Whatever Happened to Harold Smith – 1999 | 95 mins | Comedy | Colour

Plot Synopsis

Nostalgic comedy set in working-class Seventies Sheffield. Peter Hewitt’s upbeat film suffers from a loss of direction and an underdeveloped script that unsuccessfully tries to merge a coming-of-age romance with a whimsical supernatural mystery. The result is a disjointed and uneven comedy that despite its moments of inspired humour leaves the impression that less would have been considerably more.

The year is 1977 and Saturday Night Fever is all the rage in dreary Sheffield. Disco-loving teenager Vince Smith (Michael Legge) practices his Travolta dance routines in his bedroom and lusts after vivacious office clerk Joanna (Laura Fraser), who works for the same law firm, over which overbearing lawyer Nesbit (David Thewlis) presides. During the Christmas festivities, Vince’s eccentric father Harold (Tom Courtenay) surprises everyone with his psychic party piece, and subsequently grabs tabloid headlines when a similar magic display at an old folks home results in three pensioners dying when Harold accidentally causes their pacemakers to stop.

Harold is arrested and Vince’s firm of lawyers are appointed as his defence counsel. Meanwhile, Vince discovers Joanna is a punk, so out goes Travolta and in come The Clash and The Sex Pistols as the lovesick teen undergoes a punk makeover to impress her. Events come to a head when Joanna’s pompous father and university don Dr. Peter Robinson (Stephen Fry) appears on national television hailing Harold as the new messiah due to his telekinetic powers.