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 Lost Carry On Film Rediscovered
The film world was today rocked by the discovery of a complete print of the banned Carry On film, Carry on Christ in the basement of a building undergoing demolition in Soho. Fifteen years before Monty Python's controversial Life of Brian, producer Peter Rogers and director Gerald Thomas produced their own unique take on the New Testament crammed with risqué jokes, outrageous slapstick antics and seminal scenes of chaos and mayhem. Carry on Christ would have been the eleventh in the popular long-running film series, and was shot in 1964 back-to-back with Carry on Cleo, reusing some of the costumes and props from that film which themselves had been largely taken from the Elizabeth Taylor / Richard Burton production of Anthony & Cleopatra. Starring Charles Hawtrey as Christ, Sid James as Judas Iscariot, Kenneth Williams as Pontius Pilate, Bernard Cribbins as Peter, Jim Dale as Doubting Thomas, Bernard Bresslaw as Joseph, Hattie Jacques as Mary and Barbara Windsor as Mary Magdalene, the film also included a cameo from William Hartnell, star of the first Carry On film (Carry on Sergeant) in full costume as Dr Who. The film was also unique in that it was the first to feature some of the regular Carry On troupe in multiple roles (a technique widely used by Monty Python a decade later).
The film ran into trouble when a rough cut was submitted to the BBFC in November 1964; the censors flatly refused to classify it and strongly recommended that it be withdrawn completely; one official stated that never in the history of the BBFC (founded 1912) had he seen anything more offensive. By Christmas 1964 Peter Rogers had given up his fight to have the film shown, and apparently issued orders that all remaining prints be destroyed. By today's standards the film may seem tame, but it has to be bourne in mind that at the time blasphemy laws could easily have seen the writers, director and producer jailed. A special screening of Carry on Christ will take place at the NFT tomorrow.  
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