Steptoe and Son (film)
Encyclopedia
Steptoe and Son is a 1972
British comedy drama film and a spin-off
from the popular British television comedy series of the same name
about a pair of rag and bone men. It starred Wilfrid Brambell
and Harry H. Corbett
as the eponymous characters, Albert and Harold Steptoe respectively. It also features Carolyn Seymour
.
Harold and Zita fly to Spain for their honeymoon
, but Albert refuses to be left behind. This causes Harold considerable frustration and begins to drive a wedge between him and Zita. When they are finally left alone and are beginning to consummate their marriage they are interrupted by Albert's cries of distress from the adjoining room, and discover that he has contracted food poisoning from some of the local cuisine.
Harold is forced to fly home with Albert, leaving Zita in Spain. Back home Albert makes a suspiciously fast recovery while Harold waits for Zita to write. When he finally receives a letter from her, the news is not what he had hoped for; after trying unsuccessfully for several days to get a plane back to England she has taken up with a British holiday rep at the Spanish hotel. Harold is heartbroken, and, despite his earlier scheming to get rid of Zita, Albert is genuinely sympathetic.
On meeting Zita again some months later Harold finds that she is pregnant, and she says Harold is the father. Harold offers to take care of them both, but on returning home Albert makes sure that Zita feels unwelcome and she flees. A short while later a baby appears in the horse's stable. This scene parodies the Nativity
, with the Three Wise Men bearing gifts
replaced by three tramps selling rags, and the Star of Bethlehem
being represented by the lights of an airliner.
It appears that the child is Zita's. They name the child after the priest who officiates the christening. Unfortunately for Harold, he is also called Albert. Harold compromises by naming him Albert Jeremy and calling him Jeremy thereafter, although Albert Sr. insists on calling him Albert.
Zita apparently returns and takes the baby back while Albert, who should be looking after him, is asleep. Harold tries to find her and comes across her stripping in a local rugby club where she is soon forced into the scrum of cheering rugby players. Attempting to save her, Harold is beaten up and is only rescued when Zita's musician saves him. Hustled into a back room he hears a baby's cries but when he pulls back a curtain a mixed-race baby is there instead. It turns out that Zita and her musician, who is black, are now a couple. Harold then learns that he is not, after all, the father of her first child.
1972 in film
The year 1972 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Avanti!, directed by Billy Wilder, starring Jack Lemmon and Juliet MillsB...
British comedy drama film and a spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
from the popular British television comedy series of the same name
Steptoe and Son
Steptoe and Son is a British sitcom written by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson about two rag and bone men living in Oil Drum Lane, a fictional street in Shepherd's Bush, London. Four series were broadcast by the BBC from 1962 to 1965, followed by a second run from 1970 to 1974. Its theme tune, "Old...
about a pair of rag and bone men. It starred Wilfrid Brambell
Wilfrid Brambell
Henry Wilfrid Brambell was an Irish film and television actor best known for his role in the British television series Steptoe and Son. He also performed alongside The Beatles in their film A Hard Day's Night, playing Paul McCartney's fictional grandfather.- Early life :Brambell was born in Dublin...
and Harry H. Corbett
Harry H. Corbett
Harry H. Corbett OBE was an English actor.Corbett was best known for his starring role in the popular and long-running BBC Television sitcom Steptoe and Son in the 1960s and 70s...
as the eponymous characters, Albert and Harold Steptoe respectively. It also features Carolyn Seymour
Carolyn Seymour
Carolyn Seymour is an English actress, best associated with portraying the role of Abby Grant in the BBC series Survivors in 1975....
.
Plot
During a gentlemen's evening at a local football club, Harold meets one of the acts, a stripper called Zita. After a whirlwind romance the couple are married, although the actual wedding ceremony is delayed when Albert, acting as best man, loses the ring somewhere in the yard. They eventually find it in a pile of horse manure, and since they have no time to clean up their arrival in church is met with looks of disgust.Harold and Zita fly to Spain for their honeymoon
Honeymoon
-History:One early reference to a honeymoon is in Deuteronomy 24:5 “When a man is newly wed, he need not go out on a military expedition, nor shall any public duty be imposed on him...
, but Albert refuses to be left behind. This causes Harold considerable frustration and begins to drive a wedge between him and Zita. When they are finally left alone and are beginning to consummate their marriage they are interrupted by Albert's cries of distress from the adjoining room, and discover that he has contracted food poisoning from some of the local cuisine.
Harold is forced to fly home with Albert, leaving Zita in Spain. Back home Albert makes a suspiciously fast recovery while Harold waits for Zita to write. When he finally receives a letter from her, the news is not what he had hoped for; after trying unsuccessfully for several days to get a plane back to England she has taken up with a British holiday rep at the Spanish hotel. Harold is heartbroken, and, despite his earlier scheming to get rid of Zita, Albert is genuinely sympathetic.
