Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

stfrsc I was amazed by this production when it originally aired on Los Angeles PBS affiliate KCET in 1972, and for years afterward as they would drag it out at fund raising time. Then it disappeared down a black hole! The reason IMO is the portrayal of the unison-speaking gay guys, with perhaps some Perrine nipples mixed in. In this oh so politically correct era we can't have any of that, now can we? Steambath retains its relevance in that it highlights how much less freedom of expression we enjoy today compared to the early 1970s.

bkoganbing Steambath starts out with a whole cross section of the human race waking up in a steam room, wrapped in nothing but towels and wondering just how they got there. These people are not an easy fit with each other, but the clue should have been that this particular steam room also has a woman in it, not something usual in the Seventies or now, and definitely not something that the two gay men in the place would have found inviting even with the woman being Valerie Perrine.It's Perrine and Bill Bixby who realize the situation and also the various waiters are not quite human. Where is God in this whole affair and he makes his appearance shortly in the form of Jose Perez, the washroom attendant.What author Bruce Jay Friedman has done is given us a Seventies version of the old after life classic Outward Bound which got two big screen versions under its original title and later as Between Two Worlds. The majestic figures of Dudley Digges and Sydney Greenstreet as the Great Examiner are replaced here by Jose Perez who has a sardonic view of the highest life forms on the pecking order he's created.There is no great moralizing here, death is merely a process whereby you transition from one existence to another. The Steambath is merely a synonym for purgatory like the ocean liner was in those two films Only Bixby really does want to go back and he and Perez get into a bit as to just what he's going back to.Steambath is an amusing and existential take on life and death and man's ultimate place in the universe. Maybe a Steambath is what our souls need, a place to dry out and relax before moving on.

wall1999 The intriguing and imaginative plot, the excellent acting, and the tragedy of this TV adaptation of Bruce Jay Friedman's play not being available for today's audiences have been repeated by several reviewers. They are, in my opinion, all correct in their views about this wonderful, thought-provoking "black" comedy.I know that at least one reviewer lamented the fact that many reviewers seemed to talk more about the "nudity" than the merits of the play/movie. I have not found this to be so. And, of course, in the version shown in the United States, there is not really any frontal nudity. However, I was fortunate enough to see Ms. Perrine not only when she was performing in Las Vegas, but in the uncut version of "Steambath" that was shown in the UK and on Armed Forces Television throughout the European continent in 1973.Quite some time ago, after months and months of searching, I finally found the censored American version of "Steambath" on VHS at www.kultur.com. I could not find it at a site mentioned by another reviewer. Kultur now has this on DVD for $24.99 as of May 2007. I do not know whether it was in response to the requests here and elsewhere to re-release this fine film, but it is now available on such sites such as Amazon.com and for rental on www.netflix.com.If ANYONE knows where I can obtain the uncut version shown outside the US, would you please contact me? Maybe it's just because I'm a guy, but I think that the uncut version should be made available today because it adds to the impact of this insightful character study of the various personalities of the men (and one woman) who are "trapped" in the steam bath room. The uncut version is still very mild compared to what is available today, and it was all done very innocently. However, you knew that you were in for something unusual when Ms. Perrine suddenly appeared in what was apparently a men's shower/steam bath facility and dropped her towel! (You only see her from the waist up whenever she is turned toward you, of course. After all, this was 1973. Nevertheless, Ms. Perrine was facing the camera enough in the uncut version to make a lasting impression on this reviewer!)

eronavbj-1 I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that most comments about this play center on Valerie's nudity and not on the play's content. Valerie is a babe, all right, but can we get past the nipples and butt to the show's dialog? It's pretty clever. Was Freidman saying that God is capricious? Mean? Enigmatic? Just? Was the old sailor the one who made the most sense by stating that he at least "lived" his life? When the individuals finally left the steamroom, were they walking into oblivion? Or to their reward? I always thought Valerie had a great body (remember Superman), but she also played a damn good part in Steambath. What impressed me most about the play was not nudity, but that the damn show was entertaining, and it made me think. A good figure can take your thoughts only so far.