1936 Sweeney Todd - MA. Description and notes on the film. PDF

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MA. Description and notes on the film....

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Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Dir by George King (1936) ODEON Entertainment. Black and white Location – you see Simpson’s nearby, inaccurate. 1:58 – Customer sees a caricature of Todd with the caption: Sweeney Todd about to give a GENERAL POLISH OFF. Customer: I suppose you want to sell that, too. Barber: That is one thing I will never sell. C: Not to me, you won’t. B: This is no joking matter, sir, that man was the greatest expone of the razor the world has ever known, he was a true artist, and it was on this very spot over 100 years ago that he proved it to the world. His was the strangest story ever told in the days of sailing ships, the pool of London, narrow streets, dark alleys. Fades to back in time. Mark and J meet: her father hates him because he is poor. 3:48 – They are by the ship that is about to leave. Person: Ah, Mr. Todd, come to bid farewell to the Golden Hope? T: Yes, sir. There’s scarcely a man jug of that queue I haven’t had in my barber’s chair, brown beards, black beards, red beards, I polish them all off. P: Ah, but it’s when they return from their journey, they need you more. T: Yes, I make them spik and span, to meet their sweethearts, lovely lot of throats, the lot of them, beautiful throats, rich and mellow to a razor. P: You’re an artist you are, Mr. Todd. T: I love my work. 4:40 – P: Well, there seems to be plenty of money in the barber’s business, good for you, anyway, Mr. Todd, good day. T: [Rubbing his hands together] Money. The governor – J’s father – turns up and asks why she is with Mark. 6:13 – T: You see, Mr. Oakley, I was right, MO: You were, Todd. How did you know she would be coming here? T: I guessed, Mr. Oakley. It’s a shame that a fine girl like your daughter should throw herself away— MO: She will not throw herself away, Mr. Todd, I am very indebted to you. T: Mr. Oakley, when would it be convenient to discuss again a matter we broached the other day? MO: Ah, yes, about your taking up a share in the new ship. T: To the tune of, shall we say, £15,000? MO: £15,000? T: Maybe I can find a little more… MO: Well, well, well, and all amassed from beards and whiskers. T: The fruits of my razor, so many I’ve polished off. MO: Mr. Todd, are you dining anywhere tonight? T: At home, sir. Only, at home. He invited T to join them for dinner.

7:25 – The beadle bring T a new apprentice: B: The City Master says this is the last boy he’s gonna send you, you had 7, and they’ve all disappeared. T: Boys will be boys. B: But you get a guinea from the Parish funds for each boy. 7 guineas in 7 weeks. T: And this is the eighth. B: And the last. Tobias is an orphan, found on the steps of St. Dunstan’s. Todd laughs when telling Tobias he is ‘lucky, with a special eye from the beadle,’ and a penny a day from him. 9:10 – T: Good day, worthy beadle. Oh, I should like to polish him off. T asks Tobias if he is afraid of him, and if he is not, he doesn’t want to be given cause to give him a reason to be. 9:45 – T: I knew a nice little barber’s boy once, who had his tongue cut out for letting it wag too much. Tob: I won’t talk, sir. T: No, and if any of my customers should give you a penny, what would you do with it, Tobias? Tob: I don’t know, sir. T: You will give all the pennys to me, and I’ll keep them for you, til you become a rich, rich man, you’d like that, wouldn’t you, Tobias? Tob: Yes, sir. Tobias tells T that if he were rich he’d buy a pie from next door, so T gives him a penny to buy one. 11:15: When hearing that Tobias is T’s new apprentice, L tells him that he can have a special big pie. 11:55 – T: Why this visit? L: I was anxious, I hadn’t seen you all day. T: No, I’ve been busy. Busy at the quay side. L: No shippers birth today. T: The Golden Hope has just sailed. L: Oh, Stephen Oakley’s ship, why the interest? T: I may be joining him in partnership. L: Hoity toity, going up in the world. T: Well, it’s better than, going down. L: Many who go up come down quickly enough, from the gallows. T: By that I suppose you mean…? L: I could hang you, Sweeney, with one word, like that [clicks fingers] T: And I could hang you, my precious, without [clicks fingers] that. If we must hang together, better alive than dead [laughs] L: Why all the care? T: I am dining with Mr. Oakley tonight. L: And wish to give his women folk a treat? T: Then you are jealous. L: Only for what you do with your money, our money, the money I have helped you to get, and I’ll not have that squandered on a— 12:51 – Tobias enters and wonders how L got there faster than he did. T beckons him.

