Father Brown – Set One (1974 British TV Series/Acorn)
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C- Episodes: B
Walter
Connolly played him in 1934, Alec Guinness played him in 1954 and John
Llewellyn Moxey even directed Barnard Hughes playing him in a TV movie called
Sanctuary Of Fear, but no one has been more successful playing G.K.
Chesterson’s detective Father Brown
than Kenneth More. Sure, Josef Meinrad’s
West German-produced series ran longer, it never broke out worldwide. This is not to say that More’s version was a
huge hit, but the detective priest never was the most popular detective.
The
secret of Brown’s success is subtly and was first published back in 1911! Like Charlie Chan, few books were actually
published, with Chesterson’s fourth and final volume arriving in 1927. However, the appeal of the character as
understated and as a priest more so, predates Columbo a good bit. However, the other twist is Brown’s idea that
flaws in character (in keeping with his calling) are behind crime and that is a
great angle which served the books and this series well. More is very good in the role and it is
amazing the show did not last longer.
The
episodes here include:
1)
The Hammer Of God
2)
The Oracle Of The Dog
3)
The Curse Of The Golden Cross
4)
The Eye Of Apollo
5)
The Three Tools Of Death
6)
The Mirror Of The Magistrate
7)
The Dagger With Wings
Each
episode is an hour long and frankly embarrasses most of the detective shows
that followed after its cancellation.
The 1.33
X 1 image is a mix of 16mm color film and professional analog PAL videotape
typical of so many British TV productions of the time. The transfer ranks as high as it does because
you can see the flaws and limits so clearly, proving every care was taken to
make this look as good as it could on DVD.
Whether the film footage exists in a vault and could be used for a
somewhat upgraded HD version (like so many such productions) remains to be
seen. However, these are well shot and
make them all the more compelling to watch.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 is stereo-boosted mono typical of the sound
improvements Acorn tries to bring to their DVDs, while the only extras in the
2-disc set are text on Chesterson and cast filmographies.
We look
forward to the second set and if you like a good mystery TV series, don’t miss
this.
- Nicholas Sheffo
