CaptainWaggett

I didn't have a problem with the fact that Sheila Steafel wasn't named - she's not exactly a household name and it was made clear that she was a successful actress. And it was obvious that the Joan Littlewood character was a successful female producer - there didn't really need to be any further explanations. All the audience needed to know to understand the central characters was there in the play and there was no reason for tedious explanatory dialogue.

batman

I understand where you are coming from now re SS, Prof.

I thought someone asked about the last line .... but having re-read the thread I must have imagined it!

I wish I had claws.

ProfMarcus

Cheers, Bats. Glad we've got that sorted out. I've been a big fan of Sheila's since way back (I still she'd have been the best replacement for Patrick Troughton
as Doctor Who).

Sorry, Captain. Joan L was a major force in British theatre who embodied values which I felt should have been brought to the fore to explain Harry H's sense of guilt. The explanations needn't have been tedious. What got on my wick was that a lot of important basic background wasn't included at all, thus contributing to the two-dimensional aspect of the play.

Tell you what I wish - I wish they'd dramatised the filming of "The Desperate Hours" - arguably the best Steptoe episode of all time. I remember watching a programme about Leonard Rossiter, in which individuals involved spoke of how LR (born just a year later than HHC) saw the show as an acting duel. He was still, at that time, a "Whatsisname" character, whereas Corbett strongly felt he'd sold out. Both had something to prove, and the words of of one contributor: "It was clear from the start that no prisoners would be taken."

Also it would have been intriguing to go behind the scenes of "Any Old Iron", in which Harold flirts with homosexuality, and Albert comes across as a total homophobe. How did the old geezer cope with that, I wonder?

. . . and new thumbscrews for me . . .

CaptainWaggett

Surely most of the people given important breaks by Littlewood ended up in comedy - Barbara Windsor, Yootha Joyce, Brian Murphy et all. She did nurture some straight actors but it wasn't exactly like working with the RSC.

Though sadly, Yootha Joyce could be a candidate for the Curse of Mildred, presumably for similar reasons to Corbett.

ProfMarcus

Oh hell, I couldn't agree more. All those years of low billings on the likes of Me Mammy . . . then finally she finds a sort of stardom and can't cope with it at all. I remember seeing her in her last TV appearance on a chat show: a poor, sad, wizened soul. Life is indeed the pits.

. . . and new thumbscrews for me . . .

batman

Stephen 'Blakey' Lewis was also part of Joan Littlewood's company as was Yootha's one time husband, the great Glynn Edwards. Other names I can remember who worked with Joan are Murray Melvin and George A Cooper. The only one who achieved international stardom was Richard Harris.

Harry H Corbett IIRC did attempt a return to the classical stage in the mid-sixties, but the audience reaction was apparently mixed due a large proportion of them having come to see 'young Steptoe'.

I wish I had claws.

batman

YouTube - Harry H. Corbett - BARGEE 1964

I wish I had claws.

mariocki

The Corbett family respond:
Steptoe-and-Son.com - The new OFFICIAL 2006 Steptoe & Son Appreciation Society & Website with Memorabilia, Collectabilia & Appreciation

batman

What an interesting (and heartfelt) statement. The programme must have caused some distress for such a response to be produced.

I wish I had claws.

CaptainWaggett

I wasn't entirely impressed with some of their logic though. They seem to be saying that because they don't know anything first-hand about Corbett's first marriage or Brambell's private life, nobody else does. And I really did think the point of the play wasn't that Corbett didn't have a very successful career but that he thought that Steptoe was a curse.

rskershaw

No metion of Harry H's OBE. Even if he was disappointed by his career, I'm sure this would have made up in some way.

Moor Larkin

I read an American article on the web about when Patrick McGoohan made his return to the stage in the Eighties. The company did a 'tryout' week in Boston before going to Broadway. Apparently one group insisted on whistling the tune to 'Pop Goes The Weasel' from the stalls. The article said they were ejected from the theatre.

jamesharris

this was a gem for me with fantastic performances from Davis and the always under-rated Isaacs.Only weak spot was the guy from Torchwood in the rubbishy beard being about a foot too short to be either Galton or Simpson

Joenoir

Yeah, the beard worried me too!

Start every day with a smile and get it over with.

Dame Starry

And the other part was played by Rory Kinnear - son of Roy Kinnear.

DS x.