Charters and Caldicott
Encyclopedia
Caldicott and Charters are two supporting characters in the film The Lady Vanishes
, and recurring characters in later films and BBC Radio productions.
enthusiasts, rushing back to England to see the last days of a test match
. They proved popular with audiences and returned in the Gilliat-and-Launder films Night Train to Munich
(1940, also starring Margaret Lockwood) and Millions Like Us
(1943), and in the BBC radio serials Crook's Tour
(1941, made into a film later that year) and Secret Mission 609 (1942).
Wayne and Radford played similar double acts in several more movies, such as Dead Of Night
(1946, sequence directed by Charles Crichton), A Girl In A Million (1946, Francis Searle) and Quartet (1948, sequence directed by Ralph Smart). Another recurring cricket-mad pairing played by them were Bright and Early in It's Not Cricket
(1949, Alfred Roome), Helter Skelter
(1949, Ralph Thomas) and Stop Press Girl
(1949, Michael Barry).
They were intended to reappear in I See a Dark Stranger
(1945, Launder), but Launder and Gilliat refused to give them the larger roles in the film that Radford and Wayne demanded as befitting the high profile actors they had now become. As a result, the actors opted out of the film and two similar but differently named characters were substituted. This falling out, however, left Radford and Wayne contractually disallowed from portraying the characters. BBC radio (wanting to broadcast more of the popular radio comedy thriller serials) thus created the pairing Woolcot and Spencer in Double Bedlam (1946), Traveller's Joy (1947), Straker and Gregg in Passport to Pimlico
(1949), The Next of Kin
(appearing at the end as a "Careless Talk Costs Lives" pair), May I Have The Treasure (1951) and Rogue's Gallery (1952). This also became Berkeley and Bulstrode in Crime Gentleman, Please (1948), and Hargreaves and Hunter in Having A Wonderful Crime (1949) and Fanshaw and Fothergill in That's My Baby (1950). In mid-production on Rogue's Gallery, Basil Radford died suddenly of a heart attack at 55 and Naunton Wayne completed the adventure on his own.
The original script for The Third Man
(1949) featured the two characters but they were later streamlined into the role of Mr Crabbin, played by Wilfred Hyde-White.
Charters and Caldicott resurfaced in the remake
of The Lady Vanishes (1979) with Arthur Lowe
as Charters and Ian Carmichael
as Caldicott, and in a BBC
television series, Charters and Caldicott
(1985) with Michael Aldridge
as Caldicott and Robin Bailey
as Charters.
In the 1970's, some fans of Charters and Caldicott named their new advertising agency in New York after them.
The Lady Vanishes (1938 film)
The Lady Vanishes is a 1938 British thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and adapted by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder from the 1936 novel The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White...
, and recurring characters in later films and BBC Radio productions.
Life
In The Lady Vanishes, the pair are singleminded cricketCricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
enthusiasts, rushing back to England to see the last days of a test match
Test cricket
Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...
. They proved popular with audiences and returned in the Gilliat-and-Launder films Night Train to Munich
Night Train to Munich
Night Train to Munich is a 1940 British thriller film. It was directed by Carol Reed, with writing credits by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder. It is liberally adapted from the Gordon Wellesley novel Report on a Fugitive.-Plot:...
(1940, also starring Margaret Lockwood) and Millions Like Us
Millions Like Us
Millions Like Us is a 1943 British propaganda film, showing life in a wartime aircraft factory in documentary detail. It stars Patricia Roc, Eric Portman, Megs Jenkins, and Anne Crawford, was written by Sidney Gilliat, and directed by Gilliat and Frank Launder...
(1943), and in the BBC radio serials Crook's Tour
Crook's Tour
Crook's Tour is a 1941 British film directed by John Baxter featuring Charters and Caldicott. It is adapted from a BBC radio serials of the same name.-Plot:Charters and Caldicott are touring the Middle East...
(1941, made into a film later that year) and Secret Mission 609 (1942).
Wayne and Radford played similar double acts in several more movies, such as Dead Of Night
Dead of Night
Dead of Night is a British portmanteau horror film made by Ealing Studios, its various episodes directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. The film stars Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers and Michael Redgrave...
(1946, sequence directed by Charles Crichton), A Girl In A Million (1946, Francis Searle) and Quartet (1948, sequence directed by Ralph Smart). Another recurring cricket-mad pairing played by them were Bright and Early in It's Not Cricket
It's Not Cricket (1949 film)
It's Not Cricket is a 1949 British comedy film directed by Alfred Roome and starring Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne, Susan Shaw and Maurice Denham. It was one of the final films made by Gainsborough Pictures before the studio was merged into the Rank Organisation.-Plot:Major Bright and Capain Early...
