Golden Oldie: Sir Carol Reed

Ladies and gentlemen!

I'm here today to try to explain why, which the single exception of Hitch (whom I exclude from the reckoning for the same reason Golden Eagles are banned from taking part in pigeon races), I regard Carol Reed as the greatest British movie director ever.

Factual stuff follows:

http://www.sensesofcinema.com/contents/directors/03/reed.html

Now back to flights of fancy.

Carol Reed was a Poet Of Isolation. He was most at home when he was making films about individuals who are very much not at home. Examples:

The Stars Look Down (1939): the story of a working-class man from a mining community who betters himself through self-education and penetrates the class-ridden world of late 19th-century British Politics.

Odd Man Out (1946): perhaps the ultimate story of solitude in the midst of humanity. Wounded, cut off from his friends, hunted by the State, passing in and out of hallucination, Johnny McQueen staggers through a city full of strangers whose motivations may be kindly or exploitative, but are invariably idiosyncratic and unguessable. He's like a stricken Odysseus in a world of Cyclopes, Sorceresses and Sirens.

Fallen Idol (1948): A small French boy in London, aimlessly inhabiting a huge, echoing house. He makes one friend, but can that friend be trusted? When he attempts to save his friend from a murder charge, he manages to make matters worse through his failure to comprehend the rules of an alien, baffling adult world.

The Third Man (1949): An American in Vienna, unable to speak the language or make sense of a situation where Respectable Society and Underworld seem often indistinguishable, searches for the truth about his lost, only friend whose friendship turns out not be what he thought it was.

An Outcast Of The Islands (1951): A European in the Far East commits out of loneliness an action which cuts himself off from both the local people and his own compatriots.

Isolation and alienation are the warp and woof of all these films. Of course, Reed made other pictures which deal with other themes: The Way Ahead and Oliver!, for example, both show the opposite side of the coin and depict individuals becoming part of a team. Throughout his career, however, he kept returning to the idea, with mediocre results such as The Man Between (1953) and The Running Man (1963).

As we've seen, Carol Reed was born out of wedlock in 1906. Well, what a gift for a smart-aleck cinéaste looking for a simplistic peg to hang his thesis on. Of course there must have been more to Reed's fascination with Outsiders than just the accident of his birth; nonetheless, the stigma attached to illegitimacy in those days, the concept of the illegitimate child as debarred from Respectable Society - which no one would feel more strongly than the child himself - could hardly have failed to contribute to a readiness in Reed to identify with outcasts and misfits.

Curiously, in the two films whose heroes actually are illegitimate - The Stars Look Down (whose main character is plainly based on Keir Hardie) and Kipps, their portrayal is bland, lacking poignancy. Perhaps Reed felt too close to his subject. Alternatively, perhaps Michael Redgrave was simply the wrong actor. If Reed had waited ten years and made the movies with Alec Guinness, the shared "guilty secret" of actor and director might have made for greater emotional depth.

And that's quite enough for one post. I look forward to reading what you all have to say on the subject. Here endeth my survey of Sir Carol Reed, the patron saint of those who Wander Lonely In A Crowd.

Good choice Byron. I count three of his films as great favorites of mine.

Carol Reed directed my all time favorite film The Third Man. Another of my much loved films is Our Man in Havana, again from a Graham Green novel. And it was really more of an entertaining film in a different way from The Third Man for me. Is whimsical the right word, perhaps. But it was the cast that made it so memorable, Alec Guinness ( Jim Wormwold) an unassuming vacuum cleaner salesman in Havana is recruited by Hawthorne (Noel Coward), a British spy, to collect information of political or military importance in Havana and pass it along for British intelligence. The spoof of cloak-and-daggering is lovingly realized in Reed's film. In Greene's droll conceit, the umbrella-toting Hawthorne is the antithesis of an unobtrusive secret agent. When we first encounter him, shortly after the film begins, he is striding forcefully through the streets with a small band of musicians trailing along behind him. He is impeccably overdressed in a black suit that couldn't be less appropriate for the Cuban climate.

