Behind The Sunshine
Book Review from 2007
Cover
Alternative cover
Young Eric and Ern
Being one of the first books to delve into the background, it contains much of what has been written since and as such holds very little for the reader who has previously read the Graham McCann book. Having said that it still contains material not to be found elsewhere and is an interesting read – especially the latter half.
Beginning with their respective upbringing and early careers as unknown child talent, we follow the pair into the early variety days, taking in a few hard lessons as they go. Their timely meeting and the coming together of the act overlooked as always by Eric’s mother, Sadie.
Early material was stolen from the top comics of the time, in particular Laurel & Hardy and Abbot and Castello and used in their very first appearance together at the Liverpool Empire in 1941.
Moving around country touring they eventually met their partners Joan and Doreen, who had their own very strong careers. All four were touring and struggling as the days of variety were numbered and Eric and Ern were building up a reputation on the radio.
It wasn’t long before the new medium, television, came calling and the book covers the now infamous Running Wild show. The biting reviews brought on depression for Eric and for a while he lost the spark.
They had to continue working and so they went back to variety, a life they had grown up with. Despite being dropped to 4th on the bill the audiences lapped them up, roaring with laughter and filling theatres were ever they went.
The book contains snippets and quotes to back up the facts with many famous celebrities adding their voice. There are also several black and white photographs covering all of their career.
The book covers the good times, the times of awards and ratings, of good reviews and fame, but also the sad and difficult times. Sadie’s death and how it affected Eric, and the passing of Ernie’s father also impacted on the duo. It was hard to grieve when they were both extremely busy and Ernie only got one day off for the funeral because they were in mid-rehearsal.
The move to Thames is well covered with input from Sir Bill Cotton and Philip Jones, Head of Light Entertainment for Thames at the time. The change in format and of course the promised film, Night Train To Murder are all covered along with the mutterings from behind the scenes at the BBC.
Not happy at the move, the BBC put out compilations, calling them ‘The Best Years Of Morecambe & Wise’, and scheduling them to conflict with the new Thames shows. The move certainly rattled a few cages.
Overall this is a good book to read, especially if you want the ‘meat’ of the story without getting too embedded in detail and hard facts like the McCann book did. The latter parts of the book become much more interesting, so if you do get this, stay the course.
Revised and Updated version
In 2001 a revised and updated version of Behind The Sunshine was released. The original version was published in 1994 and again in 1995. So, what were have they added to this book in 2001.
The original version was 19 chapters and ended with an epilogue. The epilogue was a couple of pages long and talked about Morecambe And Wises' resurgence of popularity and the beginnings of as new play about them.
The new version has 20 chapters and no epilogue. What they have done is add a new chapter of 10 pages. This chapter starts in 1993, where the original book finished. It covers the 40 minutes documentary “The Importance Of Being Ernie”, the late 1990's re runs and again the resurgence in popularity of Morecambe and Wise.
The revised edition also states on the back “This updated edition….. Containing previously unpublished photos”. It may be just the way it has been written, but it contains the same photos as the original book, but in a slightly different order.
The only other thing mention is that the revised edition (in paperback at least) is also slightly bigger making it easier on the eyes to read.
The removal of the epilogue is of no great loss, but the edition of chapter 20 makes interesting reading. If you want to add this book to your collection it is worth looking out for the revised edition.
© morecambeandwise.com 2007Back To Reviews