Le chapelier et son château

... not because it is dull or bad, but because the main character, James Brodie (Robert Newton) has no redeeming values whatsoever. He is a cruel vile man, a complete narcissist. People are either customers, servants, or enemies to him. Everyone else is invisible to him.

Brodie is a Scottish hatter in Victorian times. He has a sickly wife that he constantly belittles, a grown teen daughter Mary (Deborah Kerr) that he practically keeps prisoner, and a son Angus that he sees as an extension of himself, so he puts tremendous pressure on the boy to excel in school to show off to his rivals. Brodie also lives in a large castle, "Hatter's Castle", it is called derisively by the town, because it is just ridiculously large and medieval for a simple merchant to be living there. But because his customers tend to be important men, Brodie sees himself as important. Oh, and he has a mistress. And this mistress' brother-in-law, Dennis, needing a job, and Brodie granting that job, brings chaos into Brodie's family and business. For one thing, Dennis is not exactly a brother-in-law, and also he is a slimy little weasel, the likes of which a brute like Brodie would never expect would get the better of him.

James Mason, as a physician, is one of the few nice and normal characters in the cast, if you can believe that. He has very few scenes. There is a really good rendition of the Tay Bridge railroad disaster of 1879, and it is too bad that the film's physical condition is so rough, because it would be great to see in detail. In fact, this film is just crying out for a restoration. What you can see of the art design is impressive. It would be wonderful to see it in its original glory. A clearer print might even raise its appraisal another star. Mainly, though, this is Robert Newton's film. He does a splendid job of playing a despicable human being. I cringed every time he entered a room, and he made me want to stick around to the end to see what happened to his character. Recommended.

"Daughter of Darkness" convinced me that Lance Comfort is a great director. "Hatter's Castle" strongly confirms it, it's a drama about a cruel tyran spoiling everybody's life, from his hatter's business to his family.

All casting is fantastic : James Mason as the young true lover of Deborrah Kerr (as the tyran's daughter, in her fifth movie), Emlyn Williams as the bad man, Enid Stamp-Taylor as the badman' and the tyran's mistress. And the best of course is Robert Newton as the tyran, he pronounces each line cruelly with sadistic expression, destroying eveything and everybody : a total complete toxic person (one of his best performance with "Oliver Twist" and "Long John Silver"). In the first sequence with Robert Newton, I was puzzled how it reminded me of another tyran, and I rapidly thought of Opale played by Jean-Louis Barrault in "le Testament du docteur Cordelier" 17 years later.

Cinematography is of course virtuoso with intelligent travellings avoiding editing, having several informations in the same sequence with two faces shot in depth of field, brilliantly rare.

It's a ghastly story and as close to a horror tale as you can get within the limits of realism. It was A.J.Cronin's first major novel and very Dickensian as such, telling an alternative Scrooge story without the main character ever learning his lesson. So things go consistently from bad to worse all the way through. James Mason and Deborah Kerr, both still very young here, provide some kind of a balance against all the wicked tyranny but not enough to bandage the very serious wounds of this gruesome detailed account of tyranny. Robert Newton is magnificent as always in his consistent viciousness, and all the other actors are perfect as well. The one thing you could object against here is the meaning and reason for A.J.Cronin to tell such a story.

Basically the plot is based on a domineering, egocentric small business owner who's arrogance eventually destroys his family and ultimately himself. An old style melodrama which won't be to everyone's taste but a real classic if you like films of this type. A brilliant performance from Robert Newton who is menacingly over the top without becoming hammy. Good supporting performances from fine actors including a very young James Mason.

Nothing to do with Cromwell but Christmas was banned in Scotland in 1573. Had this Victorian tale been set in a country other than Scotland, Robert Newton's abhorrent hatter in this story would surely have had a Scrooge-like Christmas Day transformation!

Horrid hatter, James Brodie unlike Scrooge is utterly unlikeable and even if he'd lived in a country which had Christmas, no number of spirits could redeem him. Robert Newton delivers just the right amount of brooding Victorian malice. He plays the role just right to make it believable - sinister but not quite at the level of a pantomime villain. He thoroughly engrosses you as you desperately yearn to see him get his cumuppance.

The great Welsh actor (and writer) Emlyn Williams gives an equally believable performance as the thoroughly obnoxious Dennis "Uriah Heep's less trustable brother!" It's difficult to say who is more dislikable. With the two leading characters being so unrelentingly unpleasant, there's not a lot of lightness here. Inevitability you compare this with Dickens and when you do that it's clear how much more depth and layers and humour Dickens imbued into his stories. This was however the very first thing A J Cronin ever wrote so as a first go at writing a story, it's still pretty impressive.

It's not Cronin's best work, his characteristic social and political criticism hadn't developed yet but it's still a decent Victorian style melodrama. As a film, it has pace, atmosphere and tension - it's beautifully produced.