The Bargee

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.

Mild light comedy concerning dam master (Griffith) whose impressionable daughter (Foster) conceives to barge operator and ladies' man (Corbett), much to Griffith's chagrin. Ronnie Barker co-stars as Corbett's cousin and fellow "bargee" (with somewhat less luck with the ladies), the two concerned also with the imminent extinction of the centuries old tradition, in favour of motorised vessels.

Solid cast includes veteran Griffith as the gruff, ill-tempered man of the waterways (and sporting a bird's nest that would make Francis De Wolff or Sebastian Cabot blush), Barker as the amiable sidekick and prominent supporting roles for Derek Nimmo, Richard Briers and Norman Bird as a cowardly administrator who attempts to confront Griffith after he's sabotaged the canal as retribution for his daughter's, "condition". Some viewers may also recognise Ed Devereaux pre-"Skippy".

Essentially it seemed to me to be a tale about the preservation of traditions, some of which are anachronisms to the present day, others worth conserving. Pleasant enough slapstick with some nice countryside exteriors and a delightful supporting cast, a modest and inoffensive time-filler.

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?

This is very much a star vehicle for Harry H. Corbett, fresh from the success of 'Steptoe And Son'. Indeed, the 'Steptoe' associations do not end there, as the presence of Ray Galton, Alan Simpson and Duncan Wood suggest.

Like 'Steptoe', this movie is based around a traditional but dying industry (by the end of the film it has only 18 months), that of commercial narrow boat trading. The difference is that in 'Steptoe' the totting is very much a grim existence, but here it is a pretty much idyllic life and you can readily understand Hemel Pike's reluctance to give it up. The Technicolor helps provide a dream-like tone.

Galton and Simpson's script is strong, mixing comedy and drama as Corbett's 'Casanova of the canals' succumbs to the charms of the winsome daughter of the fiery Hugh Griffith. There is an equally strong cast to match, notably Eric Sykes as an incompetent amateur mariner and Miriam Karlin as a vengeful woman who discovers that she is not the only woman in Corbett's life. In my eyes Ronnie Barker steals every scene he is in.

This is possibly Corbett's best screen outing as star and is far better than its general reputation suggests. I first saw it around ten years ago and it failed to make an impression, re-watching it today, I fell in love with it.