Tommy the Toreador | |
---|---|
Directed by | John Paddy Carstairs |
Written by | George H. Brown Patrick Kirwan additional dialogue Sid Colin Nicholas Phipps Talbot Rothwell |
Produced by | George H. Brown executive Nat Cohen Stuart Levy |
Starring | |
Cinematography | Gilbert Taylor |
Edited by | Peter Bezencenet |
Music by | Stanley Black |
Production company | George H. Brown Productions (as Fanfare) |
Distributed by | Warner-Pathé Distributors(UK) |
Release date |
|
Running time | 90 minutes |
Country | United Kingdom |
Language | English |
Tommy the Toreador is a 1959 British musical comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Tommy Steele, Janet Munro, Sid James, Bernard Cribbins, Noel Purcell and Kenneth Williams. [1]
A British ship docks in Spain and Tommy, a sailor from London, gets stranded after he saves the life of a bullfighter. [2] [3]
Janet Munro was borrowed from Walt Disney, who had her under contract. The film was shot at the Associated British studios in Borehamwood. [4] There was location filming in Seville in May 1959. [5] Steele says filming took 12 weeks and that Carstairs was a "chubby, jovial ball of energy... his direction was always precise and without fuss." [6]
The songs were written by Lionel Bart, Mike Pratt and Steele who had collaborated on The Duke Wore Jeans . Steele said their aim on the film were to present "a score of tunes and lyrics that joined the plot without ever stopping it in its tracks." [7]
The songs included:
In The Radio Times, Tom Vallance gave the film three out of five stars, and wrote, "perky pop star Tommy Steele, a former seaman himself, plays the part of a sailor in this lively and likeable musical comedy"; [8] while Variety called the film "a brisk, disarming little comedy." [9]
Kine Weekly called it a "money maker" at the British box office in 1960. [10]
Steele says the song "Little White Bull" helped him form a new career because children loved the song and parents would bring them to his rock concerts to hear it. [11]
Lionel Bart was an English writer and composer of pop music and musicals. He wrote Tommy Steele's "Rock with the Caveman" and was the sole creator of the musical Oliver! (1960). With Oliver! and his work alongside theatre director Joan Littlewood at Theatre Royal, Stratford East, he played an instrumental role in the 1960s birth of the British musical theatre scene after an era when American musicals had dominated the West End.
Sir Thomas Hicks, known professionally as Tommy Steele, is an English entertainer, regarded as Britain's first teen idol and rock and roll star.
Carry On Constable is a 1960 British comedy film, the fourth in the series of 31 Carry On films (1958–1992). It was released in February 1960. Of the regular team, it featured Kenneth Connor, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtrey, Joan Sims, and Hattie Jacques. Sid James makes his debut in the series here, while early regulars Leslie Phillips, Eric Barker, and Shirley Eaton also turn up, although Phillips did not appear again in the series for 32 years. It was the first "Carry On..." film to include some nudity with Connor, Hawtrey, Williams, and Phillips baring their behinds during a shower scene. The film was followed by Carry On Regardless 1961.
Janet Munro was a British actress. She won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in the film Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959) and received a BAFTA Film Award nomination for her performance in the film Life for Ruth (1962).
John Paddy Carstairs was a British film director (1933–62) and television director (1962–64), usually of light-hearted subject matter. He was also a comic novelist and painter.
Where's Jack? is a 1969 British adventure film directed by James Clavell and starring Stanley Baker and Tommy Steele. It was written by Rafe Newhouse and David Newhouse and produced by Baker for his company Oakhurst Productions.
Double Bunk is a 1961 British black-and-white comedy film directed by C.M. Pennington-Richards and starring Ian Carmichael and Sid James.
The Sandwich Man is a 1966 British comedy film directed by Robert Hartford-Davis starring Michael Bentine, with support from a cast of British character actors including Dora Bryan, Harry H. Corbett, Bernard Cribbins, Diana Dors, Norman Wisdom, Terry-Thomas and Ian Hendry. It was written by Hartford-Davis and Bentine.
Our Man in Havana is a 1959 British spy comedy film shot in CinemaScope, directed and produced by Carol Reed, and starring Alec Guinness, Burl Ives, Maureen O'Hara, Ralph Richardson, Noël Coward and Ernie Kovacs. The film is adapted from the 1958 novel Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene. The film takes the action of the novel and gives it a more comedic touch. The movie marks Reed's third collaboration with Greene.
Make Mine a Million is a 1959 British comedy film directed by Lance Comfort, starring Arthur Askey, Sid James and Bernard Cribbins. It was written by Askey, Peter Blackmore, Jack Francis and Talbot Rothwell, and distributed by British Lion. The film parodies the perceived stuffiness of the 1950s BBC and the effect of television advertising in the era.
Talk of a Million is a 1951 British comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs, starring Jack Warner, with an early appearance from Sid James.
Watch Your Stern is a 1960 British comedy film directed by Gerald Thomas and starring Kenneth Connor, Eric Barker and Leslie Phillips. It was based on the play Something About a Sailor by Earle Couttie.
Patrick Joseph Noel Purcell was an Irish actor of stage, screen, and television. He appeared in the 1956 film Moby Dick and the 1962 film Mutiny on the Bounty.
Light Up the Sky! is a 1960 British comedy drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Ian Carmichael, Tommy Steele and Benny Hill. The film also features Dick Emery in a minor role.
Dancing with Crime is a 1947 British film noir film directed by John Paddy Carstairs, starring Richard Attenborough, Barry K. Barnes and Sheila Sim. A man hunts down the killer of his lifelong friend.
Paul Anthony "Tony" Wright was an English film actor. The son of actor Hugh E. Wright, he was a Rank Organisation contract player for some years.
Sands of the Desert is a 1960 British adventure comedy film directed and written by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Charlie Drake, Peter Arne, Sarah Branch and Raymond Huntley.
Your Money or Your Wife is a 1960 British comedy film directed by Anthony Simmons and starring Donald Sinden, Peggy Cummins, and Richard Wattis. It was based on the play Count Your Blessings by Ronald Jeans. A couple must divorce in order to inherit a fortune.
And the Same to You is a 1960 British boxing-themed comedy film directed by George Pollock and starring Brian Rix and William Hartnell. It was written by John Paddy Carstairs, John Junkin and Terry Nation based on the 1955 stage farce The Chigwell Chicken by A. P. Dearsley.
"Little White Bull" is a song by English rock and roll singer Tommy Steele, released as a single in November 1959. It was included on the EP Tommy the Toreador from the film of the same name in which Steele also starred. Steele's royalties from the single's sales were donated to the "Variety Club of Great Britain fund for a cancer research unit for children". The song peaked at number 6 on the UK Singles Chart and it was awarded a silver disc in January 1960 for 250,000 sales in Britain.