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Odd man out (1947) - a Film Review

 James Mason

A wounded Irish nationalist leader tries to evade the police after a robbery gone wrong.

Carol Reed

This is in a nutshell the story of this movie from 1947 by director Carol Reed. Reed is famous for his excellent novel films. With a very precise eye for detail and atmosphere, Reed knows exactly how to transform the heart of the novel to the big screen. 'Odd man out', a book by F.L. Green, is no exception. Reed not only directed this film, but also did the production which enabled him to keep the entire creative process in his own hand. For example, he demanded that the many out door scenes in the Belfast's alleys and streets should be as realistic as possible. Thus, projection screens with actors in front of them weren’t used. They filmed in real streets or in the reconstructed streets of the Denham studios.

Robert Krasker

As a cameraman, Reed took on the renowned Robert Krasker, who had just made Letter Encounter for David Lean. He stated in particular that Krasker had studied light and camera in Germany, and was particularly well-trained in the typical German expressionist films with strong light-dark effects. Two years later, Krasker won an Oscar for The Third Man. For Odd Man Out, the cameraman succeeded in giving the cold, dark streets of pre-war Belfast a fairy-tale realism, in the absence of a better term: very realistic, but at the same time complete dreamy and dickensian.

Kathleen Ryan

In the movie, British actor James Mason plays the activist Johnny McQueen, an escaped member of the organization, which obviously refers to the IRA. With some friends he commits a robbery and kills a man by mistake. Police officers close off the entire city and search every house. Damned and injured, McQueen hides in a cold evening in the many shadows that the city is rich. He is helped and betrayed by city dwellers. His girlfriend Kathleen risks everything to find him and through a boat to help him flee the country, but the odds are against them.

Cyril Cusack

Mason thought this his best role in his career and his favorite Carol Reed movie. Partly, Mason has to thank his role to Stewart Granger who first was asked to play McQueen but turned it down. In this film, Mason and leading lady Kathleen Ryan are not only fantastic, but great actors are also hired for the minor parts. I think of coward Cyril Cusack, treacherous Maureen Delaney and first aid ladies Beryl Measor and Fay Compton.

Maureen Delaney

Carol Reed brings to life in this masterpiece the unprecedented way of life and plays masterfully with the contrasts light - dark, inside - outside and honestly - unfair. Half dead and almost without breath, McQueen gets both the best and the worst out of his fellow men while the viewer can not decide whether he should have sympathy for this murderer or not. Stunning decor, beautiful music and an end to kiss: a classic.

Beryl Measor en Fay Compton


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