The Bargee ** (1964, Harry H Corbett, Ronnie Barker, Hugh Griffith, Eric Sykes, Julia Foster, Miriam Karlin, Eric Barker, Derek Nimmo) – Classic Movie Review 11,476

Director Duncan Wood’s 1964 British comedy The Bargee stars Harry H Corbett as a canal barge lothario called Hemel Pike and Ronnie Barker as his illiterate cousin Ronnie.

Writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson tried to make a movie star out of their TV Steptoe and Son star player Harry H Corbett, but their script about a canal Casanova is not quite funny or clever enough.

Hemel and Ronnie are boatmen operating a canal boat for British Waterways on the Grand Union Canal. Hemel enjoys his reputation as a Don Juan, with girlfriends across the canal network, which Ronnie envies.

Corbett gets lock-keeper’s daughter Christine (Julia Foster) pregnant, forcing him to face the wrath of her father, lock-keeper Joe Turnbull (Hugh Griffith), and question his carefree bachelor-boy status.

Luckily, lots of well-known vintage British TV comedians (including Ronnie Barker, Hugh Griffith, Eric Sykes, Miriam Karlin, Eric Barker, Derek Nimmo, Norman Bird, Richard Briers and Brian Wilde) lend a very useful hand, even if the result is not a particularly happy, amusing or affecting experience.

Also in the cast are Grazina Frame, Ronnie Brody as Ted Croxley, George A Cooper as Office Official Mr Williams, Ed Devereaux as Boat Man, Wally Patch as Bargee, Michael Robbins as Bargee, Jo Rowbottom as Cynthia, Una Stubbs as Bridesmaid, Eileen Way as Onlooker, Rita Webb as Onlooker, Patricia Hayes as Onlooker, Godfrey Winn as Announcer, and Edwin Apps as George the Barman.

The Bargee opened at London’s Empire Leicester Square cinema on 23 April 1964.

RIP lovely Una Stubbs (1 May 1937 – 12 August 2021). Summer Holiday (1963) was her first major film role and she was also in Cliff Richard’s next film, Wonderful Life (1964). She also appeared in The Bargee, Three Hats for Lisa, Mister Ten Per Cent, Till Death Us Do Part, Penny Gold, Bedtime with Rosie, Angel and Golden Years.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,476

Link to Derek Winnert’s home page for more reviews: http://derekwinnert.com/