Tommy the Toreador

Before seeing this I had seen Tommy Steele in Half A Sixpence, Finian's Rainbow, and The Happiest Millionaire and Kill Me Tomorrow, the latter a British noir feature where he sang one song. To me he's not a rock and roll singer as such, but rather a most talented entertainer in the British music hall tradition. But he did make a few films while he and Cliff Richard vied for who was number one rock and roller in the United Kingdom before the days of The Beatles.

Tommy The Toreador was made while he was still a rock and roll singer and this film most likely never made it to this side of the Atlantic. I was struck at how similarly constructed this film was to what Elvis Presley was doing in the USA. Of course this film was constructed around Steele's persona just as Presley films were. And like Presley films he was given casts of veteran performers in support to insure their success. Colonel Parker saw to that with Elvis and someone was looking out for Steele as well.

At times Tommy The Toreador gets a bit silly, but on the whole it's a rather enjoyable 90 minutes or so as Tommy is a sailor on a merchant vessel and gets stranded in Spain. He meets another British subject stranded in Spain in the person of Janet Munro and winds up in the hands of some sharp promoters who need a bullfighter for the Corrida. Steele in the Corrida acts a whole lot like Lou Costello in Mexican Hayride.

But he sings a bunch of nice songs that I'm sure were popular in the UK back in the day. And such people as Sid James and Kenneth Williams, veterans of the Carry-On troupe are here as one of the promoter and the very stuffy if daft British consul. And Noel Purcell of the Abbey Theater plays Tommy's exasperated captain.

Steele could actually draw from his own experiences, in his memoirs Bermondsey Boy Steele recounts that he did his national service on an ocean liner as part of the crew before going into show business.

Tommy The Toreador is a pleasant musical diversion and a real treat for Tommy Steele's still strong fan legion.

There was a time when Tommy Steele was a rock and roll singer.However it is clear that by time this film was made he had already softened that image to more middle of the road,where he would find long term success.He is one of the numerous popular stars of that era who tried and failed to have a successful film career.He joins a long list of failures,such as Morecambe & Wise,Charlie Drake and Spike Milligsn.Despite a pretty decent cast and the name of Talbot Rothwell as one one of the scriptwriters,this film never gets off the ground.The songs are mediocre,though Steele had a hit with "little whit bull".The climax at the bullfighting is truly awful in every way.The producers should have been thrown to the lions.

It has been a while since I saw this film and remember thinking that this was a wasted cast. Despite the presence of Sid James, Kenneth Williams and Eric Sykes this movie isn't all that funny. Tommy Steele's permanent and inane grin was certainly not an asset to this movie. Either he was a sandwich short of the picnic or he knew that he was getting paid too much for this bad flick. I suspect that it was the latter.

Directed by a name familiar from some of Norman Wisdom's comedies this movie treads uneasily between slap stick and musical without being successful as either. If for nothing else it is worth fans of the Carry Ons watching this just to see Sid James 'singing'. I guess in its day this movie was aimed at the sort of person that 10 years ago would have gone to see Spice World. Despite the desperate attempts to be a cheerful movie this really doesn't do much to lift the spirits.

This film is a classic. If you are feeling low then there is nothing like a cheesy film from the old Ealing era. This is one of those classics. It really lifts your spirits... it is bordering on the worst side of comedy, as well as the worst side of musicals, but it is this that makes it work. The songs are catchy and leave you wanting to sing them forever. Watch the birdie, and little white bull especially. Every time I need a pick me up this film goes on. Tommy Steele is like Marmite, you either love him or you hate him. I love him too and so does the children. The children sit in silence apart from singing along to all the songs. Even Disney has not managed that.

By the times of the film's release, Tommy Steele style of music and popularity with the teenage audience had already begun to be overtaken by British pop artists like Cliff Richard, Marty Wilde and Billy Fury. The film was proof, if proof was needed, that Tommy Steele had decided to widen his horizons in the entertainment world by launching himself into the world of musicals as a song and dance man. 'Tommy the Toreador' is mildly amusing and does offer our cockney hero the opportunity to show his skills as an all round entertainer. He gets great support from Sid James and Bernard Cribbins, who give the film a thin slice of humour and energy. The flimsy and fluffy storyline merely serves to give Tommy the chance to connect to a much younger audience with his rendition of 'Little White Bull,' and 'I'm Looking for the Birdy' - both simple and childish songs. This is a very average and dated musical and at times loses its way. Tommy Steele was an endearing, loveable cockney character in this film but he doesn't show any dynamism or charisma which would have audiences flocking to see him. He would achieve much greater success in the 1960's where he starred in films with considerably larger budgets.