The Deadliest Sin

Ken Hughes directed this typical low budget british thriller about a non stop killing in a small town. Very modest production but a tense portrait of a determined killer who executes eveyone deranging him (convincing Sydney Chaplin with his suspicious glances). Simple but accurate. Ken Hughes directed interesting B crime movies, like "Joe Macbeth" and "Wicked as they come".

There are some great moments in this film, and they always come with a vengeance as a surprise. Perhaps the greatest titbit is the parenthesis with the blonde in the bar, a special treat and a delightful change of scenery, which otherwise throughout the film is rather grey and stale.

It all happens in a small town in England, where a lost son is coming home to his crippled father in a wheelchair and his sister with a boyfriend, who is an architect. Nothing ever happens in this town of Tunbridge, but on the arrival of this prodigal son, whom no one knows what he has been up to in America, there are two murders in two days. He has not committed the first one, and there are no witnessaes to the second. However, the springing point in this film is the confession which introduces the film, in which the architect, a catholic, makes a confession to a priest, and the priest, who knows all, must not on any circumstances reveal the confession, That's the law of the church. So the police, who knows that the priest knows, is in a predicament.

The sweety pie in the bar is Dorinda Stevens, whom you never have seen in any other film, while she is very much like Carolyn Jones in "Shield for Murder" the year before - the scene is almost copied, but here the soft Dorinda brings Sidney Chaplin home.

Although a sorry story, it's an interesting development of it with a grand Hitchcockian finale in church worth waiting for. Sidney Chaplin sustains his difficult and extremely revolting character to the end and at least makes a great act of it. Pity that young Englishmen should go to America to learn such bad manners.

An early sign that Ken Hughes was a director to watch was this ruthless thriller with a religious angle plainly inspired by Hitchcock's 'I Confess' photographed with his customary excellence by Phil Grindrod.

This is a 'lost' film which really deserves to be better known. It features excellent performances by Sidney Chaplin, Audrey Dalton, and Peter Hammond in the lead roles. Sidney Chaplin was a very good actor who suffered from the resentment of others at his being the son of Charlie Chaplin, which hurt his career. Being the son of a famous father can occasionally work for you (Michael Douglas, Beau Bridges), but usually works against you. I only met him and chatted to him once, but it was immediately obvious that he was a warm and pleasant fellow. His acting talent seems to me obvious, but it was constantly called into question by carpers and grumblers. He has the lead role in this film, and delivers with authority and skill. The film is set in an ambiguous location: in the script they call the town Teignmouth, which is in Devon, but they are reading a local paper called the 'Surrey Comet', which is 200 miles away. Never mind. It is a cozy little town, and the house is beside a village green, and everything should be idyllic, but it isn't. That's because Sidney comes back after years away in America where an American accent 'kind of brushes off on you'. And then the trouble begins. And what trouble that is. Hence the tension, which gets worse every minute. Audrey Dalton as his sister really is so charming and sweet and genuine, one of those English roses they don't grow any more. The film was directed by Ken Hughes, and was perfectly suited to his abilities. I knew Ken well later on, and although he had a big commercial success as director of 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang', that was an accident, as he was not really a big picture director, he was meant for small and tight stories like 'Confession'. Ken had no head for facts. He was proudest of all at having directed 'Cromwell'. I never had the heart to tell dear Ken that it was all historically inaccurate, and I gave him old engravings of Roundheads to cheer him up. His pride and joy was the gigantic painting by Delvaux that dominated his living room in Hampstead. Ken was no highbrow, but he loved 'higher things'; he was an innocent abroad who never really grew up, and would give a pal the shirt off his back. This film is one of his finest achievements and I am pleased to be able to say so. It should get back into circulation, but then so should real money and silver dollars. If you can find it, don't hesitate.

CONFESSION is one of those British thriller cheapies shot at Merton Park Studios and watching it you realise right away just how influenced by the minor Hitchcock film I, CONFESS it is. The story begins with a couple of American hoodlums arriving in Britain, only to fall out, and murder ensues. A priest hears a confession from one of the crooks and is involved in the subsequent investigation. I struggled with this one for the dearth of action and atmosphere, plus it generally lacks the suspense that makes thrillers of this era. Former Paul Temple John Bentley plays the cop, and there are minor parts for both Percy Herbert and Patrick Allen.