The Shop at Sly Corner (1947) User Reviews

drama with a thriller twist in the tale

[mb014f2908 · 7/10 · 19 December 2007]

I finally caught this film on an ebay DVD copy which was OK quality but not top notch. I'd read Muriel Pavlow's interview by Brian McFarlane which mentioned this film and her role in it and so i was interested to see it. This is the film on which she met her future husband actor Derek Farr and admits she was upstaged by Oscar Homolka every which way. Homolka is the heart and guts of this film and he is superb. Kenneth Griffith( he played the same role in the stage production) also shines and once he disappears from the action the film is not so gripping. There is an effective twist in the tale/tail and it is a surprisingly downbeat story overall with its insights into the less savoury side of human character.

An Unusual British Thriller Set in the World of Antiques

[kidboots · 7/10 · 18 May 2015]

Don't know what I was expecting - with a name like that, maybe an eerie, quirky thriller set in Dicken's London. Instead it concerned an eccentric antique dealer with a shady past who lives for his daughter's triumph as a concert violinist. The real star is Kenneth Griffith - I don't think I've ever seen him in a likable role and this part would have been a high water mark in his career of ne'er do wells and bad 'uns!! He played Archie Fellows, an insolent assistant to Desius Heiss (Oskar Homolka, I remembered him from "Sabotage"(1936)) at his antique shop at Sly Corner. I can't really understand why Heiss puts up with him because, at first, Archie has no knowledge about his past. He soon finds out when he stays behind one night at the shop and overhears a conversation between Heiss and a cat burglar, Corder Morris, who have a connection over a stolen goods racket. He also overhears Heiss confession about his past and why he can't return to Paris.

From then on - it is on!! Archie is suddenly "in the money" with a palatial flat, a young nymphet complete with a fur coat hanging on his arm and walking around the antique shop as if he owns it!! Yes, he is bleeding poor Heiss for everything he has but what he really coverts is Margaret (Muriel Pavlow) the old shop keeper's daughter. Archie is so repulsive in character but at least you feel some emotion, no matter how negative. With Heiss it is hard to feel a lot of sympathy. He has already shown that he has a lucrative sideline as a fence (even though he dissolves the partnership) but when his accomplice (who seems a nice enough guy) is killed in a car chase, Heiss doesn't give himself away with much emotion - he is a very inscrutable person. He can be very penetrating and unscrupulous but still manages to have compassion for an elderly lady who brings her beloved music box in to be pawned. Archie tries to short change her but Heiss ends up giving her more than she asked for.

Muriel Pavlow made an unassuming leading lady, she and leading man, Derek Farr, met on the set and it was love at first sight apparently. Gorgeous teenager Diana Dors didn't have much to do as Archie's newly acquired girl friend but gee I wish she had been featured more!!

A Film for Classical Music Fans

[howardmorley · 7/10 · 11 December 2012]

What a wonderful actor Oskar Homolka was who plays the central role of an antiques dealer in a London shop who has a shady past and acts as a "fence" for stolen jewellery.(I first saw Oskar in "Sabotage" (1936) with Sylvia Sidney).However he dotes on his prodigiously musically gifted daughter, played by Muriel Pavlow, (see her later film playing Thelma Edwards who marries Douglas Bader in "Reach for the Sky" (1956) and her earlier film appearance in "Quiet Wedding" (1940).I had bought at the same time the DVD "Bond Street"(1948) and quite a few actors also appeared in this film such as Derek Farr, Kathleen Harrison, and Kenneth Griffith.The latter named actor I had only associated playing heroes like Jack Phillips, senior Marconi operator of the "Titanic", in "A Night to Remember"(1958).What a revelation to see Kenneth also playing cowardly, conniving, blackmailing parts in both "Bond Street" and "The Shop at Sly Corner".As I have stated in previous reviews such as "Love Story (1944), I love films with a classical music flavour/theme and here we have Muriel acting playing her solo violin recital of the beautiful, Felix Bartoly Mendelssohn's violin concerto.

In early post war films the British Board of Film Censors decreed that bad characters had to receive their comeuppance in the end but Oskar effectively plays an anti-hero who gradually wins our sympathy.So I will not provide a spoiler disclosing the denouement to this well acted film which I rated 7/10.

Oscar Homulka is superb in the role of the sly antique dealer.

[sundplega · 17 March 2002]

I expected this movie to be oldfashioned in acting style with an easy plot. Instead it surprised me with a fairly complex plot and some actions by the characters I did not foresee. Most important, I thought the acting style of Homulka was extremely "real," and he did not sound like he was speaking lines. Take yourself back to the 30s --which is what it looked like, even if it is 1947, and enjoy.