(1949, Alfred Roome), Helter Skelter
Helter Skelter (1949 film)
Helter Skelter is a 1949 British romantic comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas and starring Carol Marsh, David Tomlinson and Mervyn Johns. A police detective becomes involved with a wealthy socialite....
(1949, Ralph Thomas) and Stop Press Girl
Stop Press Girl
Stop Press Girl is a 1949 British fantasy comedy film directed by Michael Barry and starring Sally Ann Howes, Gordon Jackson, Basil Radford and Naunton Wayne; the latter two appearing in several different roles in the film.-Plot:...
(1949, Michael Barry).
They were intended to reappear in I See a Dark Stranger
I See a Dark Stranger
I See a Dark Stranger is a British 1946 World War II spy film with touches of light comedy, by the team of Frank Launder and Sidney Gilliat, and starring Deborah Kerr and Trevor Howard.-Plot:...
(1945, Launder), but Launder and Gilliat refused to give them the larger roles in the film that Radford and Wayne demanded as befitting the high profile actors they had now become. As a result, the actors opted out of the film and two similar but differently named characters were substituted. This falling out, however, left Radford and Wayne contractually disallowed from portraying the characters. BBC radio (wanting to broadcast more of the popular radio comedy thriller serials) thus created the pairing Woolcot and Spencer in Double Bedlam (1946), Traveller's Joy (1947), Straker and Gregg in Passport to Pimlico
Passport to Pimlico
Passport to Pimlico is a 1949 British comedy film made by Ealing Studios and starred Stanley Holloway, Margaret Rutherford, and Hermione Baddeley. It was directed by Henry Cornelius....
(1949), The Next of Kin
The Next of Kin
The Next of Kin, also known as Next of Kin, is a 1942 World War II propaganda film produced by Ealing Studios.The film was originally commissioned by the British War Office as a training film to promote the government propaganda message that "Careless talk costs lives"...
(appearing at the end as a "Careless Talk Costs Lives" pair), May I Have The Treasure (1951) and Rogue's Gallery (1952). This also became Berkeley and Bulstrode in Crime Gentleman, Please (1948), and Hargreaves and Hunter in Having A Wonderful Crime (1949) and Fanshaw and Fothergill in That's My Baby (1950). In mid-production on Rogue's Gallery, Basil Radford died suddenly of a heart attack at 55 and Naunton Wayne completed the adventure on his own.
The original script for The Third Man
The Third Man
The Third Man is a 1949 British film noir, directed by Carol Reed and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Many critics rank it as a masterpiece, particularly remembered for its atmospheric cinematography, performances, and unique musical score...
(1949) featured the two characters but they were later streamlined into the role of Mr Crabbin, played by Wilfred Hyde-White.
Charters and Caldicott resurfaced in the remake
The Lady Vanishes (1979 film)
The Lady Vanishes is a 1979 British comedy mystery film directed by Anthony Page. Its screenplay by George Axelrod was based on the novel The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White...
of The Lady Vanishes (1979) with Arthur Lowe
Arthur Lowe
Arthur Lowe was a BAFTA Award winning English actor. He was best known for playing Captain George Mainwaring in the popular British sitcom Dad's Army from 1968 until 1977.-Early life:...
as Charters and Ian Carmichael
Ian Carmichael
Ian Gillett Carmichael, OBE was an English film, stage, television and radio actor.-Early life:Carmichael was born in Hull, in the East Riding of Yorkshire. The son of an optician, he was educated at Scarborough College and Bromsgrove School, before training as an actor at RADA...
as Caldicott, and in a BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
television series, Charters and Caldicott
Charters and Caldicott (TV series)
Charters and Caldicott is a 1985 BBC mystery series featuring the characters Charters and Caldicott from the film The Lady Vanishes. It featured six 50 minute episodes broadcast on BBC1 at 9.25pm on Thursdays from 10 January to 14 February 1985....
(1985) with Michael Aldridge
Michael Aldridge
Michael William ffolliott Aldridge was an English actor. While it was his role as Seymour in the television series Last of the Summer Wine which made him widely recognised, his long career as a successful character actor on stage and screen dated back to the 1930s.-Early life:The son of Dr...
as Caldicott and Robin Bailey
Robin Bailey
Robin Bailey was an English actor. He was born in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire.Although often chosen for upper class and tradition-bound roles such as Judge Graves in Thames Television's Rumpole Of The Bailey, Bailey is perhaps most fondly remembered for his portrayal of Uncle Mort in I Didn't Know...
as Charters.
In the 1970's, some fans of Charters and Caldicott named their new advertising agency in New York after them.