CinemaSerf
6.0/10Jun 19, 2022
George Arliss is the eponymous red clergyman attempting to control 17th Century France. He is the first minister of the ineffectual Louis XIII and as such, is the object of pretty universal loathing from serfs and nobles alike. He is also, however, remarkably astute and thick-skinned, and will manoeuvre and scheme to advance the cause and safety of his nation. Sadly, though - even with all that to work with, neither director Rowland V. Lee, nor Arliss himself really deliver anything particularly exciting or intriguing. The plotting and counter-plotting is all just a bit shallow, the wordy dialogue neuters the characters quite effectively and the pace of the whole thing lurches rather than flows. It has grand set staging, but that seems to suggest it might make for a better play than a movie and although there are plenty of familiar faces propping him up - Cesar Romero, Edward Arnold and quite a jolly contribution from Maureen O'Sullivan, on the whole I was disappointed by this rather dry, procedural drama.
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