Carry On Henry

Carry On Henry
Original UK quad poster
Directed by	Gerald Thomas
Produced by	Peter Rogers
Written by	Talbot Rothwell
Starring	Sid James Kenneth Williams Charles Hawtrey Joan Sims Terry Scott Barbara Windsor Kenneth Connor
Music by	Eric Rogers
Cinematography	Alan Hume
Edited by	Alfred Roome
Distributed by	Rank Organisation
Release date	February 1971 (1971-02)
Running time	89 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English
Budget	£223,000

Carry On Henry is the 21st in the series of Carry On films to be made and was released in 1971. It tells a fictionalised story involving Sid James as Henry VIII, who chases after Barbara Windsor's character Bettina. James and Windsor feature alongside other regulars Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, Terry Scott and Kenneth Connor. This was the first time that Williams and Connor appeared together since Carry On Cleo seven years previously. The original alternative title was to be Anne of a Thousand Lays, a pun on the Richard Burton film Anne of the Thousand Days, and Sid James wears exactly the same cloak that Burton wore in that film.

The opening theme is a version of Greensleeves, by Eric Rogers.

Sid James plays Henry VIII as a lovable rogue who is surrounded by scheming courtiers. Peter Rogers originally planned on using Harry Secombe in the title role, and in the first draft of the screenplay Henry was going to be an avid composer of madrigals, but the idea was shelved and Sid James took over the role. Two comedic madrigals written for the film but unused were later performed in the 1972 Carry On Christmas special and the 1973 stage show Carry On London.