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29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
a rare find, February 14, 2002
This review is from: The Detective (aka "Father Brown") [VHS] (VHS Tape)
In some ways, this is a charming but minor British comedy, most memorable for yet another in a seemingly infinite collection of excellent comedic performances by Alec Guinness and for the opportunity to see a couple of great character actors in unusual roles : Bernard Lee (M in the Bond Movies), as a police inspector and Peter Finch (of Network fame) as the debonair thief, Flambeau. You can take it for just that and enjoy the film thoroughly. But, on another level, the movie offers a relatively rare instance of cinema taking religious ideas seriously. The more obvious concept that
plays out here is that of redemption. Father Brown (Guinness) is not just another in the long line of British amateur sleuths who solves crimes
as a hobby, he's also a priest, concerned with saving the malefactors' souls. For those of us raised on Dirty Harry movies, the very notion that
criminals have souls is disturbing enough. But there's an even grander idea at play here; for Father Brown believes--quite rightly--that his life
as a priest, rather than insulating him from the rough and tumble of the "real" world makes him uniquely qualified to understand it and to
comprehend the darkest parts of the human heart. He explains to Flambeau that he hears things in the confessional that reveal all our faults and
failings and : The more you learn about other people, the more you understand yourself;
and the more you understand yourself, the more you understand other people. In fact, part of Father Brown's technique is a kind of early form of profiling; time and again he places himself in the criminal's mind and works
out how he might be thinking. And this is fitting because it is the signal insight of Judeo-Christianity, specifically, and, thereby, of
conservatism generally, that lurking within even the best of us (like a Father Brown) is all of the capacity and desire for sin that defines the
worst of us. The film has great fun with this as Father Brown enacts or reenacts the very crimes he's supposed to be investigating, and as it
does we see the thin line that separates him, or any of us, from the heinous. As always, Alec Guinness inhabits his role to almost supernatural perfection--he's every bit the pudgy, too clever, cleric, managing to be both
endearingly sweet and scampishly wise in the ways of the world. Watching him perform one of these trademark screen transformations, I'm
always reminded of the line from Leonard Maltin's review of The Ladykillers "even his teeth are funny!" Unfortunately the story meanders a
little bit--G. K. Chesterton's original Father Brown adventures are just short stories, perhaps for good reason--and certain actions of the good
Father are difficult to reconcile with his character (like fooling the police into arresting an innocent man). Still and all, it's a good deal of fun
and the moral issues it addresses give it an unexpected, but welcome, gravity. GRADE : B
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20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Glimpse of the young Guinness, January 20, 2001
This review is from: The Detective (aka "Father Brown") [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Alec Guinness gives a wonderful performance as the priest-turned-sleuth in 'The Detective', called 'Father Brown' in the UK. Guinness is fairly young in this film, and it is wonderful for any fan of his other work ('Kind Hearts and Coronets' and 'Captain's Paradise' come to mind as earlier examples, or later work when he had become more well-known here in America,) to see him as a younger man. He is also accompanied by a marvellous cast, with Joan Greenwood and Peter Finch. The plot line is not complex, it is a classic sleuth sort of film, with an art thief (played by Finch) whom Father Brown is determined to catch, not only to bring justice, but also to, in his priest's duty, save the man's soul. It is admittedly not full of high drama twists and turns, but it is a mystery in the classic sense, and Guinness makes it more than worth it. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who loves mysteries, old movies, Alec Guinness, or all of the above!
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Clever And Amusing: A Movie Of Thievery and Faith, April 29, 2005
This review is from: The Detective (aka "Father Brown") [VHS] (VHS Tape)
"What are you really after, your cross or my soul?" asks the international art thief, Flambeau, of Father Brown.
"Both, of course," Father Brown replies.
"Well, come and find us," Flambeau says. "I'll make you a bargain. Whatever you can find you shall have."
"I accept your bargain," Father Brown says, and we're off into a gentle, amusing and thoughtful movie which stars Alec Guinness as Father Brown and Peter Finch as Flambeau.
Father Brown is a parish priest in an English village. He takes care of his flock, saves the souls he can, and tries to put the erring members on more wholesome paths. He also is eccentric -- or at least very honest. He practices karate, loves mysteries, is very near-sighted, is no one's fool and has great but realistic empathy. "I'm disappointed in you, Bert." he tells one of his flock who is a petty thief. "I'm sorry, Father, it was just..." "Firstly," Father Brown interrupts, "because you did wrong. Secondly, because you did wrong in the wrong way. Frankly, you are an incompetent thief." "Well, I wouldn't go that far," Bert says. "I would," Father Brown says. "You are clearly incapable of earning a dishonest living. Why not experiment with an honest one?"
A master art thief has been stealing works of art throughout Europe and one day manages to steal a priceless cross from Father Brown's church. With the assistance of Lady Warren (Joan Greenwood) and over the exasperated objections of his bishop, Father Brown is determined to find the cross, locate Flambeau and in the process, if he can, save Flambeau's soul. The search takes Father Brown to Paris and the French country side, down into catacombs and into Flambeau's chateau. At last there is a confrontation, and then a resolution that involves Lady Warren as well as Flambeau.
There are some first-rate, clever set pieces in the movie. An amusing triple exchange of packages takes place at a Parisian table. An excursion deep into the catacombs is complicated by the French police following Father Brown who is trying to follow Flambeau. Ernest Thesiger makes a brief but very funny appearance as an aged fellow assisting Father Brown in locating a document very high up on a shelf. In the process they break both their glasses. There also are a number of thoughtful exchanges between Flambeau and Father Brown as the one explains his philosophy of life and thievery and the other explains his philosophy of faith.
The movie can get a bit talky at times, but who cares when the talking is by three such first-rate actors as Guinness, Finch and Greenwood. I like this movie a lot. It's available only on VHS and looks very good. It needs to come out on DVD. In the U.S. the VHS was released as The Detective; elsewhere it's known as Father Brown.
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