh, yes.- Can you remember what he said at all?
0:48:31 > 0:48:34No. I don't think I could repeat it.
0:48:34 > 0:48:37What's you name? Any idea?
0:48:37 > 0:48:40- LAUGHTER - It's Dick.
0:48:40 > 0:48:42- Dick! Is it? - LAUGHTER
0:48:44 > 0:48:47- Thank you, God. - LAUGHTER
0:48:52 > 0:48:55'No-one could work an audience like Sid.
0:48:55 > 0:49:01'Back in 1946, Piccadilly Hayride was the hottest ticket in town.
0:49:01 > 0:49:06'And Sid's fans included Hollywood stars like Bob Hope and Cary Grant.
0:49:07 > 0:49:11'Danny Kaye came to see the show and became a close friend.
0:49:11 > 0:49:16'From the left, Danny Kaye, Laurence Olivier and Sid.'
0:49:17 > 0:49:21Laurence Olivier adored Sid.
0:49:21 > 0:49:25He was one of his greatest fans. And Bing Crosby was, too.
0:49:25 > 0:49:30He had a marvellous row of worshippers.
0:49:30 > 0:49:35'In London's Albany Club, the Bartenders Guild meets to discover who can mix the perfect cocktail.
0:49:35 > 0:49:41'In all, there were 46 entries. The stage and screen star Sid Field comes along as one of the judges.'
0:49:44 > 0:49:51'Sid even had a cocktail created in his honour. A colourful concoction called the Slasher Green.
0:49:54 > 0:49:57'But from that first glass of port to calm his stage fright,
0:49:57 > 0:50:00'Sid had never been a stranger to drink.
0:50:01 > 0:50:05'Peter Burn was somewhat concerned when he saw Sid backstage
0:50:05 > 0:50:10'just before one of his many Royal Variety performances.'
0:50:10 > 0:50:15And Sid Field, to my horror, I saw was slumped in the corner.
0:50:15 > 0:50:17Completely out. Legless.
0:50:17 > 0:50:22I couldn't believe it. They hadn't even been on. And the king and queen were in front,
0:50:22 > 0:50:24and Churchill and all the great and the good.
0:50:24 > 0:50:29And it was being broadcast all over the world. I thought, "This is a disaster!"
0:50:29 > 0:50:33And I said, "Excuse me, I think he's had a few drinks."
0:50:33 > 0:50:36He said, "Yes, well, I'd be very worried if he hadn't."
0:50:37 > 0:50:40We stood on the side of the stage in the wings.
0:50:40 > 0:50:44And Jerry Desmonde walked on and did the preamble.
0:50:44 > 0:50:47And Sid was standing there, and he got his cue,
0:50:47 > 0:50:51and suddenly he shook himself like a bear coming out of a river,
0:50:51 > 0:50:54and walked on and gave the performance of his life.
0:50:54 > 0:51:00- They said he liked a tipple. - He did, but I thought everybody did.
0:51:00 > 0:51:06- But I never ever saw him drunk. I never thought, "He's gone a bit funny."- No.
0:51:06 > 0:51:11So, I mean, it didn't seem to impinge, well, certainly not on my life.
0:51:13 > 0:51:19'Everyone thought that Sid would follow Piccadilly Hayride with another hit revue show.
0:51:19 > 0:51:22'But in 1948, he took a brave new direction.
0:51:22 > 0:51:26'To play the lead in a Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, Harvey.
0:51:26 > 0:51:30'Needless to say, there's no films or recordings of Sid in the role,
0:51:30 > 0:51:34'but James Stewart played the part in the Hollywood version two years later.
0:51:34 > 0:51:37'It won him an Oscar nomination.
0:51:38 > 0:51:44'It was a comedy, but there was no singing, no dancing, and Sid couldn't play the audience.'
0:51:46 > 0:51:51Suddenly, this variety comedian had gone legit.
0:51:51 > 0:51:55He was absolutely wonderful in the show.
0:51:55 > 0:51:59Brilliant. And with his amazing timing.
0:51:59 > 0:52:04It was innate, instinctive comedy timing.
0:52:04 > 0:52:09He was in a disciplined situation of a play. He took on that discipline,
0:52:09 > 0:52:12gave a memorable performance,
0:52:12 > 0:52:14he deserved an Oscar for it.
0:52:15 > 0:52:22'His success in Harvey showed that, as with Tony Hancock, Sid could do more than just sketches.
0:52:22 > 0:52:25'He could sustain a dramatic comic character.
0:52:25 > 0:52:31'And that was a style of comedy that would soon become a mainstay of the emerging medium of television.
0:52:31 > 0:52:35'In fact, TV would have suited Sid perfectly.
0:52:35 > 0:52:40'Because then most shows were even performed in front of a live audience.
0:52:41 > 0:52:45'He was on the verge of even greater success.'
0:52:45 > 0:52:48# Rainy days don't worry me
0:52:48 > 0:52:54'Except for one thing. During the run of Harvey, his health declined.
0:52:54 > 0:53:00'He took a month off to recuperate, but soon after returning, in February 1950,
0:53:00 > 0:53:03'Sid had a heart attack and died.
0:53:03 > 0:53:06'He was just 45.
0:53:08 > 0:53:12'At his funeral, thousands turned out to show their grief.'
0:53:12 > 0:53:15# Keeping troubles away from...
0:53:15 > 0:53:19There used to be a straight road that went up to the chapel,
0:53:19 > 0:53:23and there were flowers completely covering all the grass.
