Over 55 years on from filming the scene, Leon, 80, remembers the lines, hers and Hawtrey's, and recites along. 'She's been showing me how to stick the pole up!' This was her second Carry On of six. In her first, 'Carry on Up the Khyber' (1968), she didn't have any lines, just handed out fruit in a harem. She doesn't remember much of an audition. There was a whole bevy of girls; we had to go to Pinewood Studios and get into swimsuits. We were in a long line and they chose who they wanted. That was my audition. You probably couldn't get away with that now.
The clip from 'Carry on Camping' encapsulates the essence of the franchise: innuendo and saucy seaside postcard humour; beautiful, scantily clad young females; ogling, lecherous men, and the high camp that Kenneth Williams would ramp up even further as the film progresses. Valerie Leon represents a key part of this experience, recalling her participation in the film and what it involved.
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