Sinful Davey

John Hurt and Pamela Franklin

John Huston's Sinful Davey is an unsuccessful picaresque period film from 1969. Set in the 1820s, the film presents the exploits of Davey Haggart (John Hurt), a highwayman and brigand with enough dash to attract the ladies. His childhood friend Annie (Pamela Franklin) remains devoted to him, despite his indiscretions, and is constantly bailing Davey out of the various scrapes he gets into. That is pretty much all there is to the film. It ends up being an inferior Tom Jones retread. The film was loosely adapted from the memoirs of a real life Scottish rogue named David Haggart who went to the gallows in 1821 after a life of thievery and numerous escapes from jail. James R. Webb was the credited and original screenwriter, but the script went through many hands. Huston and producer Walter Mirisch battled constantly during filming and that battle continued during the film's editing. Mirisch, sensing he had a bomb on his hands, took a two hour preview version that Huston was happy with and cut it to 95 minutes. A John Barry score was also excised and has sadly disappeared into the ether, the remaining Ken Thorne score is unmemorable.

I doubt we have a mangled masterpiece in Sinful Davey, anyway. Huston, here and elsewhere, displays little feel for comedy. Sinful Davey's comic set pieces are slackly paced and clumsily shot. Huston was probably more interested in the latest issue of the Irish Racing Form than the picture. That said, Sinful Davey is not quite the debacle its reputation would make you think it is. It is a better film than such Huston disasters from this period as The Kremlin Letter and ...Judge Roy Bean. The film's most interesting insights focus on the criminal underworld of early 19th Century England, something that intrigues Huston more than comedy or romance. The cast is a joy despite being poorly framed. John Hurt is somewhat miscast as Davey, he lacks the open hearted sex appeal of an Albert Finney. That said, Hurt paces his lines properly for a lead in a farce. It was not his fault. I have been gaga for Pamela Franklin ever since I first saw her in The Legend of Hell House when I was twelve, so I will claim no objectivity here, but I find she brings warmth to a one dimensional role. I also admired the performances by Nigel Davenport, Robert Morley, Ronald Fraser, Fidelma Murphy, and Fionnula Flanagan. Sinful Davey is hard to track down and I am not sure you should.