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Father Brown - Set 1 | 
| Director: Peter Jefferies; Robert Tronson
Actor: Kenneth More; Dennis Burgess
Studio: ACORN MEDIA
Category: DVD
List Price: $39.99
Buy New: $34.99
You Save: $5.00 (13%)
New (32) Used (8) Collectible (1) from $15.00
Rating:  14 reviews
Sales Rank: 9706
Format: Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number Of Discs: 2
Running Time: 364 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 3.6
MPN: 8970
UPC: 054961897094
EAN: 0054961897094
ASIN: B000K7UBUM
Theatrical Release Date: November 2, 1982
Release Date: January 16, 2007
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
What Agatha Christie did for genteel spinsters with her intrepid crime-solver Miss Marple, G.K. Chesterton did with the splendid Father Brown, a bumbling yet wily cleric in 1920s England, bumping into and then solving the most outlandish crimes. This boxed set includes seven full-length episodes of Father Brown (shown in the U.S. on PBS) in all his twinkly, slightly clueless glory. The Curse of the Golden Cross is a particular gem, ambitious in its story of an American archeologist who receives eerie death threats from a hidden competitor (or is it a ghost?) upon his discovery of an important ancient cross. As the archeologist returns to England to view what is reportedly a second, heretofore unknown cross, dug up at a country church, an upper crust entourage gathers 'round him--and Father Brown, of course--as he makes his way to the site. "A curse! How splendid!" says one aging flapper upon learning that the newest find may have crossed the gods in an irrevocable way. Despite the varying production values (the show switches from film for outdoor shots to video for indoors), the intricate plots (mistaken identities, hidden adultery, faked suicides) make for a very satisfying armchair detective experience. Spot on, this. --A.T. Hurley
Description
G.K. Chesterton's kindly, cassocked crime-solver With a distinct twinkle behind his spectacles, Kenneth More brings G.K. Chesterton's beloved Father Brown to the screen in a classic British television series. When it comes to amateur detective work, don't let this priest's absent-minded air and penchant for an occasional tipple fool you. His kindly eyes pick up clues that professionals usually miss, and his keen understanding of the human condition lets him search men's souls for motives. Often joined by his friend, the thief-turned-private-investigator Hercule Flambeau (Dennis Burgess), Father Brown has won legions of fans as much for his compassion as for his crime-solving. Setting Father Brown in the 1920s, Chesterton played with the structure and elements of the detective genre, and these delightful screenplays convey all the charm, cleverness, and suspense of Chesterton's original work. You'll welcome visits from Father Brown, again and again. As seen on the PBS Mystery! series. Includes G.K. Chesterton bio and cast filmographies
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| Customer Reviews: Read 9 more reviews...
 Interesting but not a real winner! December 25, 2008
N. Moore (Pennsylvania)
I love British mysteries, but Father Brown seems a little flat. I wouldn't buy it again.
 Nice August 14, 2008
Alyssa A. Lappen (Earth)
Rumpole of the Bailey, this series is not. Still, it's a nice relief from U.S. crime series, if one is inclined to like mysteries with less blood and guts, and more intellect.
Father Brown is not the best-made British series we have ever seen, by any means. Some of the acting is quite poor, and diction can sometimes be almost impossible to understand, what with words garbled, too clipped, and what not.
Furthermore, I'm delighted not to have paid the full $28 price, much less the $19 offer at used rates. No, we picked up our copy for $2 at a public library sale.
I'd recommend this series at a reasonable rate. But don't spring for it at full prices unless you're a true British mystery series fanatic.
More Good than Bad September 3, 2007
maskirovka (Alexandria, Virginia)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This first set of "Father Brown" mysteries is generally entertaining and worth watching (if not buying). I think Kenneth Moore plays the good father very well. I don't think all the supporting actors are "amateurs" as one reviewer here claims ...but not everyone is up to the Moore's level of skill.
I also think that the complaints about production values aren't really fair. I think people forget that these were produced on British TV in 1974! I don't imagine any DVD collection of any other TV show from that era is going to look much better, and some probably would look much worse.
My main criticism of this collection is that a couple of the stories end rather abruptly ...to the point where you find yourself wondering, "What happened?" One in particular ends where you don't really know what is going to happen to the bad guy.
But there are a couple of gems ...particularly the first one "the Hammer of" something.
Bottom line: they aren't as good as the David Suchet Poirot's but they are worth watching. Maybe they will do an updated series some time and the shows will benefit from today's production values.
 like a poor high school performance July 20, 2007
L. Gowen (concord, CA United States)
The whole poduction felt amateurish and we only watched half of the series before tossing it in the garbage. Don't waste your money. It compared poorly to Agatha Christy's productions or any other of the marvelous mystery series that come from Britain.
Hugely Disappointing July 16, 2007
senorverde (Chicago, IL USA)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Please be warned -- the quality of these videos are so excruciatingly bad, it makes them almost impossible to sit through. A couple of the comments on here said exactly this but I bought it anyway, thinking "How bad can it be?"
I was wrong. They're terrible. They're boring. And I write as a huge Chesterton fan and an avid reader of all the Father Brown stories. This is a pale imitation of the sparkling wit and vivid descriptions of those classic tales. Now, Chesterton himself said "Anything worth doing is worth doing badly," so if this stuff works for some people and it introduces them to the Apostle of Common Sense, that's great...but be assured, in this case it has indeed been done badly. Very badly.
I was puzzled by the great variance in comments on the Amazon site for this DVD -- such gushing reviews and only one or two dissenters. Perhaps it's a generational thing? I'm not sure. But all I can say is that I suspect that most people who are used to the quality of current television shows, or who have a modicum of understanding and appreciation for the details and decisions that go into contemporary TV or film production will be dumbfounded by how truly bad this is. The video and sound quality are worse than home movies. The characterizations are overly exaggerated and the dialogue is often quite dull. Also, the pacing, editing, camera angles and movement are incredibly amateurish. It's like someone found a video camera on the street and was using it for the first time.
Don't make the same mistake I did. If you want good televised British mysteries, invest in the excellent Jeremy Brett series of Sherlock Holmes by Granada television. If you want Chesterton, sit yourself down in an overstuffed Victorian armchair with a bit of brandy, a good cigar, and your favorite pair of spectacles, and settle down with the massive set of Complete Works put out by Ignatius Press. The time you spend working through them will be infinitely better spent than any second watching these videos.
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