The Curse of Steptoe

[Everett Sloane]

Originally Posted by samkydd Fair enough Wilfrid and Harry H could have called it a day much earlier as well, but as demonstrated in the drama last night, once you've been associated with a certain character you're stuffed when it comes to finding new acting roles!

Yes, thinking about it, the play has made me slightly more sympathetic towards the way that James Bolam has always sought to distance himself from The Likely Lads. His career certainly diversified as a result, and I wonder if it was the specific example of Harry H Corbett that influenced him in that decision?

Shame the writer did not find room to mention The Bargee, as that was a definite attempt by Galton and Simpson to release Corbett from the Steptoe straitjacket and make him a bona fide film star. They almost emerged from this play as the villains of the piece - just for having created something so successful!

In the light of that, it was a shame that the interview that followed (with Mark Lawson) just trudged over the same old ground. I would have liked him to have asked, straight out, what Galton and Simpson thought of this play themselves.

[samkydd]

I can't seem to find any connection with Hughie Green and comedy! He wasn't a comedy actor (apart from as a child) or a comedian was he?

[EndaClarke]

The unseen producer and director of "Steptoe and Son", and of "Hancock's Half Hour", was Duncan Wood. He midwifed all Galton and Simpson's best work, though they do not fall over themselves to give him credit in their old age. After Wood parted from them, their partnership broke up and neither did much after their early 40s except live on past glories.

Wood also directed Corbett's only comedy star vehicle, "The Bargee" (1964). For refereeing the Corbett/Brambell mano a mano for the first six seasons, and for commissioning "Rising Damp" after moving to Yorkshire as head of LE, he deserves more attention. But he was a withdrawn and morose character who cut himself off from the business after retiring.

The budget presumably dictated the entirely false impression given by this otherwise accurate if depressing play that Tom Sloan (in reality appreciated as a hands-off fellow, much embroiled in the international politics of BBC LE) was the man behind the camera. Ordering "Comedy Playhouse" was Sloan's most lasting achievement; he hardly ever worked directly with talent except on gala occasions.

[EndaClarke]

Hughie Greene was an obnoxious overgrown-kid actor of the Mickey Rooney type (there is a much shown clip of him doing the jitterbug) who became a Radio Luxembourg quiz host after wartime service as a pilot. He was never a comic.

London-born (the accent he assumed during wartime expatriation in Canada), Hughie was in Britfilms in the 1930s. They included "Little Friend" (1934) which Christopher isherwood adapted, and whose making he fictionalised in his novella "Prater Violet".

Green modelled "Opportunity Knocks!" on the US talent shows run by Major Bowes and Carroll Levis. That and "Double Your Money", his own format, made him, along with Eamonn Andrews, the most watched and durable LE presenter in British TV history- with the kind of ratings overpaid monkeys such as Jonathan Ross or Ant and Dec can only dream about.

[samkydd]

Originally Posted by EndaClarke Hughie Greene was an obnoxious overgrown-kid actor of the Mickey Rooney type (there is a much shown clip of him doing the jitterbug) who became a Radio Luxembourg quiz host after wartime service as a pilot. He was never a comic. London-born (the accent he assumed during wartime expatriation in Canada), Hughie was in Britfilms in the 1930s. They included "Little Friend" (1934) which Christopher isherwood adapted, and whose making he fictionalised in his novella "Prater Violet". Green modelled "Opportunity Knocks!" on the US talent shows run by Major Bowes and Carroll Levis. That and "Double Your Money", his own format, made him, along with Eamonn Andrews, the most watched and durable LE presenter in British TV history- with the kind of ratings overpaid monkeys such as Jonathan Ross or Ant and Dec can only dream about.

He reminded me of a bullying and patronising salesman type who talks at people rather than to them.

It's amazing how many people end up with very lucrative careers on TV who don't appear to have any talent or endearing qualities whatsoever. More so now than in years gone by because I suppose there's so much more air time to pad out with the many channels now available (to flick past with the remote).

I can't understand why the likes of Jonathan Ross, Eamonn Holmes, that awful Nick Hancock and others of their dullard ilk are considered popular and deserving of so much attention and wealth, when most people you speak to can't stand the sight of them! Is it the old pals act still going strong ?

[smudge]

Just watched the CURSE OF film and I must say that it was very good. As said before, there will always be problems in telescoping a whole career to fit a 1hr plus drama, but this was quite captivating and demanded attention throughout. Far better than most modern dramas - this strand looks very promising, even if it does include Hughie Green in a 'comedy' series of films.

STEPTOE (and HANCOCK before that) included some wonderfully tragic elements but it was (as Alan Simpson said) all about construction. You could have a 'laugh out loud' moment and then, milliseconds later, the tragedy of the whole scenario might hit you. Otherwise, you may just laugh - but it might be very 'dry' laughter indeed; often in the 'been there, done that, felt awful' vein...

Smudge

[ProfMarcus]

Sorry to be the dissenting voice here. I quite agree that Isaacs and Davies were outstandingly accurate in their portrayals, but I wasn't convinced at all by the storyline. I recall a programme on Channel 4 a couple of years ago - of course I can't vouch for its accuracy - in which it was claimed that Corbett and Brambell hated each other like poison: so much so that Corbett refused to fly back from Australia in the same plane as Brambell. I've also heard that Brambell had a special pair of dentures to wear as Albert, which he insisted should be soaked in gin and tonic between shots (and why not? I quite agree). However - the idea that that nobody who was married to Harold at the beginning of the programme bore any realtion to Sheila Steafel just won't do at all.

