Father Brown

Father Brown is a 1954 British mystery comedy film directed by Robert Hamer and starring Alec Guinness as the title character with Joan Greenwood, Peter Finch and Cecil Parker. Like the American film Father Brown, Detective (1934), it is based loosely on The Blue Cross (1910), the first Father Brown short story by G. K. Chesterton. It was shot at the Riverside Studios in London. The film's sets were designed by the art director John Hawkesworth. It was distributed by Columbia Pictures in both Britain and the United States where it was released as The Detective. It was screened at the 1954 Venice Film Festival. Plot The police raid a premises at night and find a priest at an open safe: he explains he is replacing the money for a parishioner. He is arrested and put in the cells but released when the bishop confirms who he is. Outside he meets the erring parishioner Bert (Sid James) and convinces him to be a chauffeur to Lady Warren rather than drive get-away cars. He is chosen to go to Rome carrying a 1,200-year-old priceless crucifix. He is aware that his rival, the arch criminal Flambeau, may try to steal the cross. He sails to France then catches a train. The first stop is Paris. He is accompanied by a priest he met on the ship. As they sit in a cafe they are aware that two policemen are watching. They wait until there are only two seats left on an excursion bus then grab it, leaving the police stranded. The two police get a lift in the back of a police van with a group of prostitutes.