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