The Bargee

IMDb RATING

6.2/10

541

YOUR RATING

Hemel Pike is a canal-barge Casanova, aided and abetted by his illiterate cousin Ronnie. Hemel has a girl in every town along his route, and each one is intent on marriage. He is finally caught when one of the girls, Christine, falls pregnant.

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33 Photos

Comedy

A lock-keeper entrusts his daughter with a canal Casanova, and she soon falls pregnant. He refuses to open his locks until the guilty party confesses.A lock-keeper entrusts his daughter with a canal Casanova, and she soon falls pregnant. He refuses to open his locks until the guilty party confesses.A lock-keeper entrusts his daughter with a canal Casanova, and she soon falls pregnant. He refuses to open his locks until the guilty party confesses.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.2/10

541

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Videos2

Photos33

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Storyline

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Trivia
The narrow-boats Banstead and Bellerophon which were used in the film were built in 1936 and are still in existence (2016). Bellerophon became a horse drawn trip-boat on the River Wey and was renamed Iona. In this guise it made an appearance in the British TV soap Coronation Street (1960). Banstead continued to work for British Waterways until 1969 when it was sold to private use and after a career as camping boat and tearoom, Banstead is now fully restored to working condition and can often be seen on the Grand Union canal where it remains a minor celebrity, as many locals still remember the filming of The Bargee (1964) with fond memories.

Goofs
When planning the journey on the Grand Union Canal, the pair agree the first night at Rickmansworth, the second at Boxmoor and the third at Apsley. Geographically, Apsley is before Boxmoor and also the two places are only a mile apart, so would not both be overnight stopping points, even if in the correct order.

Quotes
[Doctor Scott has just told Joe that his daughter is pregnant]
Joe: She must have been drugged or something. She couldn't have done it by herself.
Doctor Scott: No, quite.
Joe: I'll kill him! So help me, I'll kill him! They way I've looked after her. I promised her mother I'd send her to grammar school. And now the first yob that comes along, this happens.
Doctor Scott: [trying to be reassuring] Oh come now. It may not have been the *first* one.

Soundtracks
In Party Mood
(uncredited)
Composed by Jack Strachey

User reviews15

Review

Featured review

2/10

Out of its depth

A script by Galton & Simpson the creators of the seminal Steptoe & Son. Featuring Harry H Corbett, one of the stars of that sitcom. Add some lovely shots of barges and canals, examine a vanishing way of life that is commercial transport by canal. It should be a sure fire hit but the tepid story is a miss.

Like many movies emerging from that time period it has a bawdy outlook. Corbett plays Hemel, the bargee with a girl waiting for him at each canal stop. He loves them and leaves them sometimes faster if the M word is used. M stands for marriage.

Ronnie Barker plays his amiable but dim colleague. Eric Sykes plays an improbable posh sailor who is incompetent with boats and who is always getting in Hemel's way.

Trouble starts for Hemel when one of his nubile conquests falls pregnant and her father demands to know the name of the father.

There really is not much of a story, it feels episodic and comes across as a bad Carry On film. At least Barker is memorable, he would find fame working with another Corbett.