Das schwarze Schaf (1960)

Father Brown tries to solve some murders.

Director:

Helmut Ashley

Writers:

István Békeffy, G.K. Chesterton (stories),

Stars:

Heinz Rühmann, Karl Schönböck, Maria Sebaldt

2 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Heinz Rühmann	...	Pater Brown
Karl Schönböck	...	Theaterdirektor Scarletti
Maria Sebaldt	...	Gloria Scarletti
Siegfried Lowitz	...	Flambeau
Lina Carstens	...	Mrs. Smith
Fritz Rasp	...	Lord Kingsley
Herbert Tiede	...	Inspector Graven
Friedrich Domin	...	Bischof
Hans Leibelt	...	Bankdirektor James Conelly
Rosel Schäfer	...	Mrs. Flambeau
Gernot Duda	...	Barnes
Herta Fahrenkrog
Wolf Petersen
Johannes Buzalski	...	Bühnenarbeiter
Katharina Herberg

Storyline

Father Brown starts solving a murder, to the annoyance of his housekeeper, the police and especially his bishop, who obviously is not amused by a priest playing detective.

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Plot Keywords:

father | murder | bishop | priest | amateur detective | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime

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Details

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

19 December 1960 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

The Black Sheep

Filming Locations:

Bavaria Filmstudios, Geiselgasteig, Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Bavaria-Filmkunst

Technical Specs

Runtime:

90 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Hochwürden drückt ein Auge zu (1971)

User Reviews

Not a very real father brown, but nice movie anyway

Except the characters and the fact that it is a detective story, this movie has not much to do with the original father Brown. In fact this is a very German movie which is slightly based on Father Brown stories

If you see this film without regard of the period/place it was made, you might find the storyline and acting terrible backdated. However: this movie fits perfectly in the German 60's era of somewhat fuzzy detective "thrillers" after stories of Edgar Alan Poe and other English writers. For that era I find "Das schwarze Schaf" and also the second father brown movie "Er kann's nicht lassen" better than average.

The feeling of those movies (and especially the both Father Brown films) rely very much on the big-band jazz sound of Martin Boettcher, who was regularly asked to compose soundtracks during that period (later, Boettcher would compose the famous Winnetou soundtracks).

As conclusion: Do not watch this movie if you want to see the Father Brown of the stories. Do not watch it if you hate backdated films. For all others it is an old but nice movie, typically for it's era.