User reviews

Vic Dakin is a ruthless gay gangster who loves his mother, bullies his boyfriends and intimidates the authorities. A powerful figure in the East End mob scene, Dakin hears of a potential payroll heist opportunity, and decides to go for it- abandoning his usual modus operandi. Working alongside rival Frank Fletcher, Dakin has few he can trust on the job. Matters are complicated by dogged detective Bob Matthews, as well as Dakin's relationship with his underling and lover Wolfe, whose loyalties are ambiguous to say the least. Will Dakin pull off the heist; or will the villain finally face his comeuppance?

Gritty and darkly funny, Michael Tuchner's 'Villain' is an engaging crime film à la 'Get Carter' or 'The Long Good Friday.' Based on the novel 'The Burden of Proof' by James Barlow, and from a screenplay by Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais and Al Lettieri, the film features strong characterisation and an entertaining narrative, as well as one of the best shot heist sequences of the 1970's. Moreover, it explores the psychology of a sadistic bully, whose allegiances are only to himself.

Dakin is a fascinating character- supposedly based on Ronnie Kray- who is charming one moment, cruel the next. His relationship with Wolfe is especially interesting, whom he bullies into submission, though has a sincere fondness for. He treats his mother with deference, playing the epitome of the good son when he's with her, though could kick someone to death when she's out of earshot. Dakin is a self-interested, psychopathic sadist, who asserts his dominance through violence and intimidation, and is endlessly watchable as he does so.

Furthermore, Clement, Frenais and Lettieri's narrative exposes the corruption and hypocrisy of 70's Britain and its political and social system, through Dakin's exploitation of same. Tackling a variety of themes in a mature way- such as homosexuality, the confluence of sex and violence, as well as corruption- 'Villain' must have been a relatively tough watch for audiences in 1971. However, it is also a funny film- intentionally and otherwise- keeping things from getting too dark. While the dialogue tends toward the overblown and cliched, 'Villain' has a lot going for it.

Christopher Challis's cinematography is gritty and atmospheric. His usage of low-angles and shadows creates tension, while also making Dakin appear all the more brutal and menacing. He captures the bleakness and brutality of the London underworld- as well as the contrast between Dakin's lavish lifestyle and his violent deeds- with style and verve. The film also benefits from Jonathan Hodges's stirring score, as well as Ralph Sheldon's astute editing, which lends the film a steady pace, bolstering its impact and suspense.

'Villain' stars Richard Burton as Dakin, alongside Ian McShane as Wolfe, Nigel Davenport as Matthews and T. P. McKenna as Fletcher. Burton is marvellously menacing as the cockney criminal, even if his accent isn't exactly consistent. Unlike in many of the projects he made in the 70's, he really gives the role his all; delivering a nuanced and entertaining performance. McShane masterfully underplays it, sharing a fine chemistry with Burton, making his character both believable and compelling. Davenport and McKenna are both excellent, while Donald Sinden nearly steals the show as dodgy MP Gerald Draycott.

While not as polished or coherent as 'The Long Good Friday', Michael Tuchner's 'Villain' is still an entertaining and enjoyable crime flick. Although the dialogue is stilted from time to time, the narrative is engaging, the cinematography gritty and the score rousing. Boasting strong performances from all in the cast- especially those of stars Richard Burton and Ian McShane- 'Villain' shows that crime doesn't pay; and is a film well worth paying for.

British gangster films have always been with us, but in the case of this very rare and hardly ever shown on TV classic, VILLAIN was to be the real start of many vicious gangster films to follow. For some insane reason Richard Burton never got any real film awards for any films he did. His films were very varied indeed. And it probably came as a shock to many when he stepped into the role of vicious London crime boss Vic Dakin. It's a performance with such frightening menace, that you wonder why this film is not shown more on television. It is also not on DVD and videos of the movie are hard to find, or of a very high price sold by collectors who wish to make a profit on this very rare gem. People go on and on about Get Carter, another great film, and I agree on it also being a classic, but for me Villain is just as good. If you can watch this film and can get hold of a copy, I urge you to do so. You won't be disappointed.

You have to live Burton camping it up as a psychotic mum loving gangster. It's all a bit small budget but if you stumble upon it you will enjoy it. It's quite violent in places as Burton is proper psych!!

I've watched 'Villain' innumerable times since I taped it off a late night Channel 4 screening in 1999. Why? Because it's truly excellent.

Atmosphere, plot, quirky characterisations, violent action, dialogue, squalid sex - brother, it's got the lot. A far, far more interesting film than the same period's 'Get Carter'.

