John Paddy Carstairs
John Paddy Carstairs on putting on his first shows at the age of four
Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
Film director best known for comedies like 'Chiltern Hundreds' and 'Trouble in Store'; also a novelist and painter.
On the island
John Paddy Carstairs on putting on his first shows at the age of four
Eight records
The keepsakes
No book or luxury recorded for this episode.
In conversation
Presenter asks
0:33Which of these three careers of yours — writing, painting and film directing — came first? Was any one of them a very early ambition?
Well, I think one of my earliest recollections was writing and painting the scenery and producing and appearing in shows that we used to put on when I was at the age of four.
Presenter asks
2:05Which ones [of your films] do you look back on with the most affection?
Well, certainly Chiltern Hundreds. I liked making that very much. And of course the first Norman Wisdom film, Trouble in Store. And a picture called Dancing with Crime, chiefly because it was a drama.
Presenter asks
4:26How do you manage to carry [your three careers] all on at once?
A jolly good point, Roy Plumley. I don't. … Well, I mean that this is something that I'm glad to clear up because people always think I paint with one hand and write books with the other, tap down, so on. I never do more than one thing at a time. People can't, can they really, honestly.
Presenter asks
4:55How disciplined are you as a writer and as a painter, come to that? Do you work regular hours?
Well, I don't believe in this business about waiting for inspiration. I mean, I think it's a business, and you've jolly well gotta accept that, and therefore, you must … myself, and uh therefore if I'm writing a book I get up at five thirty and I write from six till eight thirty every morning and think about it during the day. Uh I think it's absolutely vital to get anything done.
“I'm one of the bunch of keys. My father was the very, very famous … review artist Nelson Keyes. … [W]hen I went into the film business I thought it would be unfair to take his name. I thought I ought to get on on my own.”
“I used to make dramas all the time, but after Chiltern Hundreds I only get comedies now.”
“[T]here is a … amusing story about [Lollipop Wood]. I wrote it originally. I dedicated it to my two nieces who live in Dublin. … [W]hen finally it appeared, of course my … little nieces were grown up young ladies and were reading James Hadley Chase and were horrified to find their name on the front of Lollipop Wood.”
“[A]fter the war, … as soon as Paris was liberated, I hustled across there and … fell in love with the French moderns of the Impressionistic School and came back home and changed my style and people started to like what I was doing.”