Steptoe And Son Movie
Storyline
TAGLINES PLOT SUMMARY
The hilarious British comedy depicts an episode in the life of Albert Steptoe (Wilfred Brambell) and his son Harold (Harry H. Corbett), two carefree junk dealers living peacefully together in the junk yard. All goes well until Harold, who likes visiting hot spots, becomes enamoured of an alluring stripper named Zita (Carolyn Seymour). He loves her so much that he decides to marry her. But when Harold takes his wife home, Albert flies into a rage and schemes to turn his daughter-in-law out of doors by all means.
| Wilfrid Brambell | Albert Steptoe |
| Harry H. Corbett | Harold Kitchener Steptoe |
| Carolyn Seymour | Zita |
| Arthur Howard | Vicar |
| Victor Maddern | Chauffeur |
| Fred Griffiths | Barman |
| Joan Heath | Zita's mother |
| Fred McNaughton | Zita's father |
| Lon Satton | Pianist |
| Patrick Fyffe | Arthur |
| Patsy Smart | Mrs. Hobbs |
| Mike Reid | Compere |
| Alec Mango | Hotel Doctor |
| Michael Da Costa | Hotel Manager |
| Enys Box | Traffic Warden |
| Cliff Owen |
6.10 out of 10 (205 votes)
Visitor Reviews
The first of the two Steptoe and Son movies.
posted on 13 Oct 2007Steptoe and Son (1972) was a feature length movie featuring the two leads of the popular English television series. The plot deals with Harold falling for a "scrubber". Albert in his cruel and crude ways can see the marriage will never work, can Harold and his new bride work things out or will his mean old man ruin his plans for a happy family life?The first film is a lot like the television series, a mixture of melodrama and comedy. A tad uneven in some places but it's very enjoyable. The second film is more of a farcical comedy and it's more accessible to non-fans of this brilliant television series.Highly recommended for fans of the t.v. series and for people who want to take a peek at the original "Sanford and Son".
Harold's Punctured Romance
posted on 18 Jul 2007'Cosmo-Bongo' and his wife must have led very sheltered lives if they found this film 'horribly upsetting'. Whether you like it or not, for millions of British working class people, this was their way of life; cobblestones, tin baths, outside toilets and all. 'Steptoe & Son', while not a patch on the television series, is nevertheless above average for a '70's British film comedy. It centres around Harold's ( doomed ) marriage to vivacious stripper Zita. Naturally the old man doesn't take to her and the conflict between him and his son escalates into full-scale war. Carolyn Seymour is terrific as Zita. The film moves from comedy to tragedy and back again, Corbett and Brambell are on sparkling form, particularly when they debate the future of the baby they've found in their stable. Only the scene near the end where Harold is beaten up by drunken rugby players doesn't work. Favourite bit? The old man bathing in the kitchen sink. You don't want to know where he puts the dish brush. Very funny and a useful social document of early '70's Britain.
I wish there were more like this
posted on 21 Apr 2006This is a master piece of British t.v cinema. I have all the steptoe and son episode's on DVD. Their home and its contents have been a part of the shows make-up, (THEY ARE RAG AND BONE MEN) and there home trys to reflect that fact. Thats one of the reasons harold keeps trying to get away, he is only to aware of his messy surroundings. (dust? more like bleedin top soil) The film is just a re-working of an episode they did called 'STEPTOE AND SON AND SON' I have to concead that this is not as good as the series it still has all the humor you come to expect. BUt if you haven't seen the series then you may not get the all the humor, and if you like the film then you WILL love the series. purely British sit-com.
Worst of the British sitcom movie spin-offs!
posted on 15 May 2002Let me start by saying how much I love the TV series. Despite the tragic nature of a middle-aged man seemingly unable to pursue his dreams because of his overbearing, manipulative father, it was incredibly light-hearted and fun to watch in practice. In my opinion, it is without doubt one of the greatest British sitcoms of all time. The TV series has my 10 out of 10 rating without reservation.This movie spin-off on the other hand is a true tragedy in every sense of the word. Hardly any of the essence of the TV show is transferred successfully onto film. This movie has a very dreary, depressing tone that almost moved me to tears on several occasions. Seeing Harold being beaten up in a pub (and not in a comical way) is not my idea of comedy but is most definitely one reason why fans of the TV series will not like this movie. The movie was painfully unfunny except for the scene where Albert bathes in the sink and is seen by a neighbour.The romance between Harold and Zita is completely out of tone and it makes me wonder whether the producers of this movie ever bothered to watch the TV series. In the TV series, Harold always went after respectable girls, not strippers.Albert's reactions to the remarks made against him by Harold's girlfriends were absolutely priceless in the TV series. In the movie, Albert says virtually nothing when such an opportunity rises.Most movie spin-offs of British sitcoms tend to be quite dull, with the notable exception of the ON THE BUSES films (which in some respects were actually better than the TV series itself!). But, STEPTOE AND SON has to rank right at the very bottom of the pile, even below GEORGE AND MILDRED.My advice - skip this one and see the second spin-off, STEPTOE AND SON RIDE AGAIN instead. It has a much lighter tone, is more faithful to the TV series, and is actually very funny.