Coward's superior is 'C' (Ralph Richardson) . 'M' anybody, did that give Ian Fleming any ideas??

The stroke of genius in this film's casting is Ernie Kovacs as Captain Segura, a cigar-puffing officer who suspects Wormold of espionage activity and harasses him throughout the movie in one fashion or another. Kovacs, one of the top comedians of the era until his premature death in 1962, surprised everyone with his masterly performance, disappearing so completely into Segura that only his immortal cigar still protrudes. Thus, Captain Segura is intelligent and crafty and his comedic moments seem intentional. To be sure, Segura fits the corrupt/tyrannical stereotype of a Caribbean strongman ('There are two classes of people: those who can be tortured and those who can't', he announces). Enamored of Wormold's daughter Milly (Jo Morrow), he courts her in gentlemanly fashion. In an effort to coax or trick Wormold away from the British side in the spy game, he accepts the latter's guileful challenge to play checkers with tiny liquor bottles as pieces and a rule that when a player seizes his opponent's piece, he must drink the bottle. The drunken results of this game are both funny and essential to the machinery of the plot.

Carol Reed and Graham Green were very sempatico. Also Reed and Robert Krasker worked well together. Oh the third film I like so much is Odd Man Out, in which Robert Krasker was the cinematographer and it shows, he was also the cinematographer for The Third Man. Krasker won an Oscar for that. I like Odd Man Out I have to admit due in a huge part to the wonderful James Mason though.

I consider Oliver! to be one of the best big screen musicals ever... top three..easy

Excelent choice Byron.

Reed is just one of the great unsung directors of the 20th Century. If I walked down the street and asked people how many of heard of Carol Reed, the answer would be zero. Which truely is a great shame. He is and always will be one of the greatest British directors ever.

I of course adore The Third Man, the shots in that movie are just amazing, truely he was brilliant behind the camera. He also knew how to get a damn good performance out of his actors, though he chose such perfect actors it could not have been too hard. I agree with Byron that he is the master of male lonliness. The final scenes of The Third Man sum it all up, Joseph Cotten walking away from Alida Valli and through those trees. Just beautiful.

I need to see more of his works, but most of his stuff is extremely hard to find on dvd where I live. I'll be back to post more later.

The cinematography in some four or five of his films is increasingly stylised, then abruptly - after The Third Man - he went back to naturalism and stayed there for the rest of his career.

I've often wonder: did he realise he was at risk of being seen as Britain's answer to Orson Welles?

I consider Oliver! to be one of the best big screen musicals ever... top three..easy
Agreed.

The Third Man and Oliver! are the only films from the list provided thus far that I've seen (or at least, recall seeing). As for The Third Man, the very last scene has always stuck in my mind, moreso than any other. In fact, I'd have to watch it again to make proper discussion, but the image of the tree-lined streets and the music to accompany has been forever imprinted on my mind. That was easily one of the most memorable endings in film history to date.

On a side note, since seeing The Third Man I've had a special fondness for The Band's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Band) version of "The Third Man Theme". If anyone is interested in hearing it, PM your e-mail and I'll be glad to send. It's lovely.

Allow me.

In alot of ways the movie was about Anna and her srtuggle to survive and her lonliness as well. Even though Holly was trying to do right by her, she ended up hating him, maybe for spoiling her false image of Harry Lime.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v504/ozma/trees11.jpg

Fascinating fact: originally, Anton Karas's zither theme was only intended to be used a couple of times in the film, while the main music was supplied by an orchestra. Then there was a fire - the music track was burned - so they got Karas to do the lot.

Fascinating fact: originally, Anton Karas's zither theme was only intended to be used a couple of times in the film, while the main music was supplied by an orchestra. Then there was a fire - the music track was burned - so they got Karas to do the lot.Hate to say it, but thank god for that fire. That zither music is such an important aspect of that film.

Director Carol Reed originally wanted James Stewart for the role of Holly Martins; producer David O. Selznick insisted on Joseph Cotten, who was under contract to Selznick's production company at that time.

