Father Brown

First-rate adaptations in their time of G. K. Chesterton's clerical detective Father Brown. The series which aired in 1974 unfortunately has only 13 episodes in it. Having re-watched them all again(having seen them probably in the late 70s on Mystery I think), the stories, the detective, and the productions all hold up today with rather small problems. Yes, these episodes are somewhat stagy and plodding at times - much like the stories can be. Father Brown is no Sherlock Holmes when it comes to action nor does he have the hubris one associates with Hercule Poirot or a Lord Peter Whimsey. He is more like an accelerated Miss Marple in both action and demeanor. Kenneth More plays the priest to perfection I think. Father Brown was a very inconspicuous character in the stories, but that just won't do for television if you want any viewers. More gives Brown some warmth, charisma(as earlier stated by another reviewer), and roundness as a priest and as a human being. He makes this series work and is incredibly fun to watch. The episodes are very faithful in most cases to the source material with some changes, but each episode has solid direction, good character acting, a puzzle albeit at sometimes a complicatedly-woven one, and More at its center. Some of the stellar episodes are: The Eye of Apollo in which Father Brown matches wits with a religious huckster, The Three Tools of Death which is about death from a very intriguing manner, and The Arrow of Heaven - again a rather neat little mystery. Throughout the episodes you will see the likes of actors such as: Ferdy Mayne(The Fearless Vampire Killers - vampire), Benard Lee(M in James Bond films), Shelia Keith(Pete Walker films like House of Whipcord and Frightmare and one scary actress just in general), and Dennis Burgess plays Hercule Flambeau in several episodes. If you are the mood for a thought-provoking mystery, try a little priest.

These TV series are poorly made. I do not mean the technical side, with respect to age of the series and TV format it could be considered satisfiable.

I mean, actors' playing is bad almost for all of them. Sometimes the plot lines are vague and characters are unbelievable.

May be, one of the strong sides is that acting doesn't always look like theatrical performance. We get some interesting views and interiors.

I am not a good reader, so I've considered to watch this version. And I've got nothing. I couldn't assemble the plot, I can't understand the clerical point of view, I do not believe in acting. Just a few personal features and authors statements are well pronounced.

I wouldn't keep this historical TV production in my archive.

If, like my wife and myself, you have run through the BBC's various Christie series, these are a good find. They are a bit dated, but I prefer a good story to a click production. More is an excellent Father Brown, soft-spoken, witty, but sharp and persistent.

These stories are from a bit earlier in the mystery genre than most adaptations, and this dates the series as much as the productions. Chesterfield's stories tend to be more "howdunit" than "whodunit", with the focus less on the characters than on the murder itself. This can be a problem, at times, but it can be very good, especially when combined with good characters.

Kenneth More plays father Brown in this series based on G. K. Chesterton's books. I cannot tell you how close this comes to the books themselves as I have not read them yet.

Each episode is a complete story in itself where we meet the characters, build up the mystery, try to second-guess father Brown, and wrap up in the end. The ending of his stories is not that neatly wrapped as he usually leaves it to the culprit to do the right thing.

Dennis Burgess plays Hercule Flambeau (Father Brown's friend); he is advertised throughout the DVD but does not show up for several episodes.

I have to admit that several times on my first viewing I had them stop and think about where I have seen the actor(s) before.

As with many series, there are guest actors. Some of the guest actors show once and others are peppered throughout the series.

The quality of each story varies widely so there will be some favorites and some duds depending on what you want to see. The production itself looks quite inexpensive and locations and production sets. The quality of the recording leaves something to be desired; I am not sure if it is the original recording or the media. In any case, you will be so wrapped up in the story that you will care about the production quality.

I've been listening to the BBC radio adaptations of the Father Brown stories with Andrew Sachs in the lead role. I have to say I much prefer Sachs' version of Father Brown, but this series is perfectly good with Kenneth More in the role. Considering when the series was made, the production is reasonably good, and the acting, while occasionally stiff, is fine overall. Some changes are made from the stories, which I have no problem with. Of the episodes I've seen so far, none have been damaged by the changes. It is important that Father Brown is a Catholic priest, and not just another amateur detective, and in this sense some of the religious reference seem to have been taken out of the stories. This subtracts from the distinctive flavor of the stories, but it plays fine on television.

You won't get the production values or the acting found in the later Christie series, but these are well worth trying if you favor British detective/mystery series. I'm certainly happy I found them, and I'll be watching them one per night until I've through the lot.