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Doctor Syn

UK 1937
produced by
Michael Balcon, Edward Black for Gaumont British
directed by Roy William Neill
starring George Arliss, Margaret Lockwood, John Loder, Roy Emerton, Graham Moffatt, Frederick Burtwell, George Merritt, Athole Stewart, Wilson Coleman, Wally Patch, Meinhart Maur, Muriel George
screenplay by Roger Burford, Michael Hogan, based on the novel by Russell Thorndike, musical direction by Louis Levy

review by
Mike Haberfelner

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The little coastal village lives (and flourishes) mainly from smuggling, however, when Captain Collyer (Roy Emerton) from inland revenue and his soldiers want to gather evidence against the smugglers and arrest them, they can find nothing, and are welcomed with dismay by the villagers - all but the local Squire (Athole Stewart) and the local physician, Doctor Pepper (Wilson Coleman), who both know nothing about the smuggling going on under their noses, and Doctor Syn (George Arliss), the local parson ... who is really the once feared and now believed dead pirate Captain Clegg, and who is now running the whole smuggling operation - to the benefit of the whole village.

By and by Captain Collyer gathers more and more evidence against the good people of Dymchurch, but mostly, it is Syn who manages to pull a fast one after the other on the Captain ... until the local school teacher Rash (Frederick Burtwell), one of the smugglers, kills Doctor Pepper, who seems to have learned a little bit too much, but one of Rash's students (Graham Moffatt) sees the whole thing, plus Captain Clegg's grave proves to be empty, and the mulatto (Meinhart Maur) who has been left to die on a dessert island by Clegg 20 years ago but is now in service of the Revenue recognizes Doctor Syn as Captain Clegg - and from that point on it doesnt take Captain Collyer too long to put two and two together ... but when he tries to arrest Doctor Syn, he has to realize that the whole village of Dymchurch is against their pirate captain turned parson, and Syn can not only get away, he can also marry his daughter (Margaret Lockwood) to the Squire's son (John Loder), blow up a warehouse filled with contraband goods so as to not leave any evidence behind, and leave Dymchurch behind for good without Captain Collyer and his soldiers are ever even able to catch up with him ...

 

Doctor Syn is far from being a good film, its direction is way too stagey and the actors are far too hammy to really impress. That said however, the film is also pretty entertaining, the plot moves along at a reasonably fast pace, there's hardly a dull moment, and the dialogue is poignant and witty. So if you are able to forgive the film's obvious shortcomings, you might as well enjoy this one.

 

In 1962, Hammer remade this film as Captain Clegg, a film that greatly improves over this one in terms of direction, acting and atmosphere, but lacks this one's wit.

 

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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In times of uncertainty of a possible zombie outbreak, a woman has to decide between two men - only one of them's one of the undead.

 

There's No Such Thing as Zombies
starring
Luana Ribeira, Rudy Barrow and Rami Hilmi
special appearances by
Debra Lamb and Lynn Lowry

 

directed by
Eddie Bammeke

written by
Michael Haberfelner

produced by
Michael Haberfelner, Luana Ribeira and Eddie Bammeke

 

now streaming at

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Vimeo

 

 

 

Robots and rats,
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Tales to Chill
Your Bones to
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a collection of short stories and mini-plays
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the twisted mind of
screenwriter and film reviewer
Michael Haberfelner.

 

Tales to Chill
Your Bones to

the new anthology by
Michael Haberfelner

 

Out now from
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