Cary Grant was considered for the part of Harry Lime. Conicidentally, Grant was a regular lunchtime visitor to the set of the film when the shooting returned to London sound-stages.

I can't imagine either of those men in the roles.

Hate to say it, but thank god for that fire. That zither music is such an important aspect of that film.

Director Carol Reed originally wanted James Stewart for the role of Holly Martins; producer David O. Selznick insisted on Joseph Cotten, who was under contract to Selznick's production company at that time.

Cary Grant was considered for the part of Harry Lime. Conicidentally, Grant was a regular lunchtime visitor to the set of the film when the shooting returned to London sound-stages.

I can't imagine either of those men in the roles.

I heard that Stewart Granger was also considered for Holly. At first I rather liked the idea. But no: Holly has to be a cypher or it doesn't work.

I heard that Stewart Granger was also considered for Holly. At first I rather liked the idea. But no: Holly has to be a cypher or it doesn't work.And I think Jospeh Cotton was a perfect in the role anyway. I can't see Stewart Granger at all.

And I think Jospeh Cotton was a perfect in the role anyway. I can't see Stewart Granger at all.
Joseph Cotton was perfect. Ever since I saw Shadow of a Doubt, I admired Cotton.

Joseph Cotton was perfect. Ever since I saw Shadow of a Doubt, I admired Cotton.I prefer silk myself.

Oh yes he is a great actor. I loved him in Portrait of Jennie and he was good in Citizen Kane too.

I prefer silk myself.

Oh yes he is a great actor. I loved him in Portrait of Jennie and he was good in Citizen Kane too.
Haha, clever.

Ohhhh I'd forgotten about Portrait of Jennie! Great movie. So, is talking about Cotton considered straying from the topic, or?

Haha, clever.

Ohhhh I'd forgotten about Portrait of Jennie! Great movie. So, is talking about Cotton considered straying from the topic, or?Oh well, you know how we are around here. But I do think Joseph Cotten in The Third Man was his best role.

Of interestng note, and I prefer the British version with Reed's narration myself, which is the original version, with the cut eleven minutes.

As the original British release begins, an unnamed narrator (actually the voice of director Carol Reed) is heard describing post-war Vienna from the point of view of a racketeer. The version shown in American theatres replaced this with narration by Holly Martins. This change was made by David O. Selznick, who did not think American audiences would relate to the seedy tone of the original.[1] In addition, eleven minutes were cut.[2] Today, Reed's original version now appears on American DVDs and in showings on Turner Classic Movies. (both the Criterion Collection and Studio Canal releases include a comparison of the two opening monologues.)

Sorry Byron, The Third Man has seemed to over taken your thread.

Sorry Byron, The Third Man has seemed to over taken your thread.

It was always bound to, and no wonder.

Thinking it over today, it occurs to me that another trademark of Reed's is that he often makes his main character, if not dull, at least never the most interesting character in the film.

Holly Martins is a bit of a bore, really, or would be if Joseph Cotten didn't bring his personal sex-appeal to the part. Harry Lime overshadows him effortlessly, even with the short time he spends on screen. In the same way Robert Donat's Pitt is outshone by Robert Morley's Fox, and Mark Lester's Oliver by . . . almost everyone, actually. James Mason doesn't get a chance to dominate after Johnny is shot: most of the time he's seen sitting silent while the stars of that particular scene do their turn. Alec Guinness's Wormold is the only exception that springs to mind.

So not only is a typical Reed hero often unable to relate to the world outside him, he finds a magic in the forbidden world that he can't find in himself. Most intriguing (and sad).

Harry Lime certainly took over the whole movie, even when he wasn't on the screen. I wonder if he was played by someone less charismatic than Welles if it would have been the same. Lime certainly wasn't a charming rouge, but that is how most of us remember him in the movie. He was a ruthless and dangerous man.

Harry Lime certainly took over the whole movie, even when he wasn't on the screen. I wonder if he was played by someone less charismatic than Welles if it would have been the same. Lime certainly wasn't a charming rouge, but that is how most of us remember him in the movie. He was a ruthless and dangerous man.

