brilliant actors, brilliant editing

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Adaptation of James Barlow's novel "The Burden of Proof" is a violent portrait of a gangland boss on London's East End that was allegedly based upon real-life crime czar Ronnie Kray. Razor-wielding Richard Burton has the lead, plotting a payroll robbery and blackmailing sexually indiscriminate Members of Parliament, but Burton's monotone Cockney accent, his grim, ashen face and stolid body language show the actor was either uncertain how to approach the part or was distinctly uncomfortable in the role. Director Michael Tuchner's flaccid pacing is another liability, as is the picture's general lack of wit, its poor sound recording (was the entire movie looped in post-production?) and its coyness about the Burton character's homosexuality. *1/2 from ****

VILLAIN is a fine British gangland film which stands up there with GET CARTER as one of the meanest and grittiest British gangster movies of the 1970s. Certainly it's a memorable effort, featuring an icy Richard Burton playing a truly repulsive master criminal who is behind a series of violent deaths and robberies. Burton's character was a thinly-disguised version of Ronnie Kray and it's one of his most sinister performances.A pity, then, that this film is really obscure especially in comparison to the likes of GET CARTER. I caught it on late night TV but as I understand it's remained fairly hard to come by over the years. It's a pity as this offers solid thrills from beginning to end, plus edgy content and some surprisingly graphic interludes. It also has a quite wonderful supporting cast of famous faces to see it by.Ian McShane bags a suave part as Burton's young lover in scenes which must have been considered quite racy for the time. The reliable Nigel Davenport is the dogged detective on Burton's tail and T.P. McKenna a oily government minister. Joss Ackland gives a memorable twitchy performance as one of the gang members and there are plenty of others around like James Cossins, Tony Selby, and Colin Welland. Michael Tuchner's direction is very fine and the robbery, hospital, and climactic scenes in particular are all very well realised making fine use of their surroundings. VILLAIN is an under-appreciated movie and a must for fans of the genre.

Villain is a 1971 British crime movie, in which Richard Burton plays Vic Dakin, a Ronnie Kray-like character: homosexual, Oedipal, and vicious. The plot centres around a payroll robbery, and employs some entertaining supporting characters (the script was an early offering by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais).If I say that it is not bad of its kind, and then move on, that allows me to concentrate on Burton. A good (but very Welsh) actor, Burton's undeniable talent was damaged by his alcoholism and suffered the distraction of his high profile on-again, off-again relationship with Elizabeth Taylor.Which is why the total disappearance of Villain - never on telly, no DVD - is a great shame. There have been those who have observed that the cockernee accent Burton employs is sometimes less Bow Bells, more Merthyr Tydfil, but that misses the point. Vic Dakin is terrifying. Every time he is on screen, there is an overpowering sense of impending danger, not because he is angry, but because he is an inadequate vessel to contain the malice which seethes within him. Dakin looks like Burton, but he is his own monster.Villain is Burton at his best.

Villain is a harshly overlooked and much maligned British crime film which is up there with some the 70s best of it's type, it can hold it's head up there alongside Get Carter and The Long Good Friday. Richard Burton is great as sadistic gay cockney gangster Vic Dakin and although people have a go at him for his accent he actually pulls off being a more believable gangster than a lot of others try to and can't. He's got some great lines and takes to beating up quiet a few people while caring for his mother and planning a daring robbery alongside some other goons. A lot of great British character actors turn up and all add fun to the film such as Joss Ackland ( who only eats eggs as he's got an ulcer!!), T.P. McKenna, Del Henney and Colin Welland ( all later seen in Straw Dogs), Nigel Davenport, Donald Sinden ( as a sleazy MP), Ian McShane as Burton's boyfriend Wolf and Fiona Lewis as Wolf's bit on the side ( and she is hot!!). There's a lot of great banter and good acting in this film along with a nice script by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais and a cracking funky odd soundtrack by Jonathan Hodge. Look out for a super robbery scene which also includes the use of a Jif lemon thingy to squirt in a guard's eyes and a well-staged police hospital break-out of Joss Ackland's character Lowis!Overall an entertaining crime film that has been overlooked but has inspired a lot of other films and deserves to be seen, Richard Burton was great in this!!