13:20 – T: There was once an apprentice to a barber, whose eyes were too big, whose tongue was too long, who saw too much, and spoke of what he saw. So his master took his sharpest razor and stropped it well. Tob: [Crying] No, please, I won’t say a word. Not even to the beadle. T: I shouldn’t like you to be a little boy like that, Tobias. [T pushes him over] Cuts to J saying to her maid, Nan, that she doesn’t understand why she has to dress up for Mr. T, but probably because her father has business dealings with him. 14:20 – J: Mr. Todd, horrid, vulgar pig, that’s what he is, a pig. A member of staff tells MO that they are £5,000 short for his new ship. 16:20 – T sees a man having come off a ship, saying that he has no need to work again, and tipping the crew generously. He stops him to give him a business card – he agrees to go in, saying ‘I will let you polish me off, as you say.’ 18:50 – T: Your friends and relations will be glad to see you back. Customer: I’ve no relations that I trouble about, or who trouble about me. T: And friends? C: None in this country. T: All alone in the world, as one might say. C: Well, [taps bag with foot] not quite, I’ve brought plenty of companions with me, who’ll make me friends wherever I go. T: I understand, sir. Golden companions with the head of His Majesty on them, eh? C: They’re the best friends a man can have. T: You are wise to keep them with you, sir, banks can’t be trusted. T sends Tobias for a pie, the customer tells T he has a good heart. 20:25 – Floor is flipped with a chair on the other side, like in the book, he does not slit throats. He laughs afterwards, walking down the stairs and looking at the dead man. He pockets everything from his bag. T tells L that now it is her turn, and – after taking the things from the bag – she can give him his share later. She sees he has taken everything from the bag. T goes on a drive with J. He gives her a necklace from the bag: pearls, rubies and sapphires. 23:30 – T: Pearls for your teeth, rubies for your lips and sapphires for your eyes. 23:50 – On screen intertitles: The “Golden Hope” nears the African Outpost of Trader Paterson. The Africans start to shoot arrows at Paterson. His help, Snowdrop, gets on board the ship and tells them what’s happening to Paterson. A group from the ship, including Mark, go to save him. When Paterson hears them and their gunshots, he comes out and cheers and is shot by an arrow. His friend, too, is struck. When he is tended to by MI, he tells him to take the bag of pearls from his pocket, although he does not know what they are worth. He asks to be buried 3 points north by Nor Nor West. MI commands 2 graves to be dug at that location. 30:00 – T asks MO about J, and he explains that there is a large age gap. He then tries to blackmail MO, asking for his money now, which MO can’t provide, or the ship becomes his property according to their agreement. However, he would not do this to his father-in-law, and as MO says, if she has a will of her own, she must be persuaded. J comes in as T leaves, and asks MO what the matter is. He tells her he has bitten off more than he can chew, and he might end

up handing over the ship, along with his fortune, and be sent to prison. She asks if anything can be done, his eyes widen before he says: No, nothing. 32:50 – A jealous L sees T dying his hair, and congratulates him, saying: You look at least 2 years younger, in fact you scarcely look a day older than her own father. 33:20 – T to L: Oh, I should like to polish you off. L: I know you would, but you daren’t. Tobias returns and tells T that the Golden Hope is arriving. He grips his shoulders until Tobias says: Please sir, you’re hurting me. T stops MI and gives him a business card. He tells him he should look his best for J, so takes him for a shave. Nan tells J that MI has returned safely and that he has been made a commander, and is rich, so they can be married. 36:20 – Whilst in his chair, MI tells T that he has done well financially. He shows T the pearls, and tells him that a dying man gave them to him. 36:30 – T: I wish it were my fortune to meet such a man. MI: You may do, you never know your fate. T: You’re quite right, sir. You never know your fate. MI: And fate has made me the happiest man in the world. Nothing can stand in my way now. T: Oh, no rival or anything? [L is shown listening in] MI: Not the least chance of it. T: Then you are indeed a lucky man. You have a beautiful throat for a razor, sir. Beautiful. MI: You should know, Mr. Todd. T: I do. T asks Tobias to go have a pie, giving him a penny. MI asks T why he locks the door, he replies that he only attends to one customer at a time. 37:30 – T: Lie back, sir, lie back, I’ll soon polish you off. When she hears the man scream, L runs down to him and pulls him away, whilst T pockets the pearls. Tobias returns saying that L is closed, and returns the penny. T praises him, then hits him and throws him out, saying that that’s what happens to boys who don’t do what they’re told. T laughs as he walks downstairs, and finds L. She says she has not seen his customer. She suggests he found the secret way as the latch is sometimes loose, T holds her shoulders, razor still in hand. He looks without and then with a candle, while L opens the trunk where she has hidden MI, checking on him. T returns saying there is no sign of him, and that he is probably on the ship again. 41:30 – L: The Golden Hope: Mark Ingestrie’s ship. T: I believe you knew it was he. L: How could I? Mark Ingestrie, oh, then you have a double reason to [she points at her throat]. T: The sooner you learn to keep your mouth closed, the safer you’ll be [laughs]. L: The course of true love never did run smooth, so they say, I’ve heard he’s returned a very rich man. T: Maybe, but he left here a pauper, I saw to that.

