SINFUL DAVEY
UK, 1969, 95 minutes, Colour.
John Hurt, Pamela Franklin, Nigel Davenport, Ronald Fraser, Robert Morley, Maxine Audley, Fionnula Flanagan, Donald Mc Cann, Alan Cuthbertson, Eddie Byrne, Niall Mac Ginnis, Noel Purcell, Judith Furse, Francis de Wolf.
Directed by John Huston.
Sinful Davey is a minor John Huston film. It was made in 1969, during a dull period in Huston’s output as director. During the 1960s he had made a number of successful films including The Misfits, Freud, The List of Adrian Messenger, Night of the Iguana and The Bible in the Beginning. While he made Reflections in a Golden Eye in 1967 and The Kremlin Letter in 1970, he really did not get into his stride again until 1972 with Fat City and The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean.
The film was written by James R. Webb who had a very good list of screenwritings including Apache and Vera Cruz, Trapeze, The Big Country, Cape Fear, Cheyenne Autumn and Alfred the Great.
The film is a Scottish romp, focusing on a young man who wants to emulate his highwayman father while the girl who loves him pursues him to reform him. A young John Hurt appears as Davey Haggart. He had appeared in A Man For All Seasons in 1966 and had begun a very long and successful career. Pamela Franklin is Annie. There is a range of British character actors led by Nigel Davenport as the constable and Robert Morley as the Duke of Argylle.
It is a slight film, a light film – and an entertaining one. At this time James Clavell made a film about an England rogue with Tommy Steele, Where’s Charlie.
1. An entertaining film? A period romp? The re-creation of the 18th century? Law and morals?
2. The Scottish settings, the highlands, the towns and cities, the open road? The widescreen photography? The musical score?
3. Audience familiarity with this style of film in the 1960s – the heritage of Tom Jones? Audiences enjoying the colourful costumes and décor of the 18th century?
4. The film as a memoir, Davey and his father, his father’s life, execution? His father as his model? A successful criminal?
5. Davey, young, aged thirty? In the army, the drum? The river and the mill? The reward for him? His friendship with McNab?, McNab? teaching him? Being a highwayman in practice? The stealing from the banks? His father’s jobs? His two brothers? The coach, the danger? His being pursued by the law? His love for Annie, her love for him, wanting to save his soul? The place of the Duke of Argyll? The decision to rob the duke? His being taken, in the court, in prison? The role of the duke? His being sentenced to be hanged? The escape – and his memoirs?
6. The character of Annie, her age, love for Davey, her lifestyle, her following him, helping him? At the end?
7. The portrait of the law, the constable and his style, the pursuit of Davey, the testimony in the court, the preparation for the hanging?
8. The sketch of the duke and the duchess, their life, Argyll, the hold-up and their reaction, their help?
9. Mc Nab, his knack as a highwayman, the influence on Davey?
10. The amoral tone – the story of a successful highwayman? The 18th century style of novel and storytelling with picaresque adventures and characters?
