Okay, let’s cut to the chase.

Back in ye olden days there was a very friendly barber who liked to entertain a certain sort of clientle. Ones without friends. Ones without family. Ones without the sense of keeping their money safe elsewhere.

He gives these lucky few a very close shave, then sends them next door to his partner in crime. A baker who makes the darnedest meat pies. And the money the barber makes from this he splits with the baker.

In theory.

It’s a decent scam. Right up until the barber starts getting ideas above his station…

That all said, this flick isn’t anything new. Not a fair comment, as it was made in 1936, but sadly we’re not in 1936, now are we? You know where the story is going and it seldom strays from the path. Plus it doesn’t cut into the material quite as much as it should.

The acting is decent enough. It’s well paced and performed, and despite familiarity it does have a bit of tension to it. None of which would never have saved it from obscurity, mind you.

Well, further obscurity. It’s not up on anyone’s best of the best list.

What saves the picture and makes it worth looking up is the guy playing the barber. This is Tod Slaughter, ham extraordinaire. The smirks he gives… the laughs he makes… man. He’s something.

Sweeny Todd doesn’t quite let him off the leash. He is much, much more entertaining in the later Crimes in the Dark House. Still, he makes a good showing as the villain and is worth seeking out despite the averageness of the proceedings.