Babs (2017)

A drama about the life and career of actress Barbara Windsor.

Director:

Dominic Leclerc

Writers:

Tony Jordan, Barbara Windsor (based on book by)

Stars:

Samantha Spiro, Charlie Archer, Nick Moran

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Samantha Spiro	...	Babs
Charlie Archer	...	Scott Mitchell
Nick Moran	...	John Deeks
Honor Kneafsey	...	Teen Barbara
Leanne Best	...	Rose Deeks
Florence Keen	...	Child Barbara
Nathan Harmer	...	Brian Mickey
Marty Cruikshank	...	Aida Foster
Peter Hamilton Dyer	...	Producer
Matthew Bates	...	Rosie's Lawyer
Robert East	...	Divorce Judge
Lewis Kirk	...	Johnny Brandon
Cally Lawrence	...	Wardrobe Mistress
Jaime Winstone	...	Barbara
Sue Elliott-Nichols	...	Shoe Shop Manageress

Storyline

In 1993 middle-aged actress Barbara Windsor sits on a stage, conversing with John Deeks, the dead father who recognized her talent as a child but disappeared from her life after her parents divorced, her mother giving her her stage name. From stage school Barbara starts singing at Ronnie Scott's club, where she meets the charming but crooked Ronnie Knight, ending up a pregnant prisoner's wife, in need of an abortion. Things look up when she joins Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop group and gets a part in Lionel Bart's 'Fings Ain't Wot They Used to Be'. Film and television parts slowly come in, notably the 'Carry On' franchise, and despite Joan's warning that Barbara may be type-cast as the perpetual dumb blonde Barbara is smart enough to exploit the persona, acquiring a handsome young husband and becoming a national treasure.

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Plot Keywords:

character name as title | barbara windsor character | actress | blonde | singing | 

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 May 2017 (UK)

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Red Planet Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Samantha Spiro first played Barbara Windsor in 1998 at the Royal National Theatre in Terry Johnson's "Cleo, Camping, Emmanuelle and Dick". When Johnson adapted the play for television, as Cor, Blimey! (2000), Spiro reprised the role.

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Connections

Features Carry On Spying (1964)

User Reviews

Samantha Spiro absolutely stole the movie

Samantha Spiro absolutely stole the movie, playing Babs looking back over her life, she played the part so well and looked like her so much you would be mistaken for thinking it was Babs who also played herself in a cameo role.

Another person wrote they felt the back flashes with her talking to her father were tedious, they felt the director had gone of track with the story line. I on the other hand felt it gave a better understanding to where Babs was emotionally within herself as a woman, person, actress.

Not forgetting she played herself within this film and it was about her life, i doubt very much she wouldn't allow something she felt did not give people a insight into her true self (at one point having a dig at her own sexual conquests).

I felt the actress who played her as a young actress was all wrong, unlike Samantha Spiro she looked nothing like her. In her heyday Babs was a stunning Goddess, even to me as a child at the time i first saw Carry on movies. Unfortunately Jaime Winstone who played her was just not right for the role, looked nothing like her and i don't wish to sound rude but if you saw Babs in Carry on Spying she was skinny as hell with a big chest whereas Jaime Winstone was big all over. And unlike Babs she just couldn't sing, i wish they had dubbed Babs singing over hers as she does sing at the end and a hell of a lot better.

As mentioned before, we all grew up with her in Carry on Movies yet only about 2 minutes of the whole movie covered it, nothing about her relationship with Sid James or her long life friendship with Kenneth Williams.

The film just ends with the last 25 years of her life missing, all we get is a footnote at the end which to me is poor quality writing about a national treasure who is loved by millions of people.

The only thing i felt heart warming about the footnote is her marriage to her partner Scott is still going strong, at last she has a man in her life she can depend on.