The Lowest, most Disgusting Form of British "Humour"
posted on 27 Apr 2002Truly a disgusting, vile film, with only a small amount of real humour.The character of the father in particular is vulgar in the extreme (intentionally so, obviously), and portrayed in the most pathetic, seedy manner.My wife and I found this film horribly upsetting, with absolutely no redeeming features at all. Frankly, I wish I had never seen it.I consider this British effort to be a sick and gross embarrassment.Those who enjoyed this film have an ability I totally lack: that of rejoicing in a display of deep depravity and squalor.The producers should be ashamed of themselves.
Chief example of stunted British folly, in place of film.
posted on 05 Apr 2001"Women? They're all scrubbers...!" No, not a good translation; not at all! This lags behind the previous year's "Dad's Army", entirely missing the special, small-screen magic of the seminal television sitcom original, and failing to play interestingly at all with the big screen... you could just about say that this film well represents a Britain entering decline, and more precisely even than that, a *British film industry* entering decline. And that is hardly a recommendation, is it? To be an exemplar of saddening folly...All that remains after the subtlety of the TV original has been surgically stripped away, by Cliff Owen, Galton and Simpson are: endless, dilapidated musical cues, yawn, from the Ron Grainer theme... bolstered sentimentality (that shoddy, thick-eared ending... how much bolder does the second Steptoe film seem in comparison) an increased seediness - with director and writers seemingly detaching themselves completely - fully applicable to something like the 'misbegotten monstrosity' (yours truly on this site) from 1973, "The Mutations". There is a strangely botched, cut-adrift tone about the scene where Harold is beaten up in a rugby club, that I partly hate and recoil it (so far, as a friend intimated, from the mood of the TV series...), but this at least seems an original slant, and emblematic of tensions just rising to the boil in the Britain of 1972... There is, however, an implied prostitute, aye of a 'heart-of-gold' who turns loose woman-traitor 'pon poor auld 'Arold - and beyond-caricature writing of the 'class' element; not to mention, surprisingly misjudged performances from the usually redoubtable leads. Brambell and Corbett collude with the script, and indeed fail to cure it of an essential ham. What would Anthony Aloysius Hancock have made of it all...? I will merely concede that a few moments just about work - chiefly those where G & S play things a little more carefully and B & C touch tenderer nerves - and it is not on the whole an unwatchable affair. But, and oh, how this pains me to say it: it is tiresome, boring, both wilfully detached from reality and what made the TV series great, and also fully in tune with the lazy, tawdry, misogynist 'fuck it, that'll do...' actuality of much of what was allowed to pass for mainstream film-making in the Britain of the time.
Great TV spin off
posted on 17 Mar 1999This captures the heart and soul of the TV show.The two leads are so realistic that you could not really see them as anything other than a classic double act.a neat story even if the ending is predictable.but its stays true to character.some good genuine laughs.though you do feel for the younger Steptoe.
Great tragi-comedy
posted on 15 Jun 2008It was something of a trend in the 70s to make film versions of popular sit-coms of the day. With one or two exceptions these were cheaply made, second-rate efforts intended to cash in on the success of a popular TV show and were therefore largely embarrassing to watch. The first Steptoe and Son movie does, however, work fairly well.The grit and seediness of the Steptoe's environment transfers very well to film and we get a valuable glimpse of a part of London which was grey, dilapidated and depressing...something we are never privy to in the TV series. With film censorship being slightly more relaxed than what could be seen or heard on television we get some hilarious outbursts from Harold and Albert, liberally peppered with swear words.Of course the TV version of Steptoe is a sit-com and while this is funny in places the genuine tragedy of Harold and Albert's situation takes centre stage. Harold ends up getting hitched to a stripper but the match is doomed from the start due to his mixed feelings: all he wants to do is get away from his father and make something of himself yet abandoning him is the one thing he cannot do. We really do sympathise with Harold's plight in this movie and despise Albert's deviousness and thwarting him at every turn.Of course, such sombre elements existed in the TV programme but due to them being mixed with relatively rapid comedy in 25 minute slots we accepted the character's situation without dwelling on it too much. This time round, with a longer running time and the tragi-drama fleshed out it sometimes makes for uncomfortable viewing.All the leads perform well and this is a better example of how TV sit-coms could work as cinema spectaculars. Indeed, even if the characters weren't known from TV this has the potential to function well as a stand-alone movie.See it and be pleasantly surprised.