Tommy Steele Story, The (1957)

Having learnt to play the guitar while in hospital, Bermondsey boy Tommy Steele discovers his ability as a performer while working as a ship’s steward in this fictionalised biography of Britain’s first rock ‘n’ roll star.

Returning to London, Tommy is given an engagement at a Soho coffee bar. He is subsequently asked to make a record and becomes a teenage idol.

Steele is presented as unassuming and modest throughout. His doting parents are not people he has any arguments with – the closest they come to doing so is when he announces to them he is getting his money by playing in a coffee shop.

This film’s main strength is in its friendliness, as it has no villains and simply exists to promote its star and his recording career.

No rough edges to Tommy are apparent, even if there are in the penny-pinching production, but then, what did they really need to spend a lot on? Tommy and his guitar were enough to bring in the punters.

Tommy Steele
Himself
Mrs Steele
Hilda Fenemore
Mr Steele
Charles Lamb
The Steelmen
Themselves
Humphrey Lyttleton & his Band
Themselves
Chas McDevitt Skiffle Group
Themselves
Nancy Whiskey
Herself
Tommy Eytle Calypso Band
Themselves
The Caribbean club band
Chris O’Brien’s Caribbeans
Nurse
Lisa Daniely
Brushes
Patrick Westwood
John Kennedy
Peter Lewiston
Paul Lincoln
John Boxer

Director
Gerard Bryant

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