In 1830s London, Sweeney Todd (Tod Slaughter) has carved out a successful career by murdering men fresh off ships, splitting the funds they carry with Mrs Lovatt (Stella Rho) who runs the bakery next door. He’s set his mind in a less bloody way on the beautiful Johanna (Eve Lister), daughter of wealthy ship-owner Stephen Oakley (D.J. Williams). She loves a common sailor, Mark (Bruce Seton), who Oakley will not allow near his daughter. Mark goes to sea, while Todd invests in Oakley’s newest ship, with an aim to use that as pressure to get the girl.
The story of Sweeney Todd may or may not have popped up as an urban legend in London, but it became famous as a penny dreadful. It then made it onto the stage, and eventually was used as the basis for multiple silent films. This is the third cinematic version and first sound one, and is a far cry from the popular musical that is known now. There’s no vengeance, no throat cutting, and human meat pies are only implied. Todd simply tips his victims out of a chair to plummet to their deaths below.
This is a very simply made film, primitive for the sound era, and looking and sounding like a picture from 1930. The dialog points back to its penny dreadful roots and the acting is more fitting for the stage. It reminds me of a serial.
If you want sensible characters or a workable plot, this isn’t the place to look. The romance lacks spice and I would have been happy if Mark had been removed from the screenplay. For such a short film, it feels long whenever we’re stuck with our bland lovers and her father. While I’ve no problem calling it horror, Victorian melodrama is a better classification.
Still, there’s fun to be had if you go in with the right state of mind. Slaughter cackles and coos, oozing insanity and evil. He makes for one of the best maniacs of the ‘30s and is the main reason to watch.
It appears to be in the public domain. I found it on a free Android App.