Part of Music City Mondays
Insurance salesman Clarence Hilliard (Timothy Carey) falls under the influence of the devil (James Farley), quits his job and becomes an offbeat evangelist, preaching that every man is eternal and calling himself “the God Hilliard.” His cult-like following explodes as he spreads his philosophy through hip-swiveling rock ‘n’ roll. Soon he grows wealthy, seduces women of all ages and runs for president. But, when those closest to Hilliard desert him, he must face himself––and the actual God.
Long languishing in the dustbins of cult film history and circulated among the keenest of Carey-ites on shoddy bootleg transfers, this passion project from the beloved character actor is finally seeing the light of day thanks to a brand-new restoration. Featuring an early original score by pre-Mothers Frank Zappa.
Restored by the Academy Film Archive and The Film Foundation, with funding provided by the Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation.
“Like a grenade slowly rolling around a room… Erratically brilliant, thoroughly independent. Carey was a genuine wild-card who could make his Method contemporaries look tame. ” —Nicholas Rapold, New York Times
“Straddling the twilight zone between underground and exploitation, dripping with resentment for the nuclear family, Carey slithers and shimmers in the title role as a suburban father caught in a surrealistic Faustian bargain. But Sinner is more than a mid-century progenitor to Tommy Wiseau’s THE ROOM (2003). Behind the saucer eyes of the writer-director-star is a storyteller’s brain, full to the brim with humorous, honest, and ugly critiques of the American dream and its devotees.” —Caroline Gollum, Screen Rant