Certainly it wouldn't have been the same with Michael Rennie. (Yawn!)

Orson himself played Lime as a Soldier Of Fortune With A Heart Of Gold in the radio series he made in the late 50s. They're quite fun,but I wonder what Graham Greene must have thought of the total perversion of his character.

Certainly it wouldn't have been the same with Michael Rennie. (Yawn!)

Orson himself played Lime as a Soldier Of Fortune With A Heart Of Gold in the radio series he made in the late 50s. They're quite fun,but I wonder what Graham Greene must have thought of the total perversion of his character.He didn't have a heart of gold in The Third Man. He didn't have any kind of heart. I was fairly certain the first time I saw it he was even going to kill his friend Holly.

He didn't have a heart of gold in The Third Man. He didn't have any kind of heart. I was fairly certain the first time I saw it he was even going to kill his friend Holly.

Oh sure. If Holly hadn't mentioned that Calloway had dug up the grave, Lime would have chucked him off the Big Wheel without a second thought.

Oh sure. If Holly hadn't mentioned that Calloway had dug up the grave, Lime would have chucked him off the Big Wheel without a second thought.Yes he would have. I think it was fitting that Harry died like a rat in the sewer.

Yes he would have. I think it was fitting that Harry died like a rat in the sewer.
Certainly fitting for the character and the style of the film. One could pretty much see that coming, but it wasn't in a bad "oh, I know what's coming next" sort of way.

Has anyone out there ever seen Carol Reed's The Key (1958), with William Holden, Sophia Loren and Trevor Howard?

I keep reading as how it's "the British cinema's best-kept secret", but it's certainly been kept from me and I'd appreciate any comments.

It rings a bell but I usually don't watch Sophia Loren films. I could be thinking of a book I read by Dashiell Hammett called The Glass Key.

It rings a bell but I usually don't watch Sophia Loren films. I could be thinking of a book I read by Dashiell Hammett called The Glass Key.
That was a movie with Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake, adapted from the book of course.

It rings a bell but I usually don't watch Sophia Loren films. I could be thinking of a book I read by Dashiell Hammett called The Glass Key.

She's got some good movies, I have really liked her in a few roles

That was a movie with Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake, adapted from the book of course.
Thanks. I'll look into this adaptation.

Thanks. I'll look into this adaptation.It's a good film noir, Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake worked so well together too.
William Bendix has a good part in it, he made such a great thug.

It's a good film noir, Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake worked so well together too.
William Bendix has a good part in it, he made such a great thug.

. . . but not (he gibbered, desperately trying to get his pet thread back on subject) as great as Oliver Reed's Bill Sikes in Oliver! Is he his Cousin Carol's last great Outsider? Whereas all of Dickens' other hard edges have been softened for the movie, Sikes is as sinister here as in the book, providing a cold, rotten heart for what would otherwise be a far too prettified vision of Victorian lowlife.

. . . but not (he gibbered, desperately trying to get his pet thread back on subject) as great as Oliver Reed's Bill Sikes in Oliver! Is he his Cousin Carol's last great Outsider? Whereas all of Dickens' other hard edges have been softened for the movie, Sikes is as sinister here as in the book, providing a cold, rotten heart for what would otherwise be a far too prettified vision of Victorian lowlife.Yes he was quite sinister as I recall. He could have been played as a loveable rouge, but I remember him as a rather cruel man. Although I am not a musical fan and it has been since high school since I have seen Oliver!. They loaded us all on a bus and took us to the big city to see it when it came out.

Oh they were related I wondered about that.

I recently saw Odd Man Out on television and Fallen Idol on the big screen. Thought they were both very good. Recommended, especially for those who like The Third Man.

According to the thread listing Matt was the last person to post in this thread at 5.19pm yesterday...yet the last post I see is one from Oz from October last year (and yet Matt's post is visible as the most recent when I look at the previous posting below while in 'post compose' mode) ...what gives?


EDIT..and now I've actually posted..Matt's post appears above me.... :confused:

According to the thread listing Matt was the last person to post in this thread at 5.19pm yesterday...yet the last post I see is one from Oz from October last year (and yet Matt's post is visible as the most recent when I look at the previous posting below while in 'post compose' mode) ...what gives?