Scripted by venerable British comedy maestros Clement and Le Frenais from an initial novel adaptation by the simian faced American character actor Al Lettieri (and I'm sure there's an interesting story behind that process), 'Villain' is remarkably modern in its tone. We aren't presented with goodies or baddies, simply players of the never-ending game:

Vic Dakin (a darkly humorous Richard Burton) is the good old traditional mother-loving gay psychopath who enjoys slicing up informers with a cut-throat razor;

Wolfie Lissner (a superb Ian McShane, playing probably the most interesting character in the piece) is a survivor who'll do what ever it takes to survive, be it pimping unsuspecting lovelies to the elite, selling pills to late night ravers or taking the brunt of Dakin's sadisitic sexual urges;

Bob Matthews (a wry Nigel Davenport) is the disillusioned copper dedicated purely to bringing Daykin down - "I don't want a fertile imagination, I don't want to know if society's to blame, I just want to catch criminals".

And Gerald Draycott (an eternally eyebrow-cocking, seedily lecherous Donald Sinden) is a charmingly corrupt politician with a weakness for the kind of nubile young girls Wolfie supplies.

The script traces the intertwining fates of these characters after a bungled wages heist with terse, witty precision. Oddball subsidiary figures like Joss Ackland's ulcer-ridden crook (who gobbles pain-relieving hard boiled eggs during a getaway) and James Cossins' bitter, wife-hating clerk garnish the proceedings like tangily flavorous seasoning. The backdrop of grubby and grim seventies Britain is so well sketched that you can almost smell it. Jonathan Hodge's musical score is both percussively minimalist and hauntingly lyrical - very powerful. And its a rare triumph for the otherwise hack-like Michael Tuchner, who directs superlatively here with vigorous assurance.

Look out for stalwarts like Tony Selby, Tim Barlow and an uncredited Johnny Shannon ('Performance's Harry Flowers) as a copper coshing con.

"Got a hard-oh, have ya? DRIVE!!"

Quite a few big stars tried their hands at these gritty, criminal underworld, style stories in the early 1970s and this rather procedural effort was Richard Burton's. Doubtless he was well paid, but his performance here is nowhere near his best. He is "Dakin" - a sort of Kray-esque character who runs an organised crime network extorting protection money from small businesses. A violent man, he takes his anger out on foe and friend alike but must learn to co-operate when the chance to hijack a lucrative factory payroll presents itself to him and his rival "Fletcher" (TP McKenna). Meantime his favourite "Wolfe" (Ian McShane) also suffers from his fury - and shares his bed - and he dotes after his ailing and aged mother (Catherine Nesbit). As crime thrillers go, this is all rather dreary. It's really predictable with a very stilted and unimaginative script, little character development and a star who just didn't impose himself on the story or the screen as I had expected. A decent supporting cast of well known faces tries hard to beef it up, but somehow the sense of menace is just lacking. Perhaps it resonated more then with tales of political corruption in the 1960s still fresh in the public conscience and also with the recent repealing of the anti-homosexual legislation in the UK, but now - 50 years later - is completely forgettable fayre.

Two years before Villain came out Richard Burton along with Rex Harrison went gay in a film called Staircase. But he was about as opposite a gay character as you can get in Villain.

In Staircase both Burton and Harrison play a pair of prissy old hairdressers and the film talked about the problems that aging gay men face. Here Burton is as the title says, one of the deepest and darkest of villains, a brutal man who has a hair trigger temper, who kills without the slightest compunction and dearly loves his mother Cathleen Nesbitt.

Burton has an almost pathological fear of stool pigeons, will kill you even if he has just the slightest suspicion. It's what makes him difficult for Scotland Yard Inspector Nigel Davenport to catch. But that fear can also be his biggest weakness.

One man who is in deadly fear of Burton is Ian McShane who is a bisexual hustler who if he hadn't become the object of Burton's affections would be a lot happier. But Burton is not the kind of guy you say 'no' to.

Burton who had one of the most commanding and beautiful voices in the English language managed to retain most of that beauty even slipping into some London cockney speech patterns. And he has the air about him of an unexploded nuclear bomb.

It's something different for Burton and should be worth a look.

