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Er kann's nicht lassen
West Germany 1962
produced by
Utz Utermann, Claus Hardt (executive) for Bavaria
directed by Axel von Ambesser
starring Heinz Rühmann, Rudolf Forster, Grit Böettcher, Ruth-Maria Kubitschek, Seigfried Wischnewski, Lina Carstens, Horst Tappert, Peter Ehrlich, Rainer Penkert, Emmerich Schrenk, Otto Schmöle, E.O. Fuhrmann, Uli Steigberg, Paul Glawion, Hans-Dieter Jendreyko, Peter Parten
screenplay by Carl Merz, Egon Eis, based on characters created by G.K.Chesterton, music by Martin Böttcher
Father Brown, Father Brown (Heinz Rühmann)
review by
Mike Haberfelner
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For all his crime-solving shenanigans on mainland Ireland, Father Brown
(Heinz Rühmann) ahs been relocated to a far-off island populated by
cutthroats and smugglers - where he finds a priceless painting that is
soon stolen again, but for a man of Brown's crime-solving abilities it's
no big deal to track down the thieves, a certain O'Leary and his gang,
retrieve the painting - but let them off scot-free after they make their
confessions in church. The bishop (Rudolf Forster) is anything but
pleased about the publicity Father Brown gets for this whole affair and
relocates him to a rich and peaceful community ... where soon enough
another murder occurs, the dead being a rich land- and castleowner. Brown
tries to stay out of it and calls Scotland Yard inspecor O'Connally
(Siegfried Wischnewski) for assistance, but the policeman is way too quick
to suspect heiress Berenice (Grit Boettcher) and her fiancé Bruce,a nd
actual evidence against Bruce soon turns up ... but Father Brown does his
best to keep him out of harm's way and instead investigates the
disappearance of the dead man's housekeeper Ms Holland (Ruth Maria
Kubitschek) - and soon he picks up her trail leading to a nightclub that
belongs to exactly the O'Leary who has stolen the painting at the
beginning of the film. Turns out that O'Leary and his gang are into drug
smuggling these days, and Ms Holland (actually Mrs Simpson) and her
husband (Horst Tappert) have thrown in with them and offered them
assistance in return for a few murders - because you know, Ms Holland
would be the next in line after Berenice to inherit the land and castle of
the dead man, though nobody is aware of her real identity yet. The baddies
are quick to lock up Father Brown and even try to poison him, but Brown
still has an ace or two up his sleeve, and after he makes a daring escape
on motorbike, he has all the villains arrested for speeding within city
limits - with more to come of course ... On the plus side, this
film is better than Heinz Rühmann's first appearance as Father
Brown, Das schwarze Schaf
(1960), especially since this time around, Rühmann proves to be much more
capable to make the role his own and relies much less on remotely funny
trademark-oneliners. That all said, Er kann's nicht lassen is still
far from a perfect movie, its set up (the story about the stolen painting)
takes up way too much time (about one third of the movie), its plot is
somewhat childish and unnecessarily convoluted at the same time, its funny
characters are incredibly unfunny (while Rühmann in the lead comes off as
rather amusing), the chase that makes up the finale of the film is too
obviously done by way of back projection to remain exciting, and way too
little is made of the sometimes impressive sceneries the film is set in.
Not a total loss, but by no means a must-see either.
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find Er kann's nicht lassen at adultvideouniverse.com
