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MovieMail's Review
Five years after their collaboration on the Ealing classic, Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), Alec Guinness and director Robert Hamer reunited for this teasing adaptation of GK Chesterton's first Father Brown story, ‘The Blue Cross’. Purists may balk at the manner in which the sleuthing priest has been altered slightly in the transition from page to screen, but this remains a fascinating battle of wits that engagingly balances humour and suspense, while also deftly dispelling ideas about the Catholic Church's supposed detachment from ordinary life.
Ignoring Bishop Cecil Parker's suggestion that he entrusts St Augustine's cross to Scotland Yard inspector Bernard Lee during their passage to Rome, Guinness has the relic stolen from him in Paris by notorious cracksman, Peter Finch, and vows not only to recover the artefact, but also to try and save the soul of his adversary. With Joan Greenwood playing a widow who stages a fake auction to entrap Flambeau and Sid James as one of Guinness's more pugnacious parishioners, this is consistently compelling on both a criminal and a Christian level.
Alec Guinness takes the role of the priest detective in this deft and witty adaptation of GK Chesterton's famous character. Here, he engages in a battle of wits with gentleman thief Flambeau. Not only does he want to reclaim the stolen artworks, he also wants to save his soul.
Father Brown is a neglected gem: a whimsical but heartfelt comedy adventure that boasts one of Alec Guinness’s greatest characterisations. Like Peter Sellers and Johnn... more >
Father Brown is a neglected gem: a whimsical but heartfelt comedy adventure that boasts one of Alec Guinness’s greatest characterisations. Like Peter Sellers and Johnny Depp after him, Guinness had a sublime gift for creating believable, attractive comic characters. His creations were no one-dimensional laughing stocks; they lived and breathed, often inspiring as much empathy as mirth. Father Ignatius Brown may be a clumsy amateur sleuth who practises martial arts on the church lawn, but with his guileless eyes, tuneful voice and unshakable faith, he feels utterly real.
The film is worthy of his efforts. After a hilarious opening vignette that I won’t spoil here, we start the story proper. The Bishop (Cecil Parker) plans to send Brown’s cherished artefact, the holy cross of St. Augustine, to a religious summit in Rome. The police believe an international thief, known as Flambeau, will try to intercept the treasure. It’s not giving too much away to say that the crook succeeds; or that Father Brown takes this as a personal affront, believing Flambeau in need of spiritual guidance. And so begins a fast-paced game of theological cat and mouse, with the priest playing not only for his cross, but for his adversary’s eternal soul.
As that might suggest, there’s genuine depth here, but it’s all done with a delightfully delicate touch. The film is frequently laugh-out-loud funny, deriving its humour from Guinness’s impeccable performance, as well as broad supporting turns by Bernard Lee, Sid James and Gérald Oury, and a script that’s rooted in character comedy but includes everything from satire to slapstick. A scene in which the Bishop heaps sarcasm upon Guinness’s plans to safeguard the cross is an all-time classic. The plotting is consistently surprising and incorporates a great guessing game in the middle third, where we – and Father Brown – are challenged to spot a disguised Flambeau among the many eccentrics bidding for a Cellini chess set. Throw in a suspected safe robbery, a getaway dairy van, a spot of heraldry, a slender romantic subplot and a pertinent pulpit finale, and it all adds up to 82 minutes of sheer joy. < less
"Father Brown - excellent print but" -
Allan Fish on 1st March 2009
It's nice to see Father Brown finally on DVD, after abortive attempts by Network DVD a few years back. However, it's a great shame that an edited print was used for t... more >
It's nice to see Father Brown finally on DVD, after abortive attempts by Network DVD a few years back. However, it's a great shame that an edited print was used for the transfer. A crucial scene on the Seine riverbank with an artist has been removed. The DVD print is the same as that which shows on Channel 4, but Sky showcases a longer print which includes the scene that is missing here. It's still great to have it here, but in a time when completeness should be a necessity, it's a shame that the DVD manufacturer's have made such a sorrowful oversight. Hopefully a future Region 1 release will correct this error. For now, I'll have to settle for this with a DVDR of my uncut Sky recording tucked inside the cover. < less
