The Shop At Sly Corner — The Shop At Sly Corner( Powerhouse)

The Shop At Sly Corner, a well-regarded crime drama by cult British director George King has been made available in a remastered Blu-ray limited edition (4,000 copies) by reliable label Indicator/ Powerhouse.

The movie concerns a London-based French-born antiques dealer Descius Heiss (Oscar Homolka) who it transpires is a former convict who makes most of his money from fencing stolen goods.  Heiss’ secret is discovered by his unscrupulous shop assistant, Archie Fellowes (Kenneth Griffith) who begins to blackmail the older man.  Worse, Fellowes has designs on Heiss’ beloved daughter Margaret (Muriel Pavlow). 

The Shop At Sly Corner is an interesting product of the British Film Industry of the time, reflecting the influence of better-known directors and movies and foreshadowing future developments.  The film was a step up for producer/director King from his usual quota quickies and the better budget and more relaxed shooting schedule afforded is reflected in the acquisition as lead actor of the international character star, Oscar Homolka.  King’s cult status still rests mostly on his earlier series of pre-Hammer gothics featuring the barnstorming presence of Tod Slaughter (Sweeny Todd:  The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (1936), The Face at the Window (1939) ).  What stands out about ‘Shop’ is Kings talent for recording the interplay between well-defined characters.

The film looks good, moves briskly, and features the literate but unpretentious dialogue people just can’t seem to do anymore.  The star Oskar Homolka is a revelation.  Homolka is probably most famous as Karl Anton Verloc, the terrorist protagonist of Hitchcock’s adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s The Secret Agent, Sabotage (1936) a film ‘Shop’ owes much to.  Like Verloc the reluctant killer Heiss is an ambivalent tortured figure.  More likeable and sympathetic than Verloc he is otherwise a decent man.  Homolka, who was often cast in ‘foreign’ roles, particularly as Russian or Soviet functionaries in Cold War thrillers (Funeral in Berlin (1966), Billion Dollar Brain (1967)), parts which by their very nature could be heavy, in this film is surprisingly light-footed and spry, even skipping in one scene when in a good mood.  He is helped by his salt and pepper wig and eyebrows and bushy walrus moustache which accentuate the avuncular nature of the character.  All the performances are good.  Pavlow and her future real-life husband Derek Farr are likeable as the juvenile leads.  As Heiss’ possible nemesis Inspector Robson, Johnnie Schofield shares some excellent scenes with Homolka, his surface camaraderie masking a cunning interrogation looks back to Porfiry Petrovich in ‘Crime and Punishment’ and looks forward to Columbo among others.  Besides Homolka the standout performance belongs to Kenneth Griffith as Archie, the weaselly yet dapper blackmailer and the only fully villainous character in the cast.  Griffith gives a fascinating performance where a seemingly cheerful or even harmless disposition can give way to icy sadistic malice on the turn of a dime.

The increased budget and care given to this production reflects King’s luck in securing the rights to the recent successful stage play by Edward Percy the movie is based on.  It is fortunate for purchasers of the Indicator Blu-ray that the print bears the original British theatrical release title, The Shop at Sly Corner with its relevant associations of double-dealing and seediness rather than the better known but vague American release title, ‘Code of Scotland Yard’.  The film seems unusually self-aware given the time of its production and level of ambition.  When Heiss clandestinely meets his criminal associate Corder Morris (Manning Whiley) in a scene almost identical to Verloc meeting a fellow terrorist in ‘Sabotage’, the same location is used; London Zoo.  The film owes much to its, in retrospect, stellar cast who would go on to help define the character of future mainstream British film production; Pavlow and Farr, Griffith. Diana Dors, Irene Handl, even Homolka who settled in Britain and continued to appear in British films into the 1970s.  The Shop at Sly Corner is a transitional movie in that it helped release generic crime material from the strictures of the quota quickie format and helped its development towards an increasingly respectable and mainstream form of entertainment.

Indicator’s Blu-ray carries several excellent extras providing invaluable insight and context for the film.  An audio commentary from film historian Josephine Botting and critic Phuong-Le is a relaxed conversational affair which provides detailed information about the creatives involved in ‘Shop’.  The disk also features a BFI interview with Muriel Pavlow from 2009 hosted by Botting.  Although elderly the actress is incredibly spry and witty with a seemingly undiminished memory.  A video essay by Jonathan Rigby, author of the ‘Gothic’ movie books series gives a fully fleshed-out account of Oskar Homolka’s stage and screen career, detailing the Austrian’s successes in Europe and the US.  The title of the essay, ‘Humour and Horror’ describes the actor’s range, from the amiable twinkle to the sinister guttural quality.  There’s an amusing anecdote about an attempt to rebrand Homolka as a horror star which he resisted as an insulting limitation.  Interestingly, when Boris Karloff opened The Shop at Sly Corner on the US stage it was a flop.  Finally, there is a comprehensive Image Gallery.  In addition to the usual stills and lobby cards there are copies of various publicity materials and notices sometimes quoted and discussed elsewhere in the extras.

Indicator should be congratulated for creating another excellent package for one of their limited number reissues.  Showcasing George King’s excellent skill with actors, The Shop At Sly Corner remains an entertaining and ultimately moving movie.