Cristi_Ciopron Flambeau reminded me of Lupin, and this movie is like a witty, graceful adaptation of a Lupin tale; the French inspiration is acknowledged. For me, it's one of the masterpieces of the free adaptations, on a pair with a few French works.What it has is a delightful style, a consummate craft. This graceful movie has the plot of a Fantômas or Lupin yarn. Perhaps it might appeal to those who search for stylish renderings of such stories. It also suggests how would world look like from the standpoint of a priest, who evaluates without severity or identification, with a critical sympathy; the human world, and also the world of objects, caressed by Guinness' hands. The perspective on the human affairs is blessedly naive, appealing and endearingly fanciful. It originates in a highly intelligent recluse's reverie. Beyond it, one feels the political and social utopia of the revered storyteller and thinker. And I guess he would of enjoyed this movie.Flambeau is awesomely played by a handsome Peter Finch. And as a priest, he looked a bit like De Niro.As played by Guinness, Fr Brown resembles more the storyteller, the author, than the authored priest. Anyway, the priest being unexpectedly attacked by his sparing partner might of been an inspiration on the Pink Panther gag, with Cato's surprise attacks on his master.A movie with Guinness, Peter Finch, Oury, it opposes a priest and a freelancer of the underworld, Flambeau, who, disguised as a priest, quotes the Bible but forgets to fast.What is called playful means sometimes graceful; others, silly. Here, it is the 1st meaning.

dbborroughs Second screen adaption of GK Chesterton's classic story that has Father Brown taking on Flambeau a notorious thief. In the original Walter Connelly took on Paul Lukas. Here its Alec Guinness taking on Peter Finch and for my money its the better of the two versions I've seen. In th original I found everything stilted and Brown came across as very annoying with an attitude that he was some how better than everyone else. Here Guinness is clearly in charge of the situation, however he never lets anyone think anything other than that they are in control, which he manages to twist so that he comes up on top. Its a winning performance. I think the fact that this film originated in England helps give it the right feel. The film makers clearly understand Chesterton and their film is an enjoyable representation of his story. Very recommended

MARIO GAUCI 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!

BaronBl00d 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.