The premise starts out strong. In the process of stealing a car, Breen's friend--who happens to be a girl--gets in. Breen speeds in an attempt to evade a police road block in search of the stolen car. The passenger side door opens, the girl falls out and dies as a result. Breen appears to get away with it. A police inspector falls for one of the girls in the boarding house Breen lives in; through some clever snooping and sleuthing, the police inspector nails Breen as the girl's murderer.
So far so good.
A trial scene in which Breen is convicted of willful murder. So far so good.
The inhabitants of the boarding house decide to hold a march to the Home Office to reprieve Breen; misguided and perhaps character development for the lunacy, the idiosyncrasy of the boarding house tenants. Still OK--even if a bit much for a stretch.
The Police Inspector decides to join the march! OK--that's where lunacy descended to idiocy and silliness and perverse. By then--the move was just too silly. The only appropriate ending was to see Breen's sentence commuted form hanging to life in prison without parole.
The highlight of the movie--the performance of Alastair Sim as Mr. Henry Squales--a more vile and despicable creature one should ever find on film. (A character Dickens himself would have been proud to create.) "Oleaginous"--and not in the good sense--is the best way to describe Mr. Squales. And Alastair Sim plays the role to perfection. Think Mornau's Nosferatu--the long fingers, the long solitary string of hair descending from a bald pate to a long face attached to a long body. Squales pretending to be some kind of medium so he can get free board and room--oiling his way into the heart of the owner of the boarding house. That performance alone made the move worth seeing despite the descend to silliness.
So far so good.
A trial scene in which Breen is convicted of willful murder. So far so good.
The inhabitants of the boarding house decide to hold a march to the Home Office to reprieve Breen; misguided and perhaps character development for the lunacy, the idiosyncrasy of the boarding house tenants. Still OK--even if a bit much for a stretch.
The Police Inspector decides to join the march! OK--that's where lunacy descended to idiocy and silliness and perverse. By then--the move was just too silly. The only appropriate ending was to see Breen's sentence commuted form hanging to life in prison without parole.
The highlight of the movie--the performance of Alastair Sim as Mr. Henry Squales--a more vile and despicable creature one should ever find on film. (A character Dickens himself would have been proud to create.) "Oleaginous"--and not in the good sense--is the best way to describe Mr. Squales. And Alastair Sim plays the role to perfection. Think Mornau's Nosferatu--the long fingers, the long solitary string of hair descending from a bald pate to a long face attached to a long body. Squales pretending to be some kind of medium so he can get free board and room--oiling his way into the heart of the owner of the boarding house. That performance alone made the move worth seeing despite the descend to silliness.