Détective du bon Dieu

I'm old enough to have seen this film on its release in the cinemas, and, whilst it's not easy to think of a film these days being a success unless millions have been spent on it, this film hung on two superlative performances from Alec Guinness and Peter Finch and the screenplay was worth two of anything you'd hear today. So why, I ask, has it not been released on DVD for a new generation to enjoy? Is it thought too dated? Not exciting enough? Too cerebral? Not a bit of it. It's a thoroughly enjoyable film with moments of high tension and a supporting cast rich in character (including Bernard Lee who was the first M in the Bond films)

I had always wanted to catch this classic British film, but it hasn't been shown in my neck of the woods since the early 1980s! As a matter of fact, some time ago I purchased "The Complete Father Brown" volume - collecting all the stories of the sleuthing cleric by G.K. Chesterton, just because I didn't think I was ever going to watch it! Though the character has been featured in at least one other film (in 1934) and several TV adaptations (one starring Kenneth More and another, made in Italy, directed by Vittorio Cottafavi and featuring Renato Rascel), Hamer's version remains the most substantial outing of Chesterton's creation.

The film itself, featuring a superbly witty script and deft direction, is a thoroughly delightful and occasionally hilarious gem - made by and with several exponents of the famed Ealing style, it's admirably served by a splendid cast. Alec Guinness is at somewhere near his best in the title role (unassuming, accident-prone but uncommonly shrewd and entirely amiable, his influence on future Peter Sellers characterizations - such as the priest in HEAVENS ABOVE! (1963) and Inspector Clouseau - is very evident); Joan Greenwood is somewhat underused here, but she's quite good as an aristocratic widow and Father Brown's confidante; a young Peter Finch impresses as the gentleman thief Flambeau, engaged in a battle-of-wits with Guinness throughout in which the two clearly respect and admire one another - but the rogue is averse to the priest's attempts to redeem him! Other familiar - and welcome - British faces grace the supporting line-up: Bernard Lee as a cop; Sid James as a ne'er-do-well small-time crook; Cecil Parker as Guinness' flustered superior, a bishop; and Ernest Thesiger as a dotty ancient librarian who appears in only one scene, but it turns out to be one of the film's comic highlights. Other memorable moments involve the various disguises Flambeau adopts in his attempts to outwit Guinness, such as in the lengthy catacombs and auction sequences.

Despite Hamer's reputation, this particular film seems to have been somewhat neglected - or, at least, has had its importance downplayed - over the years; in my opinion, along with KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS (1949; undeniably his masterpiece) and IT ALWAYS RAINS ON Sunday (1947; which I only first watched a couple of months back), it stands as the director's finest work. At the time, it was deemed worthy of representing Britain at that year's Venice Film Festival, where it competed against such cinematic heavyweights as Federico Fellini's LA STRADA, Elia Kazan's ON THE WATERFRONT, Akira Kurosawa's SEVEN SAMURAI, Kenji Mizoguchi's SANSHO THE BAILIFF and Luchino Visconti's SENSO - except that Renato Castellani's little-seen version of ROMEO AND JULIET (featuring Laurence Harvey) emerged the overall winner!!

FATHER BROWN was also Robert Hamer's second of four collaborations with star Alec Guinness: I own THE SCAPEGOAT (1959), an interesting film co-starring Bette Davis, on VHS and had watched it many years ago; however, I missed out on TO Paris, WITH LOVE (1954) - which, by all accounts, is a disappointing trifle and easily the least of their films together. A side-note regarding Guinness: according to the IMDb, he actually converted to Roman Catholicism soon after the release of FATHER BROWN!

This enjoyable feature does a good job of filming a creative, interesting story using G.K. Chesterton's "Father Brown" character. Alec Guinness is a very good realization of Father Brown, and Peter Finch provides him with a worthy foil. The story uses a good variety of interesting settings, with numerous interesting turns in the plot, and some good moments from the supporting cast.

What makes it more intriguing than the average crime/mystery movie is that from the start Father Brown is more interested in reforming the criminal than in punishing him. It leads to a story that has some of the same elements as a conventional crime film, but it also adds a creative dimension that makes it so much more interesting than the dreary, excessive spectacles of the present time that drown out any substance with undue amounts of violence and crudity.

The story could, of course, have easily become implausible and/or annoyingly moralistic, but thanks to Guinness's usual fine performance, and good direction from Robert Hamer, that is not at all the case. While there's nothing flashy here, it's an interesting and enjoyable little feature, and a nice change of pace.

Of all the names in the pantheon of great literary detectives, G. K. Chesterton's Father Brown is easily the most overlooked. The character has appeared in only a handful of films and a 13 episode television series in the early seventies. Of the films, The Detective(US title) is the best. Alec Guinness plays the affable cleric with an insatiable appetite for puzzles very nicely. Guinness shows us the heart and dedication Father Brown has to his calling spiritually over any temporal considerations. He also shows us that Father Brown is a character with depth as he takes lessons in karate and truly learns what the lives of his less than well-off parishioners are like. The heart of this film is Gunness's subtle comedic performance as a man challenging himself to catch a thief named Flambeau in the act of stealing his own church's cross that belonged to St. Augustine. Father Brown wants to save the soul of this man as well as the cross. The cat and mouse game between the two is fun fluff, and is vastly entertaining as that rather than a true mystery. Flambeau is played by a very young Peter Finch with class and style.The film boasts a fine array of British character actors with the likes of Bernard Lee(M from James Bond fame), Cecil Parker(King Roderick from The Court Jester and more), Joan Greenwood(Kind Hearts and Coronets), and my personal favourite, Ernest Thesiger from The Bride of Frankenstein. Thesiger has little screen time yet is very amusing in his role. A nice little mystery once again showcasing the comedic talent of one of our century's best actors...Sir Alec Guinness.

Father Brown is an unusual Priest. He tries to get people back on the right track that have sinned and gone a stray.

He does this by undoing the crimes they have committed like stealing. He will return the stolen items.

He has a Cross that is likely to be stolen by a crook no one can identify. Father Brown is out to find that crook and bring him back to Christ.

Some of the story takes place in church to me it is very inspirational. He explains what most people do not know is that he hears the confessions of a lot of different kinds of people and he wants them to repent and come back to God.

It is heart warming to hear Scripture and also the stories of the bad people he meets and then tells them they don't have to be the way they are.

This is one movie where they are not mocking Priest, Catholics or those who believe in God. Funny and inspirational.

You can see it on Youtube. Father Brown The Detective 1954 (Alec Guiness) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gqwXeHI85A