EDIT..and now I've actually posted..Matt's post appears above me.... :confused:Yesterday I could never see Matt's post, it was listed when I clicked on New Posts, but I could never get to it. Now I can finally see it.

Ahhh! 'Stealth Posts'

Ahhh! 'Stealth Posts'

As in "Stealth Bombers" and "Stealth Taxes": you never see them coming till there's nothing to do about 'em.

Stealthy as Harry Lime, I. :p


Not sure what was going on there.

Cinematographer Robert Krasker (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005761/), a frequent collaborator with Reed, deserves a lot of credit for the visual quality of Reed's film.

Cinematographer Robert Krasker (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005761/), a frequent collaborator with Reed, deserves a lot of credit for the visual quality of Reed's film.

He certainly has a good few jewels in his crown. Should we call him the British Greg Toland? (Yes, I know he was born in Australia, but in 1913 that didn't count).

Should we call him the British Greg Toland? (
Yes, we should. :)

Yes, we should. :)

Oh good. Glad we got that sorted out.

Actually I just came across this, Jonathan Rosenbaum writing about Odd Man Out:

"Robert Krasker’s black and white cinematography is good enough to make you think of Orson Welles’ work with Gregg Toland and Stanley Cortez on Citizen Kane (http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare/citizenkane.htm) and The Magnificent Ambersons (http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews21/magnificent_ambersons_dvd_review.htm)"


http://www.dvdbeaver.com/FILM/articles/18_thrillers_you_might_have_missed.htm

Actually I just came across this, Jonathan Rosenbaum writing about Odd Man Out:

"Robert Krasker’s black and white cinematography is good enough to make you think of Orson Welles’ work with Gregg Toland and Stanley Cortez on Citizen Kane (http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare/citizenkane.htm) and The Magnificent Ambersons (http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews21/magnificent_ambersons_dvd_review.htm)"


http://www.dvdbeaver.com/FILM/articles/18_thrillers_you_might_have_missed.htmThanks for that link..I love the DVDBeaver site.

Oh have you see The Wages of Fear, I love Clouzot's films. Le Corbeau is an all time fav or mine too and of course Les Diabolique.

Actually I just came across this, Jonathan Rosenbaum writing about Odd Man Out:

"Robert Krasker’s black and white cinematography is good enough to make you think of Orson Welles’ work with Gregg Toland and Stanley Cortez on Citizen Kane (http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/dvdcompare/citizenkane.htm) and The Magnificent Ambersons (http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews21/magnificent_ambersons_dvd_review.htm)"


http://www.dvdbeaver.com/FILM/articles/18_thrillers_you_might_have_missed.htm

Vindicated!

Thanks for that link..I love the DVDBeaver site.


Yeah, I like it a lot too. Rosenbaum does a semi-regular column there--offbeat, overlooked, etc. from particular genres that's fun to check out if you're looking for recommendations (sorry . . . I know this is very off-topic). Here are some of the others:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/articles/10_offbeat_musicals.htm

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/articles/noir.htm

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/articles/westerns.htm

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/articles/sci-fi.htm

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/articles/fantasy.htm

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/articles/dozen_undervalued_movie_satires.htm

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/articles/18_thrillers_you_might_have_missed.htm

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/articles/ten_underappreciated_john_ford_films.htm

Yeah, I like it a lot too. Rosenbaum does a semi-regular column there--offbeat, overlooked, etc. from particular genres that's fun to check out if you're looking for recommendations (sorry . . . I know this is very off-topic). Here are some of the others:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/articles/10_offbeat_musicals.htm

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/articles/noir.htm

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/articles/westerns.htm

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/articles/sci-fi.htm

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/articles/fantasy.htm

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/articles/dozen_undervalued_movie_satires.htm

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/articles/18_thrillers_you_might_have_missed.htm

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/articles/ten_underappreciated_john_ford_films.htmOh great stuff, there are more than a few films I need to find.