• Source: Tommy the Toreador

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.




Premise


A British ship docks in Spain and Tommy, a sailor from London, gets stranded after he saves the life of a bullfighter.




Cast


Tommy Steele as Tommy
Janet Munro as Amanda
Sid James as Cadena
Bernard Cribbins as Paco
Noel Purcell as Captain
Virgílio Teixeira as Parilla, the Bullfighter
José Nieto as Inspector Quintero
Ferdy Mayne as Lopez
Harold Kasket as Jose
Kenneth Williams as Vice-Consul
Eric Sykes as Martin




Production


Janet Munro was borrowed from Walt Disney, who had her under contract. The film was shot at the Associated British studios in Borehamwood. There was location filming in Seville in May 1959. Steele says filming took 12 weeks and that Carstairs was a "chubby, jovial ball of energy... his direction was always precise and without fuss."




Songs


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."
The songs included:

"Tommy the Toreador"
"Take a Ride"
"Little White Bull"
"Singing Time"
"Where's the Birdie?" - sung with James and Cribbins
"Amanda"




Critical reception


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"; while
Variety called the film "a brisk, disarming little comedy."




Box office


Kine Weekly called it a "money maker" at the British box office in 1960.




Legacy


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.




References






Notes


Steele, Tommy (2007). Bermondsey boy : memories of a forgotten world. Michael Joseph. ISBN 9780141028026.




External links


Tommy the Toreador at IMDb
Tommy the Toreador at AllMovie
Tommy the Toreador at Letterbox DVD
Tommy the Toreador at BFI

Kata Kunci Pencarian:

• Tommy the Toreador
• Tommy Steele
• Janet Munro
• Francis de Wolff
• Sid James filmography
• Charles Gray (actor)
• Tommy Steele discography
• 1959 in film
• Eric Sykes
• Warren Mitchell