Gorilla steals the show

[malcolmgsw · 6/10 · 22 August 2016]

This film has an excellent cast.Kenneth Griffiths being very nasty as the blackmailing Archie.Gary Marsh being his usual jovial policeman.Bits from Kathleen Harrison and Irene Handel.However towering over them all is Oscar Hamolka and his expressive eyebrows.He steals every scene he is in,not just in this film but every film he appeared in.His is an excellent performance which keeps the film going after the murder of Archie.However the film does rely on an unlikely contrivance to bring the film to its slightly tame ending.What on earth was Irene Handel doing wandering around in the woods late at night?Due to her presence the murder eventually unravels.

An interesting story, ably told

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 25 July 2016]

THE SHOP AT SLY CORNER is a British crime film with a difference: a fresh-feeling story that avoids all of the usual clichés and keeps you guessing as to what's going to happen from beginning to end. The film features a warm performance from Austrian actor Oscar Homolka who plays a French ex-pat who now runs an antiques store. He also works as a fence for an old criminal friend, but when his assistant discovers his secret, the stage is set for blackmail and murder.

To say too much about the plot would be to spoil the thing. Suffice to say, THE SHOP AT SLY CORNER is a rather engrossing film which overcomes the slightly slow pacing to offer something a little more mature and distinguished to the usual crime bunkum. Homolka is completely sympathetic as the lead, but the standout acting honours must go to Kenneth Griffith as the loathsome Archie. This guy could have played a serial killer, he's so chilling in part; I'm not joking, he's up there with Richard Attenborough in BRIGHTON ROCK as one of the most unpleasant screen characters of the era.

X 'Shopping' Days To Xmas

[writers_reign · 7/10 · 22 October 2016]

Any film that can overcome a major hurdle like convincing the audience that Oscar Homolka - with THAT accent - is French has to be taken seriously. Homolka, who was actually Austrian and copped an Oscar in his very next film, I Remember Mama, playing a Norwegian, is mostly associated with mittel Europeans and walks away with this film despite solid support from the likes of Kenneth Griffith, Gary Marsh, Derek Farr and his new real-life wife Muriel Pavlov and an uncredited Diana Dors as Griffith's girl friend. It's a solid drama with Antiques dealer Homolka dabbling in a little fencing on the side to help gifted violinist daughter Pavlov further her career. Employee Griffith catches on, blackmails Homolka and, not unnaturally it all ends in tears. It's barely 90 minutes but hugely entertaining.

The Shop at Sly Corner

[CinemaSerf · 7/10 · 8 January 2023]

Oscar Homolka is super in this crafty little crime noir. He portrays a reputable antiques dealer whose daughter "Margaret" (Muriel Pavlow) is a virtuoso violinist. Unbeknown to all, though, he also has another business fencing stolen jewellery with his friend Derek Farr. When his odious clark "Morris" (Manning Whiley) overhears one of their conversations and tries his hand at a little blackmail, things start to spiral out of control as he threatens to tell the young woman of her father's behind-the-scenes shenanigans. When he demands that he be allowed to marry her - well you can guess! George King keeps the pace of this moving along well, with Whiley really good as the scheming underling whose looming comeuppance is surely just a matter of time. The score - especially the Mendelssohn Violin concerto at the end, adds loads to the atmosphere of this superior thriller that has plenty to shout about. Rarely seen these days, but if you do come across it - give it a watch, it's a more substantial part for the star that is well worth a watch.

Sly blackmail

[AAdaSC · 7/10 · 5 January 2018]

Oskar Homolka (Mr Heiss) owns an antique shop and is very proud of his violin-playing daughter Muriel Pavlow (Margaret) who is just breaking into the big time. Kenneth Griffith (Archie) is a slimy weasel who works in the shop and is attracted to Muriel. God knows why. She has a boyfriend in the Navy - Derek Farr (Robert) - and they are the rather bland goody-two-shoes couple. It is the other actors who give this film colour and the desire to see things through to the end. Griffith has a weasely plan to get one over Homolka.

One strange thing about the film was making Homolka a French citizen. No, he's not. What's the point in trying to pull that one off? Anyway, I'm not surprised at what he's up to with his antiques and when you have a character like the slimy Griffith as an assistant, then you are asking for trouble. Diana Dors (Mildred) has a memorable small role as a cheap girlfriend for Griffith. As does Katie Johnson as a customer in the shop - you'll recognize her from her pivotal role in "The Ladykillers" (1955).

The Past Catches Up

[boblipton · 7/10 · 17 February 2020]

Oskar Homolka is an antiques dealer with a daughter, Muriel Pavlow, who is studying to be a concert violinist. He is well respected and kindly, with a wide circle of friends that includes Derek Farr, a Royal Navy surgeon who brings him oddities from across the world. Farr is in love with his daughter. His other friends in Garry Marsh, at Scotland Yard, and Manning Whitley, a burglar from whom he buys stolen goods. He tells Whitley he's getting out of that line of business; he understands Whitley's disappointment, but he worries about public exposure, since he's wanted in France for having escaped from Devil's Island for murder. They part on good terms. However, Homolka's shop assistant, Kenneth Griffith, has overheard the conversation and begins to blackmail Homolka.

