The World's Greatest Sinner

1962

Drama

2
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 62% · 5 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 62% · 100 ratings
IMDb Rating 6.3/10 10 1001 1K

politics surreal religion underground film

Plot summary

A bored insurance salesman quits his job to go into politics. He first starts preaching about how man is greater than he thinks and that man can live forever. He ends up forming his own political party, "The Eternal Man" party. He begins to be referred to as "God". Then he starts having doubts about the eternalness of man.

Director

Timothy Carey Photo
Timothy Carey

Top cast

Timothy Carey Photo
Timothy Carey as Clarence Hilliard
Paul Frees Photo
Paul Frees as Narrator
Titus Moede Photo
Titus Moede as Follower
Gil Barreto Photo
Gil Barreto as Alonzo
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
707.7 MB
986*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 16 min
Seeds 5
1.28 GB
1480*1080
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 16 min
Seeds 6

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by 6 / 10

A Big Idea With A Small Budget

"The World's Greatest Sinner" is a failure, but a glorious failure. Tim Carey had a huge idea. A fantastic idea. But working without a budget and outside the Hollywood mainstream doomed that idea and turned it into one of the most ambitious and frustrating B-movie projects I have ever seen.The problems with this film are many. The editing and sound are horrendous from start to finish. Abrupt doesn't begin to cover most of the transitions. Unrelated shots pop up in the most unnerving places. The soundtrack is either loud to the point of distortion or so low and garbled as to be nearly unlistenable. Which, in most cases, should kill the movie before it starts. But in this particular case the problems almost work as high art, keeping the viewer in a state of confusion that mirrors the confusion of Clarence.The acting is spotty. Tim Carey is totally over the top and melodramatic throughout, but oddly compelling. The supporting cast runs the gamut from horribly amateurish to passably good, and in two cases (the old woman follower and Clarence's "publicity man") very good.The word that is most often used to describe this film is "surreal". And it's appropriate. The jump cuts, odd camera work and overall feel of the film make it a truly unique experience to watch. And the Frank Zappa soundtrack add mightily to the whole otherworldly tone of the film. The soundtrack was performed by The Pomona Valley Symphony Orchestra, who seem to be having quite the struggle to play Zappa's score. The score fits the film very well, overall. Shows that Zappa could have been a great film composer if his interest had lain in that direction.I see similarities between "Sinner" and Elia Kazan's "A Face In The Crowd". One man's ascension to power while descending into a personal hell. While "Crowd" is, clearly, a massively better film, Carey's idea and vision for "Sinner" could have, with more talent, enough budget, and better character development made a film to equal Kazan's.Ultimately "The World's Greatest Sinner" is certainly interesting, and well worth a watch but ultimately exists as a frustrating textbook example of the worst case scenario of indie films:A fantastic idea frustrated at every turn by the realities of filmmaking.
Reviewed by 7 / 10

Citizen Hilliard

Reviewed by 7 / 10

Weird & Good

Well, I FINALLY saw this last night. So weird. So bizarre. So timely. Yes, completely camp. The acting, old-timey film with it's technical gaps, music. The script still fits in today. Politics and religion in the spotlight. So ahead of it's time. Really keeps ones attention though. Tim Carey was born to play this role. I watched mostly for the Frank Zappa soundtrack, but was a memorable film experience that I'm glad I had.I also really miss the days when this website let you write a review that didn't have to be ten lines long. Yes, I've been here that long, but one could also argue long enough to actually do the correct thing here and just write a longer review. I feel ornery. Today.
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