Suppose you were making a hard hitting crime drama in the 1970s and needed someone to play a mother obsessed violent homosexual gangster from London . Who would be your first choice ? That's right without a second's hesitation you'd cast a well known highly regarded Welsh stage actor . Richard Burton wasn't exactly famous for picking good roles in films but even by his own low standards there's something deranged about the casting here . Looking on the bright side there's something totally endearing about Burton's performance which makes VILLAIN a pleasure to watch . Okay it's a guilty pleasure but still a pleasure

The screenplay is written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais two writers who would go on to find fame as comedy creators for such shows as PORRIDGE and WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE LIKELY LADS and this movie has a wonderful streak of black humour running throughout it . The plot revolves around Inspector Bob Matthews trying to bring to book feared East End villain Vic Dakin . Matthews is played in a wry manner by Nigel Davenport with dialogue is laugh out loud funny as it's waspishly delivered . Take the scene in a restaurant where waiter Barzun explains Dakin's presence to Matthews

Barzun : Ah that's Vic Dakin . He sometimes pops in to have a meal

Matthews : And to pick up the rent too

Barzun : I don't know know what you mean Mr Matthews

Matthews : Bollox

and a following scene where Matthews meets Dakin in the toilets

Matthews : I don't know what you're trying to achieve in here - except maybe an orgasm

and there's a laugh out loud scene where Matthews locates one of Dakin's gang in a shed

Matthews : You coming inside Edgar . It's cold out here

As I said it's a most amusing film . I doubt if that was anyone's intention while it was being made but certainly a miscast Richard Burton beating up Ian McShane as a prelude to gay sex or indeed any scene where Dakin viciously batters someone does contain much humorous joy . Along with THE WILD GEESE and THE MEDUSA TOUCH it's the most entertaining movie experience I've seen Burton in

Villain was one of those films I vaguely remember seeing as a youngster in the Seventies. An 'after News At Ten' film on my very first black and white portable, knowing that it was just the sort of film a ten year old should not be watching. What I always remembered was the powerful ending with Burton screaming into the camera 'Who are you looking at?' Catching up with the film in later years I found that it was the very atmosphere that made it so memorable. Always compared with Get Carter (another favourite) I found that Villain seemed to enjoy higher production values whilst still maintaining the seedy underbelly of Seventies London life. I have often read that this 'seedy' tag has proved to be a turn off for some reviewers, but if you read the excellent James Barlow novel that the film was adapted from, you would see that Villain, the actors and in particular, Burton are very faithful to the text. Vic Dakin is a terrifying monster and although the cockney accent does seem strange at first, repeat viewings reveal a truly compelling character study. OK, so he was supposed to be on two bottles of vodka a day back then, but by God does he look like a real hard bastard?! The use of the grim locations, the lavish but contemporary score, the supporting cast and the realism of such scenes as the powerful wages snatch (still bloody violent by today's standards!) and the final confrontation, all combine to make a totally compelling film. Personally, it is a real favourite and for anyone in their thirties, it is also a slice of Seventies social comment stuffed full of great British character turns and a tough, realistic gangster thriller. Criminally underrated, hard to find on video and no DVD as such. Try to catch it one night, just after News At Ten!

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.

Compared to the contemporary film of Get Carter, this is a very poor film. Even the usually witty pens of Ian La Frenais and Dick Clement (Porridge and The Likely Lads) could do little more than make this a better than an average episode of The Sweeney. Richard Burton does his best, but he is Welsh and his Cockney impersonation is only slightly better than Dick Van Dyke's in Mary Poppins. Worth seeing, but not worth seeing twice. Better Engish gangster films are The Long Good Friday (Bob Hoskin's acting is exceptionally good, particularly the last scene) and, perhaps The Krays (almost a documentary of these East End thugs).

a classic Brit film of the early seventies,Villain remains a superbly made and well crafted example of pure villainy and layered characters making the best of the likes of Burton,McShane,Davenport and Acland. It opens with a gritty murder of some shady character who has crossed Richard Burton,who plays Vic Dakin,the central crook, who embarks on a wages snatch which goes horribly wrong,and ends with Dakins comeuppance at the hands of the law. With Jaguars and Zodiacs, seedy nightclubs and a dash of homosexuality,Villain makes at times uneasy watching and yet with Burton it remains compulsive. It has echoes of James Cagney and his 'Ma' in White Heat,as Vic Dakin and his Mother exercise a ring of steel midst crooks and cops. Watch it, enjoy it and savour the whole meal of man and mob.It is on video but still scarce to find, DVD is long overdue.

Richard Burton as a mother-obsessed gay gangster modeled on Ronnie Kray. It wasn't the worst part he ever had and to be fair he does what he can with it but as British gangster pictures go, "Villain" has very little to recommend it. The director was Michael Tuchner who doesn't appear to have much interest in the material, though he does handle the film's heist scene with more brio than it or the film probably deserves.