It's produced and directed by George King, best known as a director of cheap quota quickies in the 1930%, who had a lot of success directing Tod Slaughter n old-line melodramas. In the 1940s, King's star rose, and he was in charge of some fine programmers.

This one is in line with the melodramas he had directed in the previous decade. So long as he is concentrating on Homolka, it is a first-rate character study of a kind man under pressure. In the final third, he falls back into some of his habits as a director of cheap movies, most obviously during a car chase sequence.

Still, it's mostly a fine movie, almost entirely due to Homolka, and a pleasure to watch.

it's pretty good

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 27 June 2023]

The shop at sly corner, on tubi streaming, is called code of scotland yard on imdb. When a shop assistant overhears a conversation by the shop owner, it sets off a chain of events. Heiss (homolka) has been using his shop to fence and sell stolen goods. Archie, his employee (griffith) tries to blackmail him. But it doesn't go as planned. Good intrigue. Some twists and turns. The sound and picture quality are excellent. Good suspense as the coppers track down the killer. Directed by george king, right at the end of his working years. He only directed one more after this. Based on the play by edward percy. Homolka will be nominated for best supporting actor for "I remember mama". It's pretty good. Made in post war britain. Muriel pavlow (plays margaret) married co-star derek farr... he plays robert graham!

Excellent UK Film Noir

[gordonl56 · 9/10 · 25 June 2014]

THE SHOP AT SLY CORNER – 1947

I had this one sitting in the, "to watch" pile for several years. Every time it hit the top I would stick it back to the bottom. The title just did not garb me. This time I decided to give it a spin, and boy was I surprised. It is a first class production with more than a few film noir touches throughout.

Oscar Homolka headlines the film with excellent help from Kenneth Griffith, Muriel Pavlow, Derek Farr, Manning Whiley and Gary Marsh.

Homolka runs a successful antique shop with an interesting sideline. He is in partnership with cat burglar, Manning Whiley. Whiley steals gold and jewels which Homokla breaks down. The gold is melted down and the jewels shipped offshore. All this is so Homolka can pay for his daughter, Muriel Palow's education and training as a world class violin player.

Of course this happy arrangement cannot continue forever. Homolka's shop assistant, Kenneth Griffith is a crooked little rat, who is not adverse to pocketing a few pounds, by selling items for a bit more than priced. The swine is also infatuated with Homolka's daughter.

One evening Griffith happens to overhears Homolka and Whiley taking about their arrangement. Homolka is telling Whiley that he has enough of the deal. He has enough cash saved to look after himself and see to his daughter. He also tells Whiley about his early life. He was from France and had once been a prisoner on Devil's Island. He had murdered a man and been sentenced to life. He had escaped and had been living under a false name in England since. Whiley is cool with the break up as he also feels it is time to cool his heels.

After Whiley leaves, Homolka is confronted by Griffith. The man is in the mood for a spot of blackmail. Pony up some cash, or Griffith will spill the beans to John Law about Homolka's past.

Several months later, Derek Farr, a navy doctor, returns from the far-east. Farr is the fiancé of Palow. The two are madly in love, which makes Homolka very happy. Daughter Palow though has noticed a difference in her father over the last few months. He seems bothered by something. She has fiancé Farr have a word with Homolka about it. Farr has also noticed that former shop assistant Griffith seems to be in the cash of late. He is always popping in to see Homolka and acts like he owns the place. Homolka just says he is feeling a bit under the weather.

Griffith is have a grand time on Homolka's dime. He is dressed to the nines in fancy clothes, has a great apartment and has just bought a flash car. Every time he needs a bit of loot, he just puts the touch on Homolka.

Homolka gets hold of his old partner, Whiley for a talk about Griffith. Whiley is all for eliminating Griffith and knows a few "heavy mob" types who will make Griffith "disappear". Homokla is not willing to go that far. He just wanted Whiley to know what was going on. Homolka has a plan that he hopes will end the matter.

He will offer Griffith 20,000 pounds to leave the country. Take it or leave type thing. If Griffith goes to the Police he will be ending his supply of cash.

Several days later, Griffith pays the shop a call to see Homolka. The future son in law, Farr, happens to be there waiting to pick up Palow. The oily Griffith makes some crack about Palow, to which Farr responds with several solid punches to the head. He then picks up Griffith and tosses him out in the street.

Griffith, rather annoyed with the beating Farr gave him, returns that evening with his answer to Homolka's offer. He wants the cash, and he also intends to marry Palow himself. He wants Homolka to break up Farr and his daughter's planned marriage.