[DB7]

Originally Posted by ProfMarcus Sorry to be the dissenting voice here. I quite agree that Isaacs and Davies were outstandingly accurate in their portrayals, but I wasn't convinced at all by the storyline. I recall a programme on Channel 4 a couple of years ago - of course I can't vouch for its accuracy - in which it was claimed that Corbett and Brambell hated each other like poison:

I think that was just fitting in with the raison detre of the CH4 strand, most seem to see their relationship as that of two frustrated actors mutually bound together for a lengthy period.

[Windthrop]

Originally Posted by EndaClarke The unseen producer and director of "Steptoe and Son", and of "Hancock's Half Hour", was Duncan Wood. He midwifed all Galton and Simpson's best work, though they do not fall over themselves to give him credit in their old age. After Wood parted from them, their partnership broke up and neither did much after their early 40s except live on past glories. Wood also directed Corbett's only comedy star vehicle, "The Bargee" (1964). For refereeing the Corbett/Brambell mano a mano for the first six seasons, and for commissioning "Rising Damp" after moving to Yorkshire as head of LE, he deserves more attention. But he was a withdrawn and morose character who cut himself off from the business after retiring. The budget presumably dictated the entirely false impression given by this otherwise accurate if depressing play that Tom Sloan (in reality appreciated as a hands-off fellow, much embroiled in the international politics of BBC LE) was the man behind the camera. Ordering "Comedy Playhouse" was Sloan's most lasting achievement; he hardly ever worked directly with talent except on gala occasions.

Duncan Wood was I agree a talented man who never quite got the recognition he deserved (see Eric Sykes autobio) but in an excellent Hancock documentry in 1986 which he was one of the most prominent interviewees and failed to mention G & S except as the 'writers' when everyone else interviewed did.

Alan Simpson has been retired for over 30 years and Ray Galton has had an admittedly mixed time writing with Johnny Speight and John Antrobus. It was always unlikely that RG was going to come up with anything that would make the impact of Hancock or Steptoe because of the proliferation of TV channels and consequential fragmenting of the audience. Their sitcoms emptied pubs and chip shops in their day.

[batman]

I am confused Prof by what it is you have a problem with. I immediately recognised his wife as being Sheila Steafel because I knew of her links to David Frost's programme and that she left him. Sheila herself contributed to the production so we must take her word for the accuracy of the portaryal of their marriage. Corbett and Bramble were not friends and this was portrayed accurately in the film .... and the last line in the film was a reference to the infamous debacle of the Australian tour.

[CaptainWaggett]

I don't think the Aussie tour was actually the last thing they did together (though it's invariably portrayed as being) - weren't the radio recordings of Steptoe were after that?

I liked it. I don't see a problem with having various BBC suits turned into a composite figure - there's a limit to how many people you can have in an hour-long drama and Jason Isaacs probably doesn't come cheap. I was actually surprised at how many recognisable actors there were in one short play. Really looking forward to the rest of the series.

[dylan]

An excellent production but it was flawed in the assumption that Corbett was the "English Marlon Brando" whose career was ruined by his Steptoe role. Prior to Steptoe he played 2-dimensional heavies like Gollar in The Shakedown. Because of Steptoe he starred in A-Films like Rattle of a Simple Man and The Bargee.

Similarly Brambell, who had previously done short cameos as old men in the first two Quatermass serials and Nineteen Eighty-Four, became a popular character actor in film and TV and worked up until his death.

Was Corbett really billed above the title of the Shakespearean plays he appeared in? Surely a conceit only enjoyed by Olivier and Gielgud.

D.

[wellpip]

Originally Posted by batman When I re-watched the early Steptoe episodes a while ago I was struck by the thought that I wasn't watching 'comedy', I felt I was watching a tragedy that it was OK to laugh at. Again this raises the point of the snobbery that existed, and still exists today to some extent, in theatre at that time. Corbett was perceived as having 'sold out' by Joan Littlewood et al and this was nicely touched upon by the scene in the pub and by the references to 'Finney's Hamlet'. Corbett was portrayed as being pretentious and in interviews that is how he came across. I think his life story would make a cracking full length drama in it's own right, especially after watching the Peter Sellers film the other night. Corbett's life for me has much more drama to offer.

I came across this, thought it made interesting reading..

Scriptwriters reject the 'Curse of Comedy' - Times Online

[batman]

Originally Posted by dylan An excellent production but it was flawed in the assumption that Corbett was the "English Marlon Brando" whose career was ruined by his Steptoe role. D.

The label 'English Marlon Brando' wasn't invented for the film, it was stuck on him by the press in the 1950s.

He was expected in theatrical circles to become one of our greatest theatre actors, but because he accepted the series (they were OK with him doing 'The Offer') he was accused of 'selling out'.

[codsall]

Utterly brilliant in my opinion, especially Jason Isaacs. Hope Ken Stott is as good as Hancock???