Steptoe and Son Ride Again

Jan 2022

Steptoe and Son ride again, the 2nd film is the best film and is also better than the series.

This is laugh out loud funny, and they stuck to the comedy elements a lot more rather than throwing in too much in the drama department.

Highly recommended, and surprisingly they continued making the series after this, i assumed the 2 films were add ons after the series had finished.

9 out of 10.

Steptoe and Son Ride Again (1973) is the best of the two films featuring the duo of Albert and Harold. Harold is on his rounds one day and runs into a harried housewife and somehow winds up in York. By the time he comes back home, the business work horse is stressed out from the long trip back to Shepard's Bush. Without a horse to pull the carriage, Albert dips into his family savings to buy a "new" one. But Harold feels he's a better business man than his father so he takes it upon himself to buy the animal. Hours later, Harold comes home with something Albert's not quite looking for. Will everything work out? Remember these are the Steptoes!

Unlike the last film which was like the series, a melodramatic comedy this film is more of a farce. It's highly entertaining and and pretty far out the lengths the Steptoes will go to get themselves out of hock. If you like British comedies or farcical humor then this movies just for you.

I enjoyed this film a bit more than the first film. They're both funny and pretty amusing. I have to strongly recommend this movie.

If you're a fan of the original TV series then you'll enjoy both of these films although they are both very different. That series was of course one of the first comedy-dramas seen on TV seamlessly blending slapstick with biting social commentary and sometimes tragedy. Not wanting just to be a long TV episode, the first film tries to be a little more serious, a little more drama than comedy. Some people fund that a bit unpalatable at the time so the second film goes the other way being more of a traditional comedy film.

When you watch the first film you might wonder how on earth this is classed as a comedy because it is very dark. It does have its funny moments but overall it is quite emotionally draining as we're witness to Harold's life falling apart aided by his father's pretty horrible cruelty and mental torture. Besides YES releasing CLOSE TO THE EDGE, 1972 was not a happy year for the UK and this film gives us a voyeuristic insight into how depressing things were back then for the majority of people. Although it's heavy going at times and you're more likely to cry than laugh, it is enjoyable and satisfying. What makes this extra special is Carolyn Seymour as the girl who captures Harold's heart. She plays a stripper in a seedy club and as someone who takes her clothes off for a living she is of course very attractive but because she's such a great actress, she's also instantly likeable even though she's actually not that nice. Her character is just so real so much so that you can perhaps empathise with her most of all.

As a result of the negative backlash against the first film, the next one, in my opinion went too far the other way. Although maintaining the spirit of the original show this one decides to be a comedy and indeed it is a very funny comedy. If you're a Steptoe fan then this will make you laugh but maybe because I'm a miserable old git, I prefer the first one.

"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:- ***/*****

Countless comedies from the seventies produced movies, Rising Damp, For the love of Ada, Are you being served? One thing they all had in common, was they were all poor compared to their respective shows. Fortunately the two Steptoe movies were excellent, and this was the best of the two.

The script is terrific, it's laugh out loud funny, and both characters are totally in character, another flaw with spin off movies. The dialogue is punchy and caustic, but it's the multitude of hilarious moments, that makes this so good, my third choice would be Albert snaring his neighbour, second would be Harold taunting his father with the mannequin's head, but best bit is the coffin scene, who on Earth wouldn't laugh out loud.

It's a favourite film of mine, that stands the test of time. It's a joy from start to finish. 10/10