Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?

Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? summary of box office results, charts and release information and related links.

Directed by Peter Hewitt. With Tom Courtenay, Michael Legge, Laura Fraser, Stephen Fry. Harold Smith, a quiet middle-aged Englishman becomes an instant celebrity when he suddenly starts exhibiting psychic and telekinetic powers. After he is arrested for accidentally killing three pensioners by causing their pacemakers to stop, his lawyer brings in an extremely skeptical scientist to test whether or not Harold's powers are real. Meanwhile, Harold's son Vince, a disco devotee, is ...

Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? (1999) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more.

Set during the swinging disco era in decidedly unswinging Sheffield, England, this oddball comedy is both a coming-of-age story about getting funky and a supernatural mystery. Vince (Michael Legge) is a Travolta-obsessed teenager who lives with his aspiring magician brother; his randy mom, who has a taste for young men; and his laid-back father Harold (Tom Courtenay). Vince longs for the young, vivacious Joanna Robinson (Laura Fraser), as Harold wows his family with his unnervingly accurate mind reading tricks. Later, when he makes headlines for inadvertently stopping the pacemakers of a couple of oldsters, Harold learns that he actually does have a telekinetic brain. That doesn't stop him from getting arrested, however, and soon Vince and Joanna's snotty boss (David Thewlis) is representing him in court. Meanwhile, Vince has been unable to summon the courage to ask out Joanna. While walking home one day, he is taken by a sexy young punkette who turns out to be none other than Joanna. Vince promptly dumps his disco stuff and buys a Sex Pistols album. Pete Hewitt, whose previous efforts include Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey, directed this film.

After the warm response this received at its London Film Festival premiere last November, there were high hopes for Harold Smith. Director Hewitt's quirky track record (Bill 'N' Ted's Bogus Journey, The Borrowers) would seem to make him the ideal candidate for this mix of 70s nos

Sheffield swings to the sound of disco in "Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?," a well-cast Brit comedy set in "the year of the 'Fever.' " Pic's busy direction and bright performances partly compensate for a script that goes in too many directions at the same time.

Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? is a film written by Ben Steiner, directed by Peter Hewitt and released in 1999. It was filmed in Doncaster and Sheffield.