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The Tommy Steele Story

4 votes

A rags-to-riches tale of a young merchant seaman called Tommy who discovers a certain way with the guitar.

Status: Released

Released Date: 1957-06-01

Runtime: 70 mins

Director: Gerard Bryant

Spoken language: English

Genres: Music, Drama

Original title: The Tommy Steele Story

Production Companies: Insignia Films (GB)

Production Countries: United Kingdom

Cast

Humphrey Lyttelton

Chas McDevitt

Nancy Whiskey

Tommy Eytle

Chris O'Brien

Leo Pollini

Dennis Price

Steelmen's Saxophonist

Alan Stuart

Alan Weighell

Lisa Daniely

Hilda Fenemore

Charles Lamb

Patrick Westwood

Reviews

Geronimo1967

My folks used to have an LP of Tommy Steele songs - I always remember him singing "Little White Bull" but that's about the height of it, so it was quite interesting to discover a little more about the man. He writes his own songs and gets a lucky break playing in a Soho coffee bar where his lively performances start to do decent business. His parents think he's irresponsible but he's determined, and when he's spotted by a talent agent then a record deal beckons. Comparisons were made to Elvis Presley which I'm not sure did either artist any favours. The film does illustrate nicely though the one thing that they did have in common - and that's charisma. Steele had a cheeky smile, a lively on-stage technique and the ability to engage with an audience as he churned out his cheery but simplistic rhymes. He plays himself in this short biopic and comes across as quite an enthusiastically agreeable young man with the world as his oyster. The tail end of the film features a mini-concert with the likes of Humphrey Lyttelton and Nancy Whiskey on stage to remind us, rather nostalgically, of the stuff we listened to in the 1950s. It's not a great piece of cinema, but it has an innocent sense of opportunity to it that I rather liked.

2024-08-01

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