{"id":32244,"date":"2013-08-07T11:13:13","date_gmt":"2013-08-07T18:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=32244"},"modified":"2020-12-28T21:45:50","modified_gmt":"2020-12-29T04:45:50","slug":"detective-the-father-brown-1954","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=32244","title":{"rendered":"Detective, The \/ Father Brown (1954)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I want to help him &#8212; to cure him of a sickness in his soul.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Father-Brown-Poster.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Father-Brown-Poster-199x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"199\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-60265\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Father-Brown-Poster-199x300.png 199w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Father-Brown-Poster-678x1024.png 678w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Father-Brown-Poster-85x128.png 85w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Father-Brown-Poster-179x270.png 179w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Father-Brown-Poster.png 725w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA priest (Alec Guinness) with a penchant for sleuthing is determined to save the soul of a notorious, disguise-happy thief named Flambeau (Peter Finch).\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Alec Guinness Films<\/li>\n<li>Amateur Sleuths<\/li>\n<li>Cat-and-Mouse<\/li>\n<li>Joan Greenwood Films<\/li>\n<li>Peter Finch Films<\/li>\n<li>Priests and Ministers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nBritish writer <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/G._K._Chesterton\">G.K. Chesterton<\/a> is perhaps best-known for creating the character of <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Father_Brown\">Father Brown<\/a>, a humble priest who uses his empathic understanding of human nature to intuitively solve crimes &#8212; with the unique aim of helping to save the souls of criminals, rather than imprison them. Chesterton&#8217;s &#8220;Father Brown stories&#8221; have been interpreted through <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Father_Brown#Father_Brown_in_other_media\">various media<\/a> over the years (radio, T.V., film), but this Robert Hamer-directed version is one of the most highly regarded, thanks largely to the casting of Alec Guinness in the title role. Guinness&#8217;s Father Brown is a clever, measured chap &#8212; unafraid to stand up to his superiors in pursuit of what he feels is best for his parishioners (and humanity at large), and doggedly persistent in his goals. The film&#8217;s storyline is taken up exclusively with Brown&#8217;s pursuit of a notorious French criminal known as Flambeau (Finch), a master of disguise who is entirely capable of fooling Brown more than once. Their cat-and-mouse interactions &#8212; made all the more unusual given Brown&#8217;s desire to <em>convert<\/em> Flambeau, not just capture him &#8212; are set in a series of inspired locales, most notably the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.catacombes-de-paris.fr\/english.htm\">Parisian catacombs<\/a>. Unfortunately, the proceedings in general are just a tad too genteel, and a couple of excellent character actors &#8212; Joan Greenwood and the inimitable Ernest Thesiger &#8212; are sadly underutilized; yet as <a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/london\/film\/father-brown-1954\">Time Out&#8217;s reviewer<\/a> puts it, this remains a &#8220;stylishly civilized&#8221; affair, one which will surely appeal to fans of comedic thrillers from this era. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Note:<\/strong> Robert Hamer is best known for directing Alec Guinness in the classic black comedy <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=24966\"><em>Kind Hearts and Coronets<\/em> (1949)<\/a>, and for helming one segment (&#8220;The Haunted Mirror&#8221;) of the horror anthology <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=6003\"><em>Dead of Night<\/em> (1945)<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Alec Guinness as Father Brown<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Guinness.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Guinness.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"608\" height=\"464\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32250\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Guinness.png 608w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Guinness-128x97.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Guinness-300x228.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 608px) 100vw, 608px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Peter Finch as Flambeau<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Finch.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Finch.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"608\" height=\"464\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32249\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Finch.png 608w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Finch-128x97.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Finch-300x228.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 608px) 100vw, 608px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Nice use of authentic locales and settings<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Settings1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Settings1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"608\" height=\"464\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32251\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Settings1.png 608w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Settings1-128x97.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Settings1-300x228.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 608px) 100vw, 608px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Settings2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Settings2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"608\" height=\"464\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32247\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Settings2.png 608w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Settings2-128x97.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Settings2-300x228.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 608px) 100vw, 608px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Atmospheric cinematography<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Cinematography.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Cinematography.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"608\" height=\"464\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-32248\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Cinematography.png 608w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Cinematography-128x97.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/Detective-Cinematography-300x228.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 608px) 100vw, 608px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though it&#8217;s certainly worth a one-time look, and is probably must-see for Guinness fans. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0046970\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/movies.nytimes.com\/movie\/review?res=9F01E6DE1F3EE03BBC4A53DFB767838F649EDE\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=7426\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.allmovie.com\/movie\/the-detective-v13438\/review\">All Movie Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.timeout.com\/london\/film\/father-brown-1954\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I want to help him &#8212; to cure him of a sickness in his soul.&#8221; Synopsis: A priest (Alec Guinness) with a penchant for sleuthing is determined to save the soul of a notorious, disguise-happy thief named Flambeau (Peter Finch). Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Alec Guinness Films Amateur Sleuths Cat-and-Mouse Joan Greenwood Films Peter Finch Films Priests and Ministers Review: British writer G.K. Chesterton is perhaps best-known for creating the character of Father Brown, a humble priest who uses&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=32244\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32244"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60267,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32244\/revisions\/60267"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}