Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Byrdz Having become a faithful watcher of the British television series starring the wonderful Mark Williams, I was delighted (and a bit apprehensive) to find this 1954 rendition of a Father Brown story starring, of all people, Sir Alec Guinness.Occasionally, when a character is portrayed by an actor who just seems to be the perfect one, it's difficult to accept anyone else in the role BUT that is not the case here. Guinness is also "just right" as Father Brown. Humorous but not ridiculous, gentle but tough, smart but not smart-alecky. In short, just right.The film is populated by that British stable of character actors that made the 1950's such a wonderful time for film making. It was filmed in Paris so the ge3nuine Parisian atmosphere is there.The criminal looked vaguely familiar and it took reading the credits to actually confirm that it was, indeed, Peter Finch of "Network" fame ! Never saw him before in "young mode".Enjoyed it. Will watch it again. Good bag sale purchase that is staying in the collection and that is high praise.

Robert J. Maxwell Alec Guiness is Father Brown, an English priest transporting an historic cross of St. Augustine to an exhibit in Paris. He's outwitted by the famous and thoroughly civilized thief Gustave Flambeau (Peter Finch). Guiness is on the track of Finch, just as the police and the church are now on the track of Guiness for obstruction of justice or something. He won't cooperate with the cops because he's as interested in Finch as he is in the cross. He's intent on convincing Finch that there's more to life than wallowing in a private art collection that no one else will ever see.It isn't really a comedy in any strict sense. There are two genuinely funny scenes. One is a farcical auction at which Finch makes off with a chess set attributed to Benvenuto Cellini. The other is set in an ancient library of heraldry with Brown and the decrepit caretaker stepping on each other's eye glasses. And they really ARE funny.The challenges facing Father Brown are (1) how to recover the cross and (2) how to ignite the spiritual side of Peter Finch.There is some banter about number two and although it's not exactly a laff riot or a theological disquisition it does carry a bit of weight because of the understated way that Guiness's role is written and the way it's played. I'll give one example. In his private gallery, Finch has been bragging about his collection, while Guiness has expressed not much more than pity for him for not sharing his El Grecos with the rest of the world. As a disappointed Guiness is leaving, Finch says something like: "Here, you forgot your cross." "It isn't mine," replies a glum Guiness. No particular point is made of the exchange. It just encapsulates the two conflicting points of view that the pair have just been discussing.Guiness doesn't go overboard with the role of the priest. He wears a Barry Fitzgerald smile without quite turning the character into a cartoon.The story itself does a good job of evoking G. K. Chesterton, to the extent that that counts. Chesterton's Father Brown was a recedent figure. Chesterton was an ardent Catholic convert and an aesthete. Some of his stories practically dispense with the mystery entirely and turn into rather long criticisms of barbaric art in the form of an Algerian dagger or something. If Chesterton were alive today and an animist, he might be an avid reader of somebody like Joseph Campbell.

bkoganbing The thesis of Father Brown is that a good dose of Roman Catholicism will solve all of life's problems. A little proselytizing I don't mind, but this gets a bit ridiculous at times.Some fine actors have played Father Brown over the years, Kenneth More and Barnard Hughes are two good examples. Alec Guinness plays him in this film and does all right by him, but you didn't see any great demand for future Father Brown films.I suppose if you are a committed Roman Catholic it all makes perfectly good sense. It's far more important to catch the thief and convert him to your religion than see he's brought to justice. But that's what were asked to accept here. In fact there is a preliminary story before the main action of the film. Guinness in clerical garb is caught trying to put back stolen articles that one of his parishioners Sidney James had heisted during a robbery.That's the story he gives the local cops and of course this is something that James has confided in him so he can't break the confessional. Now on to bigger game. Master thief Flambeau, played by Peter Finch has stolen a cross that is entrusted to Father Brown and was said to belong to St. Augustine back in the day. But Father Brown is more interested in getting Flambeau to go back to his faith than seeing him brought to justice. So he misleads the cops so he can accomplish his mission.I'm sorry but this whole thing was just too much for me to swallow. Father Brown I'd hate to say it was guilty of obstruction and ought to have been arrested. And he was under no obligation not to reveal anything he knew about Flambeau, the man had not come to him as a penitent seeking absolution and spiritual advice.Author G.K. Chesterton, a very noted Catholic lay person in his day, finds all this very reasonable. Carried to his logical conclusion we should replace all police forces with an army of priests.Guinness borrows from his own Reverend Ascoyne D'Ascoyne from Kind Hearts and Coronets and from Barry Fitzgerald in Going My Way to create Father Brown. Granted though Brown is a lot shrewder than the other two. There's also a bit of Colonel Nicholson in this portrayal. In The Bridge on the River Kwai, Guinness also was playing a character who's rather weird interpretation of the rules caused him to lose sight of what was important in the situation Nicholson was in. Father Brown's an entertaining fellow when he's solving mysteries and making the authorities look foolish. We've enjoyed Brother Cadfael do it in a medieval setting and American audiences liked Father Dowling played by Tom Bosley a few years back. This film should have stuck to being entertaining.

Snow Leopard 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.