Frankie - the fifties

frankie howerd
fabulous fifties	radio and films beckon

	He asked "Thing" at the BBC if he could alter his act on Bandbox and received a terse reply - No! Thus Frankie quit the show to move onto pastures new. In 1951 he had his own show and was causing concern to some in the BBC, over his near knuckle quips. He began to appear in Royal Variety Shows, starred in another radio series Happy Go Lucky. The scripts were written by two unknown writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, later to produce TV's Steptoe and Son comedy series. Frankie was unaware of the trail of producers he had gone through, as was seen as "difficult" by the powers high up in the BBC. Minutes were flying all over the BBC. In 1957 his shows were being broadcast overseas on the British Forces Network. He followed up the shows with personal appearances to Forces all over the world, giving concerts too.	With mum and sister in 1957
	In the 50's Frankie did lots of theatre work, whether in Panto in Dick Whittingdon or other revues. One of the best was Pardon my French" which ran for over a year. His West End stage debut came in 1950 at the Palladium in a revue called Out of this world.
Joan Greenwood and Eric Portman	His first Royal Variety Show was in November 1950 at the London Palladium. The show has no "top of the bill" and Frankie came on after a rousing set from Billy Cotton's Band (Wakey, W-a-k-e-y!!). His nerves got the better of him and he silently went through his act, with a polite titter every now and again. However bad he thought it was, he went back again for Royal Variety Shows in 1954, 1960, 1966 and 1968 - officially. He also turned up, not announced on the bill, as a surprise guest which thrilled audiences. There was a moment when audiences recognised the battered face and applause built up. Other notable stage moments came in 1957 as Bottom in A Midsummer's Night's Dream at the Old Vic, and in Charley's Aunt in the West End and on tour in 56.	A Midsummer nights dream - HM The Queen
Margaret Rutherford (The Runaway Bus)	Frankie's first foray away from the stage was in the film The Runaway Bus (1954) (now available on DVD), followed in 1955 by Jumping for Joy and A touch of the Sun (1956). The films, although amusing to see now, did not help his career along. A slightly more engaging cameo can be seen in the classic version of The Ladykillers, from Ealing Studios. Bernard Delfont wanted him to star in another revue but Frankie decided not to. Instead he went into a farce Hotel performing to half empty houses - and audiences that had come to see Frankie in his usual act. A large tax bill added to his doubts, and be began to have sleepless nights. .However he was still in demand and even played Bottom in A Midsummer's Night's Dream at the Old Vic. In 1953 he fell out with his first agent, Jack Payne.	Alec Guiness
Fine goings on	On radio Frankie commenced work on his post Bandbox project - Fine goings on. Scripts were provided by Eric Sykes and supporting stars included Norman Wisdom, Bill Fraser, Hattie Jacques. Eric Sykes also started work on another radio show that was to become very big - Educating Archie with ventriloquist Peter Brough (yes on the radio!). Frankie started to entertain British troops overseas - making trips to Tripoli, Benghazi, Egypt, Jordan, Cyprus, Malta and Korea. He was accompanied by pianist (and friend) Blanchie Moore.	Nuts in May (film)
Eric Sykes	TV was a rising star, but Frankie had shied away after a disastrous brush on the TV quiz show What's My Line in 1954 where he stepped in at the last minutes and nerves got the better of him. You can spot Muriel Young in the photo. In 1951 only 2 million home had access to TV in the larger cities in the UK. His first TV show, The Howerd Crowd, went out live on January 12 and was a hit with the one channel TV audience (no ITV then). Although pleased with critical reaction he went back to shows for the troops - 8 shows were recorded for radio under the banner Frankie Howerd goes East.
	1955 - a great year when Frankie met his future manager and lifelong partner Dennis Heymer and I was born. In the mid-50's Eric Sykes handed the baton of script writing to new up and coming writers - Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. The first series to feature their material went out in 23 Nonmember 1953 (10 years to the day before Dr Who started - had to mention that!). Johnny Speight joined the newly formed Associated London Scripts team with Galton and Simpson in the same year. He became the main writer on Frankie's 3rd series on radio of the The Frankie Howerd Show. Towards the end of 1957 he suffered bouts of loss of confidence - and he didn't pull himself out of the doldrums until the early 60's....	Galton and Simpson