''Sinful Davey'' is a 1969

picaresque The picaresque novel ( Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for "rogue" or "rascal") is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish, but "appealing hero", usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corru ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by John Huston and starring

John Hurt Sir John Vincent Hurt (22 January 1940 – 25 January 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors. Director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in t ...

Pamela Franklin Pamela Franklin (born 3 February 1950) is a British former actress. She is best known for her role in the film '' The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' (1969), for which she won a NBR Award and received a BAFTA Award nomination. Franklin made her a ...

, and in early appearances Fionnula Flanagan and Anjelica Huston. John Huston later said the film was "very good" but "spoiled beyond recognition" by the producers.

Plot

In a British prison in the early 1800s, Scottish rogue Davey Haggart (

) is seen writing his memoirs while waiting to be hanged. Most of his story is told in flashback with

voice-over Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique where a voice—that is not part of the narrative (non- diegetic)—is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentation ...

narration by Davey. His story begins as he is seen marching and beating a drum for the British Army, but he quickly

deserts A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

by jumping off a bridge with his drum and floating away. We learn that his father had been a highwayman who was hanged at the age of 21 for attempting to rob the

Duke of Argyll Duke of Argyll ( gd, Diùc Earraghàidheil) is a title created in the peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The earls, marquesses, and dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerfu ...

(

Robert Morley Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE (26 May 1908 – 3 June 1992) was an English actor who enjoyed a lengthy career in both Britain and the United States. He was frequently cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment, of ...

) and that Davey is determined to exceed the number of his father's crimes. Annie (

), a childhood friend who is in love with him, follows him at different times, sometimes getting him out of trouble but hoping that he will reform. Davey winds up becoming a partner with McNab ( Ronald Fraser), a pickpocket and thief, sometimes teaming up with other criminals. Eventually, the two land in prison, where Davey is able to break into the women's quarters and start a raucous party with the female prisoners, led by Jean Carlisle (Fidelma Murphy). Davey is bailed out by Annie, but he then enables McNab's escape and turns to highway robbery, following in his father's footsteps. Constable Richardson (

Nigel Davenport Arthur Nigel Davenport (23 May 1928 – 25 October 2013) was an English stage, television and film actor, best known as the Duke of Norfolk and Lord Birkenhead in the Academy Award-winning films '' A Man for All Seasons'' and '' Chariots of F ...

), the local officer, tries to recruit Annie to help capture Davey, but she refuses. Davey goes into hiding in the

Scottish highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland S ...

, but still gets into trouble. Almost by accident, Davey foils an attempted assault and robbery of Sir James Graham ( Donal McCann), a nephew of the Duke of Argyll, who invites Davey to his uncle's manor. While Davey wins the favor of the Duke and his family, McNab, Jean Carlisle, Annie, and Constable Richardson also converge on the estate at different times. Davey sets up an elaborate robbery of guests at a grand ball hosted by the Duchess ( Maxine Audley), but Annie then returns the stolen jewels. When Richardson recognizes Davey as the thief he has been seeking, a lengthy chase ensues, with Davey stealing a horse and riding away until he is knocked off by a low-hanging tree branch. The story returns to Davey's prison cell, as he finishes writing his memoirs, expecting his execution to take place soon. Annie and McNab, however, are able to sabotage the gallows so that Davey escapes once again, riding away with Annie.

Production

Director John Huston and producer Walter Mirisch clashed several times during and after the film's production, especially in regard to a musical score originally composed by John Barry, the casting of Huston's daughter Anjelica, and the final editing of the film. Critic David Sterrit describes the final product as "a box-office fiasco that nobody has particularly wanted to own. But it's also an interesting document from Huston's tired period, showing what can happen when a great director and a major studio clash over a project that was probably fated from the beginning not to click." The film is based on the autobiography of

David Haggart David Haggart (24 June 1801 – 18 July 1821) was a Scottish thief and rogue. Early life Haggart was born at Golden Acre, near Edinburgh, 24 June 1801. A gamekeeper's son, he was taken twice as a gillie to the highlands, received a good plain edu ...

titled ''The Life of David Haggart''. The film, about a Scottish rogue, was filmed in Ireland, and much of the cast have Irish accents instead of the more accurate Scottish accent. Four members of the film unit making the picture in Co.

Wicklow Wicklow ( ; ga, Cill Mhantáin , meaning 'church of the toothless one'; non, Víkingaló) is the county town of County Wicklow in Ireland. It is located south of Dublin on the east coast of the island. According to the 2016 census, it has a ...

crashed in their Cessna plane at

Glenmalure Glenmalure () is a 20-kilometre long U-shaped glacial valley in the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland. Glenmalure is an important base for climbing in the Wicklow mountains, and particularly accessing the massif of Lugnaquilla, and contains one of ...

in 1967. All the occupants of the plane were injured to some extent, but John O’Connor, the location manager, was the most seriously injured. Huston left the film location to visit the hospital and stopped the filming.

Cast

as Davey Haggart *

as Annie *

as Richardson * Ronald Fraser as MacNab *

as Duke of Argyll * Fidelma Murphy as Jean Carlisle * Maxine Audley as Duchess of Argyll * Fionnula Flanagan as Penelope * Donal McCann as Sir James Campbell *

Allan Cuthbertson Allan Darling Cuthbertson (7 April 1920 – 8 February 1988) was an Australian-born British actor. He was best known for playing stern-faced military officers in British films of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Cuthbertson was born in Perth, ...

as Captain Douglas * Eddie Byrne as Yorkshire Bill * Niall MacGinnis as Boots Simpson * Noel Purcell as Jock *

Judith Furse Judith Furse (4 March 1912 – 29 August 1974) was an English actress. Career A member of the Furse family, her father was Lieutenant-General Sir William Furse and mother Jean Adelaide Furse. Her brother, Roger, became a stage designer and ...

as Mary *

Francis de Wolff Francis Marie de Wolff (7 January 191318 April 1984) was an English character actor. Large, bearded, and beetle-browed, he was often cast as villains in both film and television. Life and career Born in Essex, he made his film debut in ''Flame ...

as Andrew *

Paul Farrell Thomas Paul Farrell (21 September 1893 – 12 June 1975) was an Irish people, Irish film and television actor. He is best remembered as the "Tramp" who gets beaten up by Alex and his "droogs", in Stanley Kubrick's ''A Clockwork Orange (film ...

as Bailiff

Critical reception

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

says- "A good cast overcomes the somewhat heavy-handed direction of Huston in this Tom Jones-inspired comedy".Sinful Davey at TV Guide
/ref>

References

External links

''Sinful Davey''
at

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

* sung by Esther Ofarim * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sinful Davey 1969 films 1960s English-language films 1960s crime comedy films 1960s adventure comedy films American adventure comedy films American crime comedy films British adventure comedy films Films directed by John Huston Films set in Scotland Films shot in Ireland United Artists films British crime comedy films 1969 comedy films Films scored by Ken Thorne 1960s American films 1960s British films