In 1947, Ealing's Hue and Cry, its first comedy since the war, was a surprise hit. An entertaining story of a criminal gang foiled by an enthusiastic army of schoolboys, the film met a public desire for relief after years of fighting and continuing hardships. The studio had released many comedies before and during the war, but 'Ealing Comedy' proper began in 1949, with the consecutive release of Passport to Pimlico, Whisky Galore! and Kind Hearts and Coronets..

The typical example celebrates the small man's struggle against impersonal authority, and expresses a good-natured fantasy of rebellion, as in Passport to Pimlico, in which the residents of a London street briefly break from English rule and escape the ordeal of rationing. In The Lavender Hill Mob, a mild-mannered bank clerk masterminds a robbery of the Bank of England's gold reserves.

These two - and several others - were written by the prolific T.E.B. Clarke. But an altogether darker, more subversive vision is presented by Ealing directors Robert Hamer and Alexander Mackendrick.

In Hamer's Kind Hearts and Coronets, a frustrated commoner gleefully murders his way to a dukedom. Mackendrick's The Man in the White Suit (1951) and The Ladykillers (1955) show the weight of anachronistic conservatism crushing innovation and change. Alec Guinness, already a theatrical success, became a huge star thanks to his several Ealing performances, including Kind Hearts in which he played all the victims (both male and female) of the unfortunate dynasty.

Not all the post-war Ealing comedies are so memorable, but the best are genuine classics, whose wit and charm have easily survived more than half a century.

Films such as The Italian Job from the Sixties, Local Hero and A Fish Called Wanda from the Eighties and The Full Monty from the Nineties owed a debt to the Ealing Comedies, updating the basic premise of the underdog’s struggle against authority for more modern audiences. The Ladykillers was recently remade by Hollywood –the action was relocated to America and the film starred Tom Hanks.

Ealing Comedies in order

Hue and Cry (1946)

Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

Whisky Galore! (1949)

Passport to Pimlico (1949)

The Lady Killers (1955)

The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)

The Man in the White Suit (1951)

The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953)

Possibly more than any other, the Carry On series of films typify the very essence of British comedy and are the most enduring and endearing offspring of British cinema. From their debut in 1958 through to the present day, the mention of the words "Carry On" bring to mind images of saucy humour, larger than life characters and riotous slapstick. While remaining at all times highly suggestive, with jokes and situations full of sexual innuendo and deliberately raised eyebrows, the films retain a certain innocence. Great emphasis was placed on the double entendre, but overt sexuality and coarse language were always shunned.

No subject was sacred, with parodies ranging from the National Health Service (Carry On Nurse, and Carry On Doctor) to education (Carry On Teacher) and workers’ unions (Carry On At Your Convenience). Some of the best films in the series were send-ups of popular cinematic genres such as the Western (Carry On Cowboy), the horror film (Carry On Screaming) and the historical epic (Carry On Cleo). The only recurring themes throughout the disparate (and in some cases desperate) storylines were the Carry On team themselves, which included Sid James, Kenneth Williams and Barbara Windsor.

Carry On Columbus was an attempt to revive the series in the 1990s with contemporary comedians, but it was greeted with scathing reviews and indifference from perhaps a more sophisticated modern audience.