The script was by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais who were better suited to comedy, (there aren't many laughs in this one). On the plus side, Burton was always worth watching, even when he was bad, while Ian McShane is fine as the pretty boy Burton likes to have rough sex with, discreetly off-screen, and Donald Sinden is excellent in much too small a part as a corrupt Member of Parliament. Watchable then, but certainly not memorable.

Perhaps a poor relation to "Get Carter," (they were made around the same time as each other), this is nonetheless an underrated, interesting gangster film. Richard Burton is strangely cast as the violent East End villain, Vic Dakin. You can see that his character is obviously based on Ronnie Kray, and Burton has difficulty pulling off a cockney accent. He is often seen fumbling through his lines. With lots of London location filming and cockney banter, Americans will love this film. There is even a brilliant car chase during the violent wages snatch. Donald Sinden is brilliant as the sleazy, blackmailed MP who frequents high society sex parties. In this respect, the film is very satirical, the characters are stereotypical of an era where scandal amongst the English establishment and local "businessmen" was (and still is) rife.

Gangster Richard Burton, who runs a successful protection racket, gets a tip about robbing a factory payroll and acts on it even though it's not his usual line. It does not go at all well leading to his downfall.

That's essentially the plot of this film, but it has a lot of little side plots that it bides time with, building a little colour along the way. Ian MacShane is an associate of Burton's who mainly makes a living providing sexual partners for an MP (Donald Sinden) who likes to throw sex parties, and he's also Burton's frequent and not altogether willing sex partner. Burton has to cut fellow gangsters T. P. McKenna and Joss Ackland in on the robbery, and Ackland's ulcerous stomach is a recurring plot point. Burton assaults an associate in the film's opening who was a covert police informant, so cops Nigel Davenport and Collin Welland are out to get him.

Apparently this was meant to be a fairly low budget B flick based loosely on Ronald Kray (and really unexpectedly adapted from a James Barlow book by Al Lettieri) until Burton agreed to play the lead for no salary (he got a percentage of the prophets), partly to have something to do in London while Elizabeth Taylor shot a movie. This turned it into a relatively big film, which it really never should have been (it ended up a critical and commercial flop).

It's a pretty typical British crime flick of the period ... very violent and fairly laid back with a really bravura and tense heist-gone-wrong sequence in the middle. Burton is kind of fundamentally miscast as a Cockney gangster. He does a voice and accent, but he retains his fairly regal aura. He's far from bad. He's very menacing and has a real dangerous edge to him, but he just is obviously not London working class.

When I think of British gangster films I usually think along the lines of Get Carter (1971) and The Long Good Friday (1980), especially from the 1970s/early 1980s. I bring to thee Villain, a film rarely talked about let alone seen yet having a stellar cast in lead Richard Burton as a Cockney gangster every bit as menacing as Bob Hoskins or Michael Caine, even if he has a questionable London accent in periods throughout the film.

The London of 1971 seen through the film looks very clean and modern post World War II redeveloping even when compared to the aforementioned The Long Good Friday.

Richard Burton goes as far away from his Welsh/Upper Class characters I associate with his performances thus far as a homosexual gangster, who cares for his elderly mother in one scene, has a male love interest in other scenes (Ian McShane) and plans payroll robberies on his 'manor' in other scenes.

The payroll robbery is the main part of the screenplay and involves seedy British MP's, your typical London underworld figures and talks of manors and razors with a bit of claret chucked in! No I am not talking about wine when I mention claret I mean blood, human blood!

Definitely under the radar British gangster film that deserves a greater respect me thinks.

As others have mentioned Richard Burton was badly miscast in this and his accent was poor, especially when we are used to him sounding posh. With a different actor in Burton's part this would have been a much better film. Ian McShane got second top billing and I had not realised that he was so highly regarded way back in 1971, I'm used to seeing him in Lovejoy, which was great and still is.

A great film for lovers of what are now classic cars with Ian McShane driving a bronze Mark I Capri, with other Fords and Rovers to be admired. Not one of the great UK gangster film but still worth watching mainly due to the cast, and the cars.

Based probably on the real life villains, THE KRAYS, who at the time were still at large. Richard Burton wanted to do the role both because it was as far from anything else he'd done and because he played a gay small time criminal. Though gay is the last word you'd use to describe his character in the film. It's tough realistic crime film, in the same league as, though of course not the commercial success that the later film THE LONG GOOD Friday would be.

