Year:  1954
Rating: 6.5

---

Watching old understated British films such as this is like having tea and crumpets in the afternoon in a cozy back street London establishment. With its very fine English cast of Alex Guinness, Peter Finch, Joan Greenwood, Cecil Parker, Bernard Lee and Sidney James you feel surrounded by class. There isn't much of a mystery here - Father Brown is more concerned about saving souls than capturing criminals. But it is pleasant enough fare and its mood is much like the short stories by G.K. Chesterton.


Chesterton (1874 - 1936) was a prolific writer and intellectual who wrote extensively about philosophy and religion, but still managed to write 53 short Father Brown stories between 1910 and 1936. I have been reading a few of these lately and they are at times clever and occasionally obvious but it is the humble yet perceptive personality of Father Brown and the easy writing that has made this character so popular over the years in numerous films and TV series (the series with Kenneth More being my favorite).


Chesterton describes Father Brown as such - a face "as round and dull as a Norfolk dumpling" which is very much how Guiness plays him with a slight bemused smile and blank innocent eyes always apparent. He is told by the police that a famous thief Hercule Flambeau is after the ancient cross in his church and that they will secure it, but Father Brown thinks he can do better but is outfoxed and now has to recover it but also recover the soul of Flambeau. It becomes a bit of a cat and mouse game.


Hercule (is this where Hercule Poirot's name came from I wonder) Flambeau (Peter Finch) is Father Brown's nemesis and a master of disguise in a number of the stories, but eventually he is turned around, gives up his stolen goods and becomes a detective who often works with Father Brown.