L: Oh. T: He’ll have as much chance with Oakley’s daughter now as he had before he sailed, he’ll find it best make himself scarce. L: And where’s my share of what you took from him? T: Don’t worry, you’ll get it. [Walks away laughing]. L opens the trunk to MI complaining about his head. L tells him to be quiet in case T returns, he says that he should lie still until it is dark, and then she’ll help him escape. J is woken by a knock on her door, she opens her balcony door to find MI. He tells her about what happened with a barber on Fleet Street, she says: Sweeney Todd. 44:20 – J: Oh, Mark, that dreadful man, he would have murdered you, I know he would. MI: Yes, well he’s robbed me of everything that I had, I’m in no better position now to talk to your father than I was 6 months ago. J: My father, too, is in terrible trouble, this same Sweeney Todd can throw him into prison and threatens to do so unless I— [knocking at the door]. 44:45 – MI: Listen, Johanna, I’ll get even with this man, I’ll have him arrested as a thief and a murderer. J: But who will believe you? You say you remember nothing, you must have proof of what he did. MI: Yes, I must, but I’ll get it. There is a way, but I’ll need help. J: Oh, let me. MI: No, no, no. This will be dangerous, listen, can you get hold of Pearley? J: Nan will know where he is. MI: Well, take him to meet me at the old warehouse on the quay, I’ll be there. He tells her that once T is in prison, he will make sure to get the jewels back. T has called a Mr. Parsons to see the value of the pearls. He tells him there is no value for pearls any more. Cross cuts to MI trying on a wig and beard as a disguise. Parsons tells T that such beautiful pearls would fetch a handsome price, and offers him £5,000, which T says is not enough, and says £7,000. 47:30 – Mr.P: The question is, if you have the money on you? T: Meaning? P: I consider £7,000 a very small amount for you to pay me to remove the evidence against you [T takes back the pearls]. T: Evidence? What evidence? P: A certain sea captain who shall be nameless arrived at the docks yesterday, he was seen to enter this shop, but never to leave, he had a bag of pearls, Mr. Todd, I’ll take the 7,000 in gold, eh? If it’s all the same to you. T: [Laughs] You are humorous this morning, Mr. Parsons. P: Now, the fine weather brightens our senses. T: Do you mind waiting while I laugh? P: By all means, don’t cut it short for me. T: Won’t you take a chair while I have my laugh out? P: No, Mr. Todd, I will stand and laugh with you. T: I pray you, sir, take a seat [pushing him to the chair]. P: I beg you sir to take your hands off me. I see you have had your laugh out, now let us get to business. T: What do you suggest? P: I will take the pearls with me and 7,000 golden sovereigns, or—

T: Or what? P: I’ll tell all that I know. T: And what do you know? P: Firstly, I will tell the landlord of the Spotted Horse why Mr. Finley did not arrive to collect his luggage, secondly, I will tell the City Master why you had 8 apprentices in 8 weeks, and thirdly, I will tell Mr. Stephen Oakley. T: And what will you tell him? P: I will tell him what happened to the captain of the Golden Hope after he left the quay, and then [T hits him over the head with a stool and laughs afterwards then places him in the chair and pulls the lever]. 49:30 – MI arrives in disguise and enters T’s with Tobias. MI: Didn’t you want to come in? Tob: I work here, sir, so I have to come in, but I don’t wish to. MI: Oh, and why not? Tob: Because I’m afraid, sir, afraid of the whole place. MI: Afraid? Why? Tob: Shh [putting his finger to his lips] I don’t know, sir, sometimes I think that he… MI: What do you think? Tob: No, sir, I mustn’t say, if I did, Mr. Todd says he would cut my tongue out with one of his razors. MI: Cut your tongue out? What for? Tob: Because he thought I was spying on him while he was shaving a sea captain. MI: Sea captain, eh? And were you spying? Tob: No, sir, on my honour, he sent me out to buy a pie, he always does after I’ve finished lathering his customers. MI: Hmmm, and when you return, the customers are always gone, eh? Tob: Yes, sir. How did you know? MI: And after you’ve finished lathering me, he’ll send you out to buy another pie, eh? Tob: Yes, I expect, sir. 50:35 – MI: When he sends you out today, how’d you like never to come back? Tob: But what’ll become of me, sir? MI: Can you read this address? Tob: Miss Oakley, Finsbury Pavement. MI: Take that to Miss Oakley and wait there. Tob: Who shall I say sent me? MI: Say a stranger who put his mark there, well, if you just say Mark, she’ll understand. Tob: Mark, sir? MI: Yes, Mark. Tob: Shh [finger to lips] T comes out and MI puts on a farmer’s accent and T calls him ‘Farmer’. 50:55 – MI: This barber was recommended to me as one who would give you the closest shave. T: That’s true, Farmer, not only the closest shave, but I promise to polish you off quicker than any other barber in London. Will you take a chair, sir? T always directs customers to the ‘trap chair’ using different excuses. Pearley, dressed is religious attire, is seen walking around the cellar. MI tells T about all the animals he has sold.