0:53:25 > 0:53:30Phyllis Rounce, who was Tony's agent at the beginning of his career,
0:53:30 > 0:53:34she once told me something quite touching.
0:53:34 > 0:53:39She said the only time she saw Tony Hancock cry,
0:53:39 > 0:53:41burst into tears,
0:53:41 > 0:53:47was when he heard the news of Sid Field's death.
0:53:47 > 0:53:52# Rainy days don't worry me
0:53:54 > 0:54:00'Sid Field may have been a brilliant comic. But he was hopeless with money.
0:54:00 > 0:54:06'When he died, there was just £60 in his bank account to keep his widow and three children.
0:54:08 > 0:54:14'But when the show business world heard of their plight, they came out like an entertainment army.'
0:54:14 > 0:54:19In 1951, they united here at the London Palladium Theatre
0:54:19 > 0:54:23for one of the greatest benefit concerts that has ever been staged.
0:54:31 > 0:54:35'Sid's close friend Danny Kaye was the inspiration behind the event.
0:54:38 > 0:54:41'It was a concentrated blast of talent.
0:54:41 > 0:54:46'The biggest stars together for one incredible show, a midnight matinee.
0:54:46 > 0:54:51'It would raise the equivalent of £350,000 for Sid's family.'
0:54:54 > 0:54:58One writer called it, "the greatest show of its kind ever seen
0:54:58 > 0:55:04"with a more impressive array of talent than any Royal Command Variety Performance."
0:55:06 > 0:55:11Everyone was here. Comics like Danny Kaye, Tommy Trinder.
0:55:11 > 0:55:15Actors like Orson Welles, Laurence Olivier, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.
0:55:15 > 0:55:20Whilst Peter Ustinov was on stage mimicking every voice in a choir,
0:55:20 > 0:55:25here in the wings stood Elizabeth Taylor and Vivien Leigh.
0:55:25 > 0:55:29Noel Coward, Judy Garland, a galaxy of stars.
0:55:30 > 0:55:35One of the high points of the show was when Danny Kaye came on to sing.
0:55:35 > 0:55:39Or at least he tried to sing, because at the same time, the Crazy Gang came on
0:55:39 > 0:55:43and literally stripped him of his dress suit, squirting him all over with soda water,
0:55:43 > 0:55:48throwing a custard pie in his face until he was left naked, just bar his underpants,
0:55:48 > 0:55:51on which was the slogan, "Candy Kisses".
0:55:51 > 0:55:56And in one spectacular routine,
0:55:56 > 0:56:03dancers from three huge West End musicals gathered together to dance, here on this very stage.
0:56:03 > 0:56:05APPLAUSE
0:56:17 > 0:56:22'They did it to raise the money, yes, but more than that,
0:56:22 > 0:56:25'they needed to express their grief.
0:56:25 > 0:56:30'Because everybody who knew Sid or just saw him on stage loved him.
0:56:30 > 0:56:33'And the tragedy for us today
0:56:33 > 0:56:38'is that there's no hard evidence left that really shows why.
0:56:38 > 0:56:40'We just have to take people's word for it.'
0:56:42 > 0:56:47I just wish that he'd lived until the television age.
0:56:47 > 0:56:50Because if you'd seen him in person, he was charismatic.
0:56:55 > 0:57:00He embodied the epitome of what I consider a good comedian.
0:57:00 > 0:57:04It is to be visual and likeable.
0:57:06 > 0:57:10And Sid Field had all these commodities in abundance.
0:57:10 > 0:57:15- Address the ball! - Here, ball!- Oh, stop!
0:57:15 > 0:57:17I don't know what to do, do I?
0:57:17 > 0:57:21He was such a supreme live performer. The people I've spoken to who have seen him,
0:57:21 > 0:57:2660 years later, it's as if they'd seen it yesterday.
0:57:26 > 0:57:28- What a performance.- All right...
0:57:28 > 0:57:33A painter leaves paintings, a composer leaves work that other people hear.
0:57:33 > 0:57:37What does a comedian leave? Only the memories of people who laughed at him.
0:57:38 > 0:57:44# Just remember when good fortune chooses to frown
0:57:45 > 0:57:49'After a lifetime on stage, and just seven years at the top,
0:57:49 > 0:57:53'Sid Field was the star who died too soon.
0:57:53 > 0:57:58'Poised on the brink of the television age, who knows what might have been?
0:57:58 > 0:58:02# You can't keep a good dreamer down
0:58:02 > 0:58:05'But those who saw him never forgot.
0:58:05 > 0:58:10'And memories, like jokes, go down the generations.
0:58:10 > 0:58:14'So maybe the echo of that laughter haunts us still.'
0:58:14 > 0:58:17# Your lucky star
0:58:17 > 0:58:19# You can feel just like a king
0:58:19 > 0:58:23# And not wear a crown
0:58:23 > 0:58:28'Although we may not now recognise his name, Sid's impact on comedy was vast.
0:58:28 > 0:58:32'And his legacy continues to this very day.'
0:58:35 > 0:58:41# When the little monkey feels he's more than a clown
0:58:41 > 0:58:44# Well, you can't keep a good dreamer down
0:58:47 > 0:58:52# If the man they dumped would like a new Paris gown
0:58:52 > 0:58:57# Cos you can't keep a good dreamer down
0:58:58 > 0:59:02Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:59:02 > 0:59:06E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk
0:59:06 > 0:59:06.