Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street
1574. SWEENEY TODD THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET (1936-England). With TOD SLAUGHTER. Directed by GEORGE KING. Tod Slaughter was famed for touring the provinces with revivals of Victorian melodramas, many of which he eventually filmed with his favorite director, George King. “Sweeney Todd” is one of his most famous, and best, productions, and he has a field day in the title role: the “Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” a fiendish haircutter who entices sailors and tradesmen into his establishment. Before shaving them, he “polishes them off by slitting their throats and stealing their money. With the help of the proprietress of the next- door pastry shop, Sweeney rids himself of their corpses by cutting them up and baking them in pies. Will his latest potential victimÑa seaman who loves the beautiful young woman with whom Sweeney is smitten-be finding himself in the barber’s chair? Or will their fateful meeting signal the beginning of the end for Sweeney Todd? The film is especially intriguing in light of the hit Broadway musical that followed it four decades later. 68 minutes Crime Mystery Suspense