The 7th Commandment

Director Irvin Berwick (Monster of Piedras Blancas, Hitchhike to Hell, Malibu High) is not a name that would come to mind when I think of thought-provoking religious dramas. So imagine my surprise when I see such a film wrapped up within a hard-boiled blackmail melodrama! While it could be argued that the evangelical setting of about half the movie is a mere plot element, Berwick takes it too seriously, spends too much time on it, and ends the film in such a way that it's clear the resolution of the religious drama is far more important to him than the resolution of the crime drama. This is actually a study of the nature of faith and salvation, put into a marketable crime melodrama package. Was Mr. Berwick ever interviewed about this film? It obviously must have meant a lot to him. Now I'm anxious to see the films he made after this in the mid-60s: Strange Compulsion and The Street Is My Beat. Although not as over-the-top as The World's Greatest Sinner or Wise Blood, and not as slick as Elmer Gantry, the Seventh Commandment really belongs on the same shelf as those classics. I don't want to give away much of the plot, as the element of surprise is important. However, if the combination of a gritty b&w low-budget blackmail melodrama mixed with serious religious issues of faith and salvation sounds intriguing, track this film down. I've never really seen anything like it!