Review of The World's Greatest Sinner (1962) by Dr. J — 26 Nov 2008

Timothy Carey was a character -- an unforgettable character actor and a unique human being as well. Most might recognize him as South Dakota Slim from Frankie & Annette's beach movies. His trademark wacky dance he does in these films had actually been performed before, in the drive-in hopping, [b]Poor White Trash[/b], AKA, [b]Bayou[/b] (1957). When Carey finally realized his dream of producing, directing and starring in his own film, [b]The World's Greatest Sinner[/b], he danced his dance again.

[b]The World's Greatest Sinner[/b] is an independent film in the strictest sense of the term. Carey scraped up money and cobbled his vision together over the course of several years. And it never saw proper distribution. The story is a twisted one, involving Clarence Hilliard turning his world upside down, changing his name to God and becoming a rock & roll star with an army of followers. Camerawork on TWGS was creatively shot by the equally legendary Ray Dennis Steckler. Steckler's friend (and director in his own right), Titus Moody, can be seen as a follower of Hilliard. Another cult figure, Frank Zappa, added the theme song and later called TWGS the worst movie ever made. Obviously Zappa had not seen many bad movies. TWGS is far from the worst movie ever made. It's fresh, outrageous and never dull. Just like Timothy Carey.

(Timothy Carey's son, Romeo, created Absolute Films and distributes this now.).