THE WORLD'S GREATEST SINNER
Special Features: New 4K Restoration
"[A] kind of psychotronic NIGHT OF THE HUNTER." – Alan Licht, Film Comment. Over the years, this infamous passion project written, directed and produced by cult character actor Timothy Carey (Stanley Kubrick's THE KILLING and PATHS OF GLORY) has deservedly earned its reputation as a midnight-movie holy grail, difficult to find but steeped in legend. Thanks to the work of the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation, whose founder Martin Scorsese is among the film's champions, THE WORLD'S GREATEST SINNER can now be seen in a new digital restoration. Carey plays Clarence Hilliard, a suburban father and husband who quits his job as an insurance salesman to pursue music stardom — despite having no musical ability — and start his own religion/political party, declaring himself "God" Hilliard. Improbably achieving a measure of success with his efforts, Hilliard remains dissatisfied and aims even higher, declaring he'll run for U.S. president. Carey's subversive wit and offbeat, occasionally squirm-inducing humor make this burlesque of male vanity, ambition and fakery a one-of-a-kind movie experience. The film features a score by the young Frank Zappa, marking his professional music debut, predating his first Mothers of Invention LP by several years. DIR/SCR/PROD Timothy Carey. U.S., 1963, b&w, 78 min. NOT RATED
Restored by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.
AFI Member passes accepted.
Run Time: 92 Minutes
Opening Date: Friday, June 14, 2024
Genre: Drama
