Review of The World's Greatest Sinner (1962) by Michael H — 01 Jul 2010

Timothy Carey, best known for his roles in The Killing and Paths of Glory (his firing squad lament "I don't want to die" is one of the few instances of an ad lib appearing in a Kubrick film) was an eccentric.

Prone to severe hamming (see Crime Wave) and unwanted improvisation, he often frustrated his directors and fellow actors. Marlon Brando stabbed him with a pen. He made his career playing small and supporting role, never the lead.

.. except once. Written by, produced by, directed by, and starring Tim Carey, this movie is a whole lot of crazy. It's the story of insurance salesman who gets bored with life and becomes a street corner prophet, preaching that through medical science all people can be gods (or something).

He becomes a rock star, renounces religion, changes his name to "God", and runs for President. It's often difficult to discern exactly what parts are satire and what parts are sincere, but at the very least it's a humorous take on organized religion.

The film is undeniably rough, as would be expected of a vanity project. The acting, besides Carey, is uniformly awful. The editing is shabby, to put it nicely. The dialogue needs work. But there are quite a few very good shots, and the Frank Zappa score is very interesting.

It's not a really a case of "so bad it's good" but more "so unusual it's worth tolerating the bad". If you want to see Timothy Carey cackle maniacally, wear a snake, make out with an elderly woman, and stab a communion wafer to see if it bleeds, this is the place to go.

Very clever ending credits, too.