52:05 – T: You must have made a lot of money. MI: Almost 400 guineas. T: Hurry up, Tobias. [Stropping his razor]. Pearley is seen exiting the secret entrance to T’s and L’s, and stops to take a pie. 53:05 – After seeing Tobias out: T: He’s a good boy, that sir, I think he’ll go far. MI: I hope so, I’m sure. Pearley is listening. T: Now, sir, if you’re quite comfortable, I’ll polish you off. MI holds onto the chair and Pearley helps him down on the other side. T then asks L where the farmer is, she says she has seen no one. 54:20 – T: You’re lying to me. I believe you’ve helped to get him out. L: Why should I? T: That’s what I want to know. You did it yesterday, and you’ve done it again today. L: Not today, I swear I haven’t. T: Ah, then you did do it yesterday. I knew it. L: I— T: What’s your game? Eh? L: You thought if you could get rid of him safely you could marry that girl. I’m not jealous, I don’t care where you go and who you marry, but you won’t take my money with you. T: Where you’re going, you’ll need no money [laughs] She picks up a knife and starts fighting him, he bites her hand and takes it from her. Tobias arrives at J’s and tells her MI is at T’s. 55:20 – Tob: He went inside, Miss, to get shaved, oh Miss, now that I’m away from Mr. Todd’s I can say it: but I believe that Mr. Todd’s shaves never come out again as far as I can see. MI and Pearley change back to their normal clothes. T takes a secret stash of jewels from the wall. J dresses Tob as a girl, and she dresses as a man. MI tells his crew that T probably knows he’s been found out and will escape, with his pearls. 56:45 – MI: To think of all the murders that have been committed in that shop. Pearly: _______ gives me the creeps when I think of it [he says eating a pie]. MI: People chucked to their deaths in the cellar below. Crew 1: I wonder if he buries ’em, or what he does with ’em. Pearly: He wouldn’t have room to bury them all there. C2: Well, what does he do with them? P: How do I know? T is seen making a fire. Tobias tells Nan that he is wearing J’s frock because J has his clothes, and she has gone to T’s. Nan leaves to go to T’s. J knocks on T’s door and says she can pay him to be his apprentice, he says he only wants honest, hard working boys, and he usually gets them from the beadle, but ‘he’ looks fairly honest, and so he takes her inside, laughing.

He asks if she been there before, she says no, so he says he must be thinking of someone else. She drops a pouch of money, and T asks for it, physically attacking her. She collapses in T’s arms and he puts her in a cupboard, taking the pouch of money. He then starts a fire underneath the shops, laughing whilst doing it and leaving. 1:01:00 – Nan tells MI that J has gone to T’s to find him, he runs to help her. T watches the shop begin to smoke from the shadows, whilst counting his money and jewels. MI bursts into T’s and calls J’s name, she has come to and weakly bangs on the cupboard door. He opens it and starts to carry her out when T runs in and begins fighting him while laughing, getting him on the floor and holding a razor to his throat. He kicks T off, running back to J, T picks up a silver candlestick. MI hits him and knocks him out, and then carries J out. The crowd follows him as he tries to wake her, she wakes and he kisses her. T wakes as his shop catches fire, and passing out, with the wall around the lever alight, T falls through the trap floor/door. 1:04:02 – Fades back to present day. B: Some say Pearly was right, some say he wasn’t. Cust.: Eh, you, you mean about Mrs. Lovett and her—sir. B: Yes. C: [Sits up, sniffing] Is it my imagination, or do you smell cooking? B: Yes, sir, it’s probably the cooked meat shop next door. Now I’ll just put a little keener edge on the razor, sir, for, if you’ll excuse me saying it, sir, you have a most beautiful throat for the razor, beautiful. C: [Looking very worried, and increasingly so as the barber strops the razor. With wide eyes he looks repeatedly from the barber to the razor]. The customer then gets up and runs out, straight into a pie seller selling ‘Fresh Meat Pies,’ he runs off into the road after a bus.

Thriller Notes (Booklet with the DVD) Much has been said and inscribed about the true greats of vintage horror cinema. The familiar names of Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Senior & Junior and Vincent Price have each gained a respectable notoriety. Yet Britain’s very own home-based creeper, Tod Slaughter, arguably the most bloodcurdling and brutal villain of them all, is long overdue his place in the horror hall of fame.

What is beyond question is the universal popularity of the story that continues to thrill an audience’s taste for the macabre....