On meeting Zita again some months later Harold finds that she is pregnant, and she says Harold is the father. Harold offers to take care of them both, but on returning home Albert makes sure that Zita feels unwelcome and she flees. A short while later a baby appears in the horse's stable. This scene parodies the Nativity
Nativity of Jesus
The Nativity of Jesus, or simply The Nativity, refers to the accounts of the birth of Jesus in two of the Canonical gospels and in various apocryphal texts....
, with the Three Wise Men bearing gifts
Magi
Magi is a term, used since at least the 4th century BC, to denote a follower of Zoroaster, or rather, a follower of what the Hellenistic world associated Zoroaster with, which...
replaced by three tramps selling rags, and the Star of Bethlehem
Star of Bethlehem
In Christian tradition, the Star of Bethlehem, also called the Christmas Star, revealed the birth of Jesus to the magi, or "wise men", and later led them to Bethlehem. The star appears in the nativity story of the Gospel of Matthew, where magi "from the east" are inspired by the star to travel to...
being represented by the lights of an airliner.
It appears that the child is Zita's. They name the child after the priest who officiates the christening. Unfortunately for Harold, he is also called Albert. Harold compromises by naming him Albert Jeremy and calling him Jeremy thereafter, although Albert Sr. insists on calling him Albert.
Zita apparently returns and takes the baby back while Albert, who should be looking after him, is asleep. Harold tries to find her and comes across her stripping in a local rugby club where she is soon forced into the scrum of cheering rugby players. Attempting to save her, Harold is beaten up and is only rescued when Zita's musician saves him. Hustled into a back room he hears a baby's cries but when he pulls back a curtain a mixed-race baby is there instead. It turns out that Zita and her musician, who is black, are now a couple. Harold then learns that he is not, after all, the father of her first child.
Cast
- Wilfrid BrambellWilfrid BrambellHenry Wilfrid Brambell was an Irish film and television actor best known for his role in the British television series Steptoe and Son. He also performed alongside The Beatles in their film A Hard Day's Night, playing Paul McCartney's fictional grandfather.- Early life :Brambell was born in Dublin...
.... Albert Steptoe - Harry H. CorbettHarry H. CorbettHarry H. Corbett OBE was an English actor.Corbett was best known for his starring role in the popular and long-running BBC Television sitcom Steptoe and Son in the 1960s and 70s...
.... Harold Steptoe - Carolyn SeymourCarolyn SeymourCarolyn Seymour is an English actress, best associated with portraying the role of Abby Grant in the BBC series Survivors in 1975....
.... Zita - Arthur HowardArthur HowardFor other people with this name, see Arthur Howard Arthur Howard was an English film and television actor.-Life and career:...
.... Vicar - Victor MaddernVictor MaddernVictor Jack Maddern was an English actor.Born in Seven Kings, Ilford, Essex, Maddern was one of large group of dependable supporting actors that British film produced over the years....
.... Chauffeur - Fred Griffiths .... Barman
- Joan Heath .... Zita's mother
- Fred McNaughton .... Zita's father
- Lon SattonLon SattonLon Satton Born: 1929, Philadelphia. U.S.A., is an actor and composer mostly known in Britain.- Stage works : He acted in Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill, and Ian McDiarmid's musical, "The Three Penny Opera," at the Prince of Wales Theatre in London, England with Vanessa Redgrave, Joe Melia, Ronald...
.... Pianist - Patrick Fyffe .... Arthur (as Perri St. Claire)
- Patsy SmartPatsy SmartPatsy Smart was an English actress who is best remembered for her performance as Miss Roberts in the 1970s ITV television drama Upstairs, Downstairs....
.... Mrs. Hobbs - Mike ReidMike Reid (entertainer)Michael Reid was an English comedian, actor, author and occasional television presenter from Hackney in east London, who is best remembered for playing the role of Frank Butcher in EastEnders and hosting the popular children's TV show Runaround...
.... Compere - Alec MangoAlec MangoAlec Mango was an English actor. He is best known for portraying El Supremo in the 1951 Captain Horatio Hornblower R.N., he also appeared in South of Algiers , The Strange World of Planet X , The 7th Voyage of Sinbad , Danger Man , and Frankenstein Created Woman, .-Selected filmography:* They Who...
.... Hotel Doctor - Michael Da Costa .... Hotel Manager
- Enys Box .... Traffic Warden
- Gary Wraight / Mark Wraight .... Baby Albert
- Selina Beckett .... Baby