Father Brown, Detective (1934)

Father Brown is trying to stop a known theft taking 10 diamonds and showing he is wrong in the eyes of god.

Director:

Edward Sedgwick

Writers:

G.K. Chesterton (Father Brown novels), Henry Myers (screenplay)

Stars:

Walter Connolly, Paul Lukas, Gertrude Michael

Cast

Cast overview:
Walter Connolly	...	Father Brown
Paul Lukas	...	Flambeau
Gertrude Michael	...	Evelyn Fischer
Robert Loraine	...	Inspector Valentine
Halliwell Hobbes	...	Sir Leopold Fischer
Una O'Connor	...	Mrs. Boggs
E.E. Clive	...	Sergeant Dawes
Donald Gray	...	Don (as Eldred Tidbury)

Storyline

Father Brown is trying to stop a known theft taking 10 diamonds and showing he is wrong in the eyes of god.

---

Plot Keywords:

priest | based on novel | 

---

Genres:

Mystery

---

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 December 1934 (USA)

Also Known As:

Jagten paa de ti diamanter

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

68 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to newspaper reports at the time, Virginia Weidler was announced for a role in this picture. However, no child part appears on the cast list for the final product.

---

Connections

Version of Pater Brown (1966)

User Reviews

Walter Connolly Makes a Highly Believable Father Brown

It's both interesting and instructive to compare the two movie versions of "The Blue Cross". In the Paramount picture, the writers cleverly preserve the maguffin of the tale, namely the ingenious yet simple way in which Brown outwits his adversary, yet change the character of the priest himself. In the British picture, however, Brown's astonishing ingenuity is completely ignored, other than his re-swapping the parcels (a commonplace feat common to both films); yet, although he indulges in no abstruse theological debates, the Guinness' Brown is far more faithful to G.K. Chesterton's conception.

Frankly, despite Chesterton's disapproval, I prefer Connolly, who makes Brown a believable priest, not an argumentative theology basher lecturing on "the real difference between human charity and Christian charity" and similar peripheral, philosophical subjects ("The Chief Mourner of Marne", page 583 in the Cassell omnibus edition).

Walter Connolly and his scriptwriters imbue Brown with a quality that Guinness and company don't even attempt: Spirituality! The only other movie occasion in which I've seen this essential quality brought into the open was in the character played by Burgess Meredith in The Cardinal (1963). With Connolly, however, this virtue is not drawn to the audience's attention. It's just there! In a gesture, a wink, an attitude or simply part of the actor's charisma. Connolly's performance transcends "acting". He really is Father Brown. On the other hand, with Guinness we always have the impression that here is Guinness again most ably playing his customary screen character, this time under the label, Father Brown.

Although he is not the Flambeau described in the books, Paul Lukas does well in the part and receives excellent support from lovely Gertrude Michael. Hobbes, of course, is his usual aristocratic self. And also much as usual, alas, is Una O'Connor, complete with trademark squawk. Fortunately, her role is small.

Technical credits are first-class.