Father Brown is a 1954 British mystery comedy film directed by Robert Hamer and starring Alec Guinness as the title character with Joan Greenwood, Peter Finch and Cecil Parker.

The police raid a premises at night and find a priest at an open safe: he explains he is replacing the money for a parishioner.

Outside he meets the erring parishioner Bert (Sid James) and convinces him to be a chauffeur to Lady Warren rather than drive get-away cars.

They wait until there are only two seats left on an excursion bus then grab it, leaving the police stranded.

Father Brown has worked out that the priest is Flambeau as he ordered a ham sandwich (on a Friday).

Father Brown convinces his friend, Lady Warren, to auction an important silver chess set to lure Flambeau into stealing it.

Brown starts researching Flambeau in the library (breaking his glasses in this task) and finds a link to Fleurency in the Burgundy region of France.

He discovers a secret door in the back of the big kitchen fireplace and Flambeau asks him to enter.

The screenplay adaptation is based loosely on the Father Brown story, "The Blue Cross.

[4] Variety said the film was "distinguished mainly by the excellent casting of Alec Guinness in the title role.