Burton is excellent, totally realistic, frightened and frightening. The on location filming is well done the supporting cast also on target. It is not an amped up gangster film, though there is plenty of violence and a smattering of nudity it all serves to convince you of the real world of crime in the London of 1970. It was shot in 2:35 so full frame videotapes, the only way to see it, crop the image, but though you're missing something it's worth seeing anyway you can. It has the sparse use of music and realistic tough language that made all 70's cinema real and fresh at the time, though it ages very well.

One of Burton's best performances, award caliber stuff, but too strong for critics of the day as a film. For Burton fans it's a must see as it is for Film Noir buffs. Seek it out.

Ruthless London gangster Vic Dakin (Richard Burton) leads a crew of cold-hearted killers including sadistic protégé Wolfe Lissner (Ian McShane). He's a mom-obsessed homo who takes rough sex with Wolfie. They use blackmail on political figures and get hounded by two relentless police investigators. Vic receives a tip about a vulnerable factory payroll and plans a heist. His timeline is squeezed by an impending armor truck delivery and he is forced to take on rival gangster Frank Fletcher and his brother-in-law Ed Lowis.

This is a lesser-known solid gangster heist movie. The accent is not that bad. Burton isn't doing much of an accent which helps me a lot. The side parts of the plot do get a bit overloaded. I do like the armed robbery heist without using a gun. It's fun and I've never seen that kind of suitcase. I would have liked more violence in the hospital. I don't particularly like his yelling to close out the movie. I would have wanted a hopeless shootout Sundance style. There is plenty of gangster goodness mixed with some muddled fillings.

A bad act off between Richard Burton Joss Ackand and the Hammeister himself Donald Sinden -some of the dialogue is a treat and Dick Clement /Ian Le Frenais script is almost their most unintentional best comedy!-one redeeming feature is the well staged heist scene but otherwise it's a miscast extraordinare -by the way Joss Ackland clearly hadn't learned his lesson not to play a villain when returning as one in an episode of The Sweeney 7 years later

This is a gritty, urban, British gangster film. The Long Good Friday can trace itself to this film. Much akin to the Michael Caine film, "Get Carter", which was released around the same time. It was a forerunner to the current crop of British gangster films, such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Layer Cake. Burton is the Villain of the title. He's the 'gov'ner of a group of west end thugs. Burton transforms himself in this film. He is pure evil and malice and as compelling to watch as a snake.

The action in the film is propelled by a factory payroll robbery - its planning and its aftermath. There is big money at stake, but this type of crime is a bit out of Vic Daykin's (Burton's) league. His gang is usually into protection/extortion rackets. Plus he is relying on the discretion of a mousy and resentful middle aged low ranking clerical worker at the factory who feels unappreciated by his wife and employer and doesn't have a problem helping Daykin with insider information.

Burton is fantastic in this role. There is extreme tension and especially violence here, so it might not be for everybody. Daykin is paranoid of everybody, enjoys beating people up with his bare hands just for the fun of it, and seems to hate/mistrust women to the extreme with the exception of his elderly mother to whom he is very gentle.

Only one gaping plot hole that I could find, and that was Daykin bringing the two outside mobsters in on the payroll job. If, he in fact "doesn't know anything about their boys", and he trusts his own guys as much as this guy is going to trust anybody, why would somebody as paranoid as he bring outsiders in on the biggest job of his life? I'd recommend it. Just remember if you are accustomed to lots of introspective angst and dialogue from Burton, you don't really get that here. It is not that kind of film.

Villain is written by Dick Clement and Ian Le Frenais best known for comedies. This is a hard boiled gangster film loosely based on Ronnie Kray. Richard Burton (Vic Dakin) plays the cockney accented, mother loving, razor wielding gangster with a fondness for rough sex with on and off boyfriend Ian McShane (Wolfie Lissner.)

Lissner is a ladies man who will do whatever to survive but cannot escape Dakin or his goons. He is a womaniser, a pimp, sells poppers in clubs and tries to avoids Dakin's sexual urges.

Dakin becomes a wanted man after a violently staged wage snatch job as Nigel Davenport's (Bob Matthews) wry detective doggedly pursues him and his gang. Matthews even stands up to the bent politician who does Dakin's bidding.

This is a rough, seedy film with plenty of 1970s location shooting in and around London. It stays just on the right side of ham. Burton looks lean and mean, he certainly has not turned up for a payday.

McShane shows he had lots of early talent in his role as Lissner. Davenport and Colin Welland almost steal the film as the smart coppers who just want to catch villains but engage in a lot of dry wit as well. It is also a roll call of 1970s British/Irish actors who played heavies in movies.

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 ****