Homolka has had enough, and without really thinking, is soon choking the life out of the bastard Griffith. Collecting himself, Homolka calls Whiley over to the shop. Whiley has a look at the stiff and agrees to help Homolka dispose of the swine. They pop the body into Whiley's car and drop it off in an outlaying wooded area. It is pouring rain, so they assume the water will wash any evidence away.

Unfortunately for them there was a witness to them dumping the body. A woman spotted the men as they drove off from the woods. She gives the Police the car plate numbers. The body is quickly found and the wheels start rolling. Homolka is soon paid a visit from Police Inspector Gary Marsh about his former assistant. Marsh and Homolka are friends as Marsh is a collector who has bought items from the shop before.

Needless to say the whole thing starts to come unglued as clues start to pop up for the Police. Whiley is tracked down from his car plates and is killed in a high speed chase trying to escape. A search of Griffith's flat finds a bit too many objects from Homolka's shop. The Police cannot find any bank records, of where Griffith was getting his cash from. The leads all seem to head back to Homolka.

Without giving away the ending, suffice it to say it is a real cracker. Homolka is great in this film, taking full advantage of one of the few times he had a leading role.

Director George King hits all the marks spot on in this superb UK noir.

Very well worth the viewing time, but a film with two holes

[paxveritas · 8/10 · 20 September 2017]

Prior reviewers have given the plot line, so I won't reiterate those details. This is a gripping movie, well-paced, and mostly logically developed. Performances are mostly very good, with the exception of Muriel Pavlow, who is passable - however, her representation of violin playing is so substandard as to be laughable. It can't have been so difficult to find a REAL violin player (even a poor one!) who could coordinate fingering and stroking much, much better to the music played, who could also perform the minimum acting required of this ingenue role. The casting director and producer should have shopped around music conservatories, small orchestras, etc., to find some pretty young girl who could actually play the violin, and then her representational playing could have been dubbed by a better player, as it was in this movie. Viewers of Mary Astor movies may remember her playing the piano in "The Great Lie" of 1941, and being dubbed by a superior piano player. That worked because Astor actually played the piano fairly well herself, and could match finger moves well to the notes heard. The more difficult passages were simply "off camera." Here, long shots were frequently used but still didn't cure the blatant problem That was hole #1.

Hole #2 is that we are asked to believe that Heiss throws in the towel when he is well in the clear of the murder; he has not been identified as being one of the two men who dumped the body. The other man who dumped the body is dead. How Fellowes obtained the "legacy" money may be an open question, but it does not incriminate Heiss directly, as Fellowes may have been blackmailing someone else, or had some other unsavory money source. Pavlow's doctor-fiancé tells Heiss that an item that was on the mantelpiece, then in Fellowes' pocket, proves Fellowes returned to the shop on the night of the murder. So what? All that cool-customer Heiss needed to suggest was that Fellowes may well have returned, unbeknownst to himself, and just pocketed the item, and then left without seeing Heiss. Fellowes could have entered the shop surreptitiously - an open window? did he still have a key? was the door unlocked? - no need for suicide here. That's hole #2.

Otherwise, a fine movie that kept the viewer rooting for the old man..

Suspenseful and Well acted

[hollywoodshack · 9/10 · 16 February 2020]

This was best known as Diana Dors' first movie. Though she is not in the credits, crowds of her admirers turned out to see it. The plot twists and turns were so surprising, never quite what I guessed might have happened. Holmolka's performance is very realistic rather than a costumed caricature. Dors steals the show with her nasty wiggle walk through about four scenes and less than 10 minutes of film.

A superb drama of blackmail and murder.

[mark.waltz · 8/10 · 13 October 2022]

Oskar Homolka give some performance that reminds me of Charles Laughton in this British melodrama about a shopkeeper involved in illegal activities who is blackmailed by his clerk (Kenneth Griffith) who goes too far and doesn't live to regret it. Homolka is a proud man, especially of the musician daughter, Muriel Pavlov, unaware of her father's secrets, and in love with Derek Farr who become suspicious of his friend. Griffith is deliciously slimy, trying to rip off his boss and a little old lady in the opening scene at the hawk shop Homolka runs. He's lucky he isn't fired and arrested there, and his actions over a good majority of the film sets up where it's easy to root for Homolka.

Of course, crime doesn't pay in the movies, and Homolka must pay for the various crooked activities he's involved in. A fantastic ensemble all around makes film version of this stage play move at a very fast pace, with Homolka and Griffith standing out. There's some great moments of music, and even though he is up to no good, Homolka is a character I couldn't help but like while Griffith was fun to hate. This really picks up at the end and it becomes more intense as each second goes by. Pavlov is a glorious heroine. Unfortunately, I felt that the film ended rather abruptly and didn't come up with the conclusion that it needed to resolve everything obviously.