Steptoe and Son Ride Again (1973)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Peter Sykes

Writers:

Ray Galton (written by) and
Alan Simpson (written by)

Release Date:

July 1973 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

Albert Steptoe and his son Harold are junk dealers, complete with horse and cart to tour the neighbourhood...

Plot Keywords:

Debt | Greyhound | Greyhound Dog | Father Son Conflict | Funeral

Cast

Wilfrid Brambell	...	Albert Steptoe
Harry H. Corbett	...	Harold Steptoe
Diana Dors	...	Woman in Flat
Milo O'Shea	...	Doctor Popplewell
Neil McCarthy	...	Lennie
Bill Maynard	...	George
George Tovey	...	Percy
Sam Kydd	...	Claude
Yootha Joyce	...	Lennie's Wife
Olga Lowe	...	Percy's wife
Joyce Hemson	...	Claude's wife
Henry Woolf	...	Frankie Barrow
Geoffrey Bayldon	...	Vicar
Frank Thornton	...	Mr. Russell
Richard Davies	...	Butcher

Also Known As:

Ray Galton and Alan Simpson's Steptoe and Son Ride Again (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

Netherlands:95 min | UK:99 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:L | Australia:PG | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Adela Street, Kensal Town, London, England, UK

Company:

Associated London Films

Movie Connections:

References Ryan's Daughter (1970/I)

A fair attempt all told, but misguided too much of the time.

"Steptoe and Son" is one of my favourite of many redoubtable British sitcoms; we used to be, and still are, in the shape of "Phoenix Nights", "The Office" and "I'm Alan Partridge", rather good at this sort of thing. Yet British film comedy; or more specifically attempts to transfer a TV success to film, have largely failed. Often horrendously badly! British film comedy can only really look back to Will Hay (of whom I've never seen any films actually), the Ealing comedies, some late-1950s Sellers pieces, Monty Python, the odd stray triumph, and the fact that it has produced comedic actors great in American films: Stan Laurel, Chaplin, Sellers and others.

"Steptoe and Son Ride Again" attempts to be closer to the original TV show than the previous "Steptoe and Son" film of 1972, which was quite horribly trite at times. Galton and Simpson script, so there should be no problem there, but there is: pointless bits are included and coincidences are foisted upon the film to make the plot come together. Corbett and Brambell are perfectly in character, but what are they given? A lame duck opening to the film; that takes in a yawn-worthy plot device of a greyhound and a bizarre cameo from a portly, pallidly wasted Diana Dors. Who sanctioned this? We also don't really get to see the actors doing the expertly winding long scenes of Galton and Simpson dialogue, so familiar to fans of the TV series. Perhaps the makers thought they had to, with a film of 'Steptoe', up the ante visually in some way by having more 'action'. Somewhat missing the point about the series.

Once things get to the actual plot - about the insurance policy on Albert's life and the 'funeral' - the comedy finally breaks out upon the picture, like a supply of embezzled honey to an ailing bee. The lacklustre nature of early sequences is always in mind, however, as is the lack of real cinematic interest, despite the attempts at activity. Milo O'Shea is always a pleasure to see, and the scene with his drunken Doctor is a deftly played delight. The wake is pretty well done, and with Harold leaping through a graveyard, some interesting shots are captured at last, by the director.

This central plot is frankly not central enough, and the coda ending is really deflating in its unrelated flippancy. With such a blackly humorous, potentially poignant farce of a scenario, an ending of impact and subtle sadness - there has rarely been a sitcom as achingly melancholic as "Steptoe" at its best - would have possibly raised the film to something special - yet we return to the irrelevancies of the early part of the film. What a shame; with this film the makers managed to actually hit upon a good idea, but they squander its attending possibilities... How emblematic is this of the ennui and failure of British film in the 1970s...? Well, at least it has its very good central proposition; which makes up quite a sizeable sequence of very good material, I suppose.

Rating:- ***/*****