Doctor Syn

Livelier than most Arliss films, though not quite so improving.

George Arliss is the ostensibly harmless local vicar "Dr. Syn" in a small English village that is visited by the excise men, determined to identify those who are smuggling goods - brandy, silks, etc. - from France. Unbeknown to all, (except us), he is really the shrewd criminal mastermind behind this meticulously planned, and lucrative operation. Can he keep the nosey "Capt. Collyer" (Roy Emerton) from discovering the truth - and can he keep "Imogene" (Margaret Lockwood) from finding out a secret far worse? Russell Thorndike wrote a good novel, but somehow this film really never catches fire. It is has loads of mystery to it, but neither Arliss nor the usually reliable Lockwood are really on their game. Roy William Neill (who went on to do the marvellous Rathbone/Bruce "Sherlock Holmes" mysteries) is also well off his own game too, leaving us with a rather procedural costume drama that ought to have been much more lively and entertaining - we have crypts, creepy graveyards and misty marshes to work with, after all. I did enjoy it, but sadly nowhere near as much as I had expected.

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