Confession

Ken Hughes directed this typical low budget british thriller about a non stop killing in a small town. Very modest production but a tense portrait of a determined killer who executes eveyone deranging him (convincing Sydney Chaplin with his suspicious glances). Simple but accurate. Ken Hughes directed interesting B crime movies, like "Joe Macbeth" and "Wicked as they come".

This is a 'lost' film which really deserves to be better known. It features excellent performances by Sidney Chaplin, Audrey Dalton, and Peter Hammond in the lead roles. Sidney Chaplin was a very good actor who suffered from the resentment of others at his being the son of Charlie Chaplin, which hurt his career. Being the son of a famous father can occasionally work for you (Michael Douglas, Beau Bridges), but usually works against you. I only met him and chatted to him once, but it was immediately obvious that he was a warm and pleasant fellow. His acting talent seems to me obvious, but it was constantly called into question by carpers and grumblers. He has the lead role in this film, and delivers with authority and skill. The film is set in an ambiguous location: in the script they call the town Teignmouth, which is in Devon, but they are reading a local paper called the 'Surrey Comet', which is 200 miles away. Never mind. It is a cozy little town, and the house is beside a village green, and everything should be idyllic, but it isn't. That's because Sidney comes back after years away in America where an American accent 'kind of brushes off on you'. And then the trouble begins. And what trouble that is. Hence the tension, which gets worse every minute. Audrey Dalton as his sister really is so charming and sweet and genuine, one of those English roses they don't grow any more. The film was directed by Ken Hughes, and was perfectly suited to his abilities. I knew Ken well later on, and although he had a big commercial success as director of 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang', that was an accident, as he was not really a big picture director, he was meant for small and tight stories like 'Confession'. Ken had no head for facts. He was proudest of all at having directed 'Cromwell'. I never had the heart to tell dear Ken that it was all historically inaccurate, and I gave him old engravings of Roundheads to cheer him up. His pride and joy was the gigantic painting by Delvaux that dominated his living room in Hampstead. Ken was no highbrow, but he loved 'higher things'; he was an innocent abroad who never really grew up, and would give a pal the shirt off his back. This film is one of his finest achievements and I am pleased to be able to say so. It should get back into circulation, but then so should real money and silver dollars. If you can find it, don't hesitate.

...than a priest break the seal of confession.

Sydney Chaplin stars with Audrey Dalton and Peter Hammond in "The Deadliest Sin" from 1955.

Chaplin plays Mike Nelson, who has been living in America and returns to his home in England after some time. No one has been exactly sure what he's been doing. We find out soon enough, however, that he's been up to no good.

First, there's the false bottom of his suitcase filled with thousands of dollars. Then he meets a threatening American at the post office, whom he agrees to meet that evening.

The money is from a robbery, and Mike's partner wants his cut. The two struggle, and the partner begins strangling Mike. Mike's buddy Alan has come there to meet him, and Mike keeps screaming for him to get the gun. Finally, Alan shoots the man and kills him.

Mike tells him they cannot go to the police, and they drive off. Alan is devastated. He is very religious and can't believe he took a life. He goes to confession; while there, he is murdered.

The police are aware that the priest must know something, but they can't get anything out of him. It's up to them to find another way to solve the two murders, which they believe are connected.

Pretty good noir with Sydney Chaplin playing a man with not one redeeming quality, a real user who doesn't care about anyone. Audrey Dalton plays his sister, a lovely Jean Simmons type, who suspects Mike.

Absorbing.

CONFESSION is one of those British thriller cheapies shot at Merton Park Studios and watching it you realise right away just how influenced by the minor Hitchcock film I, CONFESS it is. The story begins with a couple of American hoodlums arriving in Britain, only to fall out, and murder ensues. A priest hears a confession from one of the crooks and is involved in the subsequent investigation. I struggled with this one for the dearth of action and atmosphere, plus it generally lacks the suspense that makes thrillers of this era. Former Paul Temple John Bentley plays the cop, and there are minor parts for both Percy Herbert and Patrick Allen.

Charlie Chaplin's son Sydney Chaplin gets first-billed in a British Film Noir titled CONFESSION aka THE DEADLIEST SIN; the melodramatic alternate title references a priest who overhears the wrong confession from a confessor killed right after uttering what he's done, sort of...

And it's all the fault of Chaplin as prodigal son Mike Nelson, back home from America (with no British accent) with his crippled father and gorgeous sister Audrey Dalton...

She thinks big brother's as clean as the driven snow, providing what others have noticed is similar to Alfred Hitchcock's "cute niece loves her charmingly vicious uncle" SHADOW OF A DOUBT as well as I CONFESS with a targeted priest, leaving Chaplin little to do but look ominous and secretive, especially after sister loses trust since her boyfriend (and both their childhood friend) is the one killed after committing a retaliation-style murder of square-jawed Patrick Allen, who was blackmailing the suitcase-full-of-cash Chaplin in a thriller where the important side roles die off too quick to matter...

And, sadly, what began as a chance for Sydney Chaplin to shine darkly (looking more like he'd be Victor Mature's brother than Charlie Chaplin's son), the picture winds up in the hands of cop John Bentley, who... as the tail wags the dog... would have been better left in the background.