2hotFeature one of my absolute favorites!

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Yazmin Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

hwg1957-102-265704 Based on the novel by Russell Thorndike this is a good film set in the village of Dymchurch where a group of sailors led by Captain Howard Collyer R.N. arrrive to look for smugglers. It is the village where the once notorious Captain Clegg was buried and where on the salt marshes strange phantom riders have been seen. The titular Doctor Syn is the local vicar who watches over and helps his flock. The director Roy William Neill keeps a firm hand on the narrative and incident follows incident at a lively pace with amusing and interesting dialogue.In his last film elderly George Arliss plays Dr. Syn and is OK. Margaret Lockwood and John Loder don't have much to do. Fortunately there are great character actors in support; Roy Emerton, Graham Moffatt, George Merritt, Wally Patch and Muriel George. Meinhart Maur mimes and moans as a mulatto. There is a character called Dr. Pepper but I don't think that was an early example of product placement.The version I saw had poor picture quality which was a shame as some shooting was done on location but it was difficult to see. Roy William Neill went on to direct many Rathbone/Bruce Sherlock Holmes films, some of which were excellent.

dbborroughs The final film of the actor George Arliss was this version of the story of Dr Syn, who was a pastor by day and a smuggler by night. Later versions would star Peter Cushing for Hammer and Patrick McGoohan for Disney, this is the weakest version of the story.The movie is okay melodrama, but isn't anything to write home about. Certainly had it not been an a multi-feature DVD I would never have picked it up, but now that I've seen it I can't say it was a complete waste of time.Part of the problem is that Arliss was well past his prime when he played the lead. While the fact that he was pushing 70 should not be held against him; the fact that he looked very close to dead, or at least embalmed and was playing a man of action should. The role should have been played by Tod Slaughter and you would have had a classic film.In his day Arliss was hailed as a great actor of the stage, unfortunately sound came too late to allow him to be anything but okay. If you want an okay time killer or to see a once great actors last gasp then see this version of Doctor Syn, otherwise stay away.

Snow Leopard This version of the old legend of "Dr. Syn" is good entertainment, with some effective old-fashioned atmosphere and a story that includes plenty of action. Most of the acting is pretty good, with George Arliss giving a good performance in the lead, a young-looking Margaret Lockwood providing the charm, and Roy Emerton in an energetic if somewhat exaggerated role. Not all of the characters come across as well as theirs do, but more than enough of it is good to make the movie worth watching.The story starts with a government ship coming to a seacoast town where there have been rumors of smuggling, and where secrets abound. It soon leads to an entertaining cat-and-mouse game that takes some interesting, if sometimes implausible, turns. It's a little uneven at times, but it holds your attention, and the way it all comes out still works. Overall, it's a good adventure story that deserves a look.

stryker-5 In the year 1780, the notorious pirate Captain Clegg marooned a mulatto sailor on a desert island. The sailor's ears and tongue were mutilated, and he was trussed up and left for dead. Now it is 1800, and the scene is set in Dymchurch, an English coastal village. A detachment of sailors from the Royal Navy has arrived in the village to hunt down smugglers and contraband. The mulatto is part of the naval complement, having been rescued many years previously by the warship's crew. In the village churchyard a tombstone marks the last resting-place of Captain Clegg, who was hanged for piracy ... or was he?In this costume yarn the village of Dymchurch is a law unto itself, the whole community being actively involved in the smuggling industry. At night men dress in the eerie garb of the 'marsh phantoms', and take their orders from the sinister Scarecrow. Why does the village parson, Doctor Syn, react so violently to the presence of the mulatto?George Arliss plays Doctor Syn in this, his last film. As one career was ending another was beginning, an incredibly young-looking Margaret Lockwood appearing as Imogene the barmaid.The scenery is nice and atmospheric, successfully evoking the rickety feel of vernacular architecture of the period. The Ship Inn is particularly good.Undercranking the camera in order to liven up the fist fight seems a somewhat clumsy technique to the modern viewer. The humour, mainly in the form of Jerry Jerk the overgrown schoolboy (Graham Moffatt) doesn't come off. And would a coroner really allow a naval captain to turn an inquest into a discussion forum on smuggling? How does the captain know about the parson's injured wrist?Verdict - An odd little British film with nice atmospheric sets.