The Bargee

A beautifully made film mainly shot on location. I'm the first to admit that this isn't a movie for the person looking for big 'belly laughs', but for lovers of the English canal system and it's history who like wistful humour and some beautifully subtle moments and some classic lines, it's superb. Harry H Corbett is billed as the Casanova of the canals but his (Hemel Pike) first love affair is with 'the cut', his early line where he says "The only way you'll get me off the canal is to fill it in", will strike a chord with canal enthusiasts. So I can quite understand why people rate this film lower as it is slightly specialised. For those interested in film locations, Leg O' Mutton Lock, the main location in the film is in fact Marsworth top lock on the Grand Union canal and is almost exactly the same today as in 1963, lots more boats though! Corbett's portrayal as Hemel Pike is either a tribute to his research into the canal way of life or he had experience of it as all his actions are extremely accurate. If you love canals you'll love this film. If you are looking for big laughs and constant action you'll be disappointed. I love it. 10 out of 10.

A great period piece featuring a whose who of Mid sixties tv comedy. Harry H Corbett is Hamel a lovely romeo who sails the canals with a girl at every lock gate.

He wouldn't and doesn't want to change this way of life until the inevitable intervenes.

Honourable mentions to Ronnie Barker, Julie Foster and Hugh Griffiths.

It depicts a way of life and attitudes that have long since gone and is enjoyable because of this.

David Mayall correctly identifies the film as a useful bit of social history, with many outside shots of a lost way of life. This does sufficiently warn potential viewers that as a comedy it is as dull as ditchwater. Ronnie Barker is crushed by Harry Corbets character. This is the kind of product which almost killed the British Film Industry. Have people voted 10 for this film out of irony? (Confession I was unable to see the end of film). Did any one pay to see this at the time?

Yes. To answer the question.

Why yes? Well it starred the wonderful acting of Harry H Corbett and Ron Barker yet - amazingly - this duo appear awkward and contrived whilst working together in this film. Harry on his own is pure screen gold.

Probably thought at the time to be marketed as a ribald comedy - it isn't. Nellie chasing a grown man with a knife down the Rickmansworth cut - followed by Eric Sykes taking snaps of the domestic- isn't very funny or laugh out loud. Dreadful. Eric Sykes playing a jolly naval Jack Tar barely amuses me but clearly had more talent in his naval than I will ever possess. Sad to see such a cameo by a great that could produce 'The Plank'.

Harry H is amazing and died tragically, far too soon. Ronnie went on to work with another Corbett in the golden years of British comedy TV. Both pure talents of gold.

The story line is as weak as the canal embankments found at the time - with the waterways on the point of extinction and about to go into decay and recession. Cuts to cuts were on the way in 60s Britain, transport water and railways destroyed by the bent bureaucrats. What a miserable sodding place England was in the swinging sixties! Perhaps the film reflects this POV, enlivened by the slap and tickle that ensured a more hopeful future Generation X. Galton and Simpson could always write well and pathos came naturally to these talented scriptwriters. So why not forgive the film lacking real joie de vivre that Genevieve and Titfield can provide? Watch it more than once and it will grow on you.

Luckily this film has preserved a happy jaunt down memory lane and possibly helped to inspire enthusiasts wishing to keep open the 200 year old waterways of industrial England.

The film would have to be on the shelf today of any self-respecting canal boats' DVD collection - alongside 'Genevieve' and 'The Titfield Thunderbolt'. It has none of the charm of those two fine films outside of the film's unique backdrop. But what a list of stars all great in their own way. Derek Nimmo, Hugh Griffith and the truly scrumptious Julie Foster. It is a remarkable film of a bygone yesteryear and those British stars - so moving. MaKEs US ALL wanna be on those boats once in your life, eh? I love it.

Yes, it is nostalgic. Yes, it is slow, but canal boats can only cruise at 4 m.p.h. so perhaps it matches the storyline. Anyway, who says film has to be frenetic all the time? Harry H. Corbett is superb. It's a shame he never received more recognition for his talents during his life time. The film also was an early chance for Ronnie Barker to shine as Hemel's dim witted cousin. But my favourite supporting players are Eric Sykes' canal enthusiast energetically freewheeling through his scenes. He turns what are little more than vignettes into perfect sketches. Jo Rowbottom appears as one of Hemel's squeezes. Her brief appearance is actually quite touching- Hemel treats her badly, and she knows it.

If nothing else, Give it a try if you are a film buff! It's a 'spot the British character actor' film. Perfect rainy afternoon fare, except it has only been shown once on television in the last ten years.