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Steptoe and Son (1972) was a feature length movie featuring the two leads of the popular English television series. The plot deals with Harold falling for a "scrubber". Albert in his cruel and crude ways can see the marriage will never work, can Harold and his new bride work things out or will his mean old man ruin his plans for a happy family life?

The first film is a lot like the television series, a mixture of melodrama and comedy. A tad uneven in some places but it's very enjoyable. The second film is more of a farcical comedy and it's more accessible to non-fans of this brilliant television series.

Highly recommended for fans of the t.v. series and for people who want to take a peek at the original "Sanford and Son".

It was something of a trend in the 70s to make film versions of popular sit-coms of the day. With one or two exceptions these were cheaply made, second-rate efforts intended to cash in on the success of a popular TV show and were therefore largely embarrassing to watch. The first Steptoe and Son movie does, however, work fairly well.

The grit and seediness of the Steptoe's environment transfers very well to film and we get a valuable glimpse of a part of London which was grey, dilapidated and depressing...something we are never privy to in the TV series. With film censorship being slightly more relaxed than what could be seen or heard on television we get some hilarious outbursts from Harold and Albert, liberally peppered with swear words.

Of course the TV version of Steptoe is a sit-com and while this is funny in places the genuine tragedy of Harold and Albert's situation takes centre stage. Harold ends up getting hitched to a stripper but the match is doomed from the start due to his mixed feelings: all he wants to do is get away from his father and make something of himself yet abandoning him is the one thing he cannot do. We really do sympathise with Harold's plight in this movie and despise Albert's deviousness and thwarting him at every turn.

Of course, such sombre elements existed in the TV programme but due to them being mixed with relatively rapid comedy in 25 minute slots we accepted the character's situation without dwelling on it too much. This time round, with a longer running time and the tragi-drama fleshed out it sometimes makes for uncomfortable viewing.

All the leads perform well and this is a better example of how TV sit-coms could work as cinema spectaculars. Indeed, even if the characters weren't known from TV this has the potential to function well as a stand-alone movie.

See it and be pleasantly surprised.

Steptoe and Son was massively popular in the UK, and sure enough in keeping with a trend that continued throughout the 1970s, it was a show that was guaranteed to have a movie spin off. In fact it got two! Such was its popularity.

This first feature length film has the basic traits of the show, the tragi-comedy aspects of a son (Harry H. Corbett) forever destined to be held back by his lecherous and unclean father (Wilfrid Brambell) are fully born out. All set to the very basic working class backdrop of a Rag & Bone family business.

Enter a stripper, excuse me, exotic dancer (Carolyn Seymour), who bizarrely marries Corbett and cues up a number of scenes where old man Steptoe single handedly manages to destroy the marriage on the honeymoon.

It's not the coarseness of the screenplay that hurts the movie, or some of the dialogue that has the PC brigade spitting feathers, it's that in spite of sound performances and some well written sequences (Galton & Simpson), it's just too bleak for its own good!

The gags quickly dry up entering the second half of the picture, which leaves us with only our good will to stay with characters that we have a mild interest in anyway. For hard core fans of the show, it's easy to go with the flow, but there's nothing here to remotely entice the outsider to venture further into the hygienically challenge world of Steptoe & Son. 6/10

Unfairly rated low as of 2020, It's classic British comedy before all the PC nutcases ruined free speech and comedy ! Ok it's a bit dated being 1970's but it still holds up, the long running series wasn't one of the most popular and successful BBC series of all time for nothing. Enjoy and rate it 10!

+ catch the 2nd movie Steptoe and son ride again.

I am a lifelong fan of the Steptoe and Son TV series - indeed it is probably my all-time favourite sitcom and one of the true greats of that genre. There is no doubt that much of that appeal remains in this film version but all the same it is often an uncomfortable, bittersweet viewing experience.

It doesn't give too much away to say that the film revolves around Harold finally marrying and then his father ensuring that things do not work out. Albert thwarted many of his son's romances and other plans for happiness in the TV show. In this film version though what happens almost seems depressing, even cruel. It's hard to explain why. The TV series did a great job of injecting serious and reflective moments and even pathos alongside the comedy but here it becomes overpowering, maybe more of a comedy-drama rather than comedy with dramatic touches. Perhaps because of the longer running time the snatching away of Harold's hopes just becomes too drawn out. Or maybe it's because in the TV series he never reached this prospect of happiness, of actually having a wife and a chance of a normal life. Maybe it's also the fact that Harold's girlfriend and later wife Zita is a genuinely appealing and sympathetic figure that makes the final outcome harder to take. If Zita had been selfish, manipulative and generally unpleasant (but maybe Harold unable to see it) Albert's interventions would have been more palatable.

The 90 minute film is generally too much of a stretch even for an excellent sitcom and so we do see even some very funny scenarios drawn out too much for their own good and maybe one or two elements added to pad out the running time which would have been better omitted.

It's certainly interesting to see the studio-bound TV format translated to the much more expansive medium of film and this is done well so we avoid seeing the Steptoe home looking entirely different to its TV origins as sometimes occurred with sitcoms translated to the big screen. The character of Albert does have his crudity and contempt for basic hygiene pushed a little too far, maybe making him even more dislikeable than was necessary. It's worth pointing out that at times Albert does show he genuinely cares for his son and his predicament and that was a welcome feature and true to the series. In essence Albert is a conflicted man who does care for his son but is so desperate not to be alone that he cannot let him go, no matter the cost to his happiness.

All the performances are fine and there is certainly still a lot to be commended here. There are some brilliantly funny moments that stick long in the memory, most notably Albert and a packet of Flash! However overall this seemed like a missed opportunity. The later film "Steptoe and Son Ride Again" is more plainly comedic and a better adaptation of the show for the cinema but the ultimate versions will always be the TV episodes.