Odd Man Out (1947)

Odd Man Out is unusual from so many angles, that Carol Reed seems to have invented the point of view, the atmosphere and the characterizations.

The camera angles are particularly interesting. Shot at ground level, looking up. Shot from above looking down. Shadows dance around corners. Perspective is distorted.

Certainly this was James Mason's best role and he shines as the man not used to daylight, (from rotting in prison for many years), who must lead a daring daylight raid that fails, because the sun gets in his eyes at the critical moment.

The rest of the film is built on what happens to Mason next. He meets many characters who use him for their own ends. He becomes a metaphor. The helpless victim in an almost Kafka-esk world.

Newton is, as always, visually arresting. His mastery over the spoken language is stunning here as he cajoles Mason to sit for his portrait.

The end of this film is classic and shocking and should never be revealed. It must be seen with no fore-knowledge for the best effect.

No longer available for purchase, your best bet to see this extraordinary film is to find a Video rental outlet that specializes in British film. Well worth the effort. A MUST SEE for James Mason/Robert Newton fans and for people who love original film work.

Fmovies: ODD MAN OUT is the kind of film that stays within your film memory long after you've seen it--as in my case, writing this from a memory seared by the experience of watching JAMES MASON in one of his greatest roles as Johnny McQueen, on the lam from the law after a botched robbery ends in the death of a man and he becomes a hunted animal.

Visually, the film is the dark and shadowy kind of film noir that has him stumbling into the cold and snowy landscape, wounded and intent on protecting himself from the elements and the mob of people who want to see him dead. Mason's predicament is much like Victor McLaglen's in THE INFORMER, where he finds himself an outsider with little chance of survival in a world where danger lurks everywhere for anyone caught in a web of intrigue and espionage.

While the IRA is never mentioned, we understand that this is the criminal organization Johnny led and his fate is more or less sealed once he is on the lam.

Brilliant direction by Carol Reed, an anguished performance by the wounded fugitive, JAMES MASON, and wonderful support from Kathleen Ryan and Robert Newton, makes this a superior character study of the good and evil in mankind.

Well worth seeing and probably one of Mason's most memorable roles.

Johnny McQueen is an IRA leader who breaks out of prison and for 6 months hides out at the house of adoring Kathleen. Here he plots a robbery of a Belfast mill to fund his underground organisation, the robbery doesn't go to plan and Johnny kills a man in a struggle outside the mill, he himself is shot and fails to make the getaway with his accomplices...

If ever there was a film that defines the statement of film on canvass then this is it, it's a gorgeous piece of work relying on striking imagery and dialogue driven smartness to realise the demise of Johnny McQueen. We watch (and listen intensely) as Johnny lurches through the back streets of Belfast knowing he is dying, he has most of the city looking for him, be it the law, or friends, or those that want to cash in on him, his destiny is not so much carved in stone, but more like written in blood in the snow.

The amazing feeling I got with this film is that I felt like I was dying as well, and I think that is one of the film's great strengths, director Carol Reed and cinematographer Robert Krasker put you into the mindset of McQueen, the doom hangs heavy, the distortion and hallucinogenic free fall for the last reel hangs heavy on the viewer, it's a stifling masterclass. Some of the shots are beautiful, especially once the snow starts to fall to accentuate the Victorian backdrops, but consistently we also get moist and misty cobbled streets lit by gas lamps, providing moody shadows of humans and buildings alike. While Krasker offers up his photographic atmospherics, Reed excels with scenes such as portraits forming together in front of McQueen, or faces appearing in spilled beer bubbles; images wrung out of McQueen's feverish mind.

James Mason as Mcqueen is brilliant, and yet he doesn't get long periods of dialogue here, the script doesn't call for it, yet the performance is simply wonderful, with just one look of desperation Mason acts out of the top draw. There are a number of great characters in the film, like borderline insane artist Lukey (a bountiful turn from Robert Newton), or bum for a pound Shell (F.J. McCormick), no character is merely a walk on part, they all add weight to this clinically structured piece of work. The score by William Alwyn is right on the money and integral to realising the film's thematic heart, and the ending is noir nirvana, it took me 5 minutes to digest it fully during the close credits. A haunting and poetic piece of work, that rare old beast that is bleakly beautiful. 9/10

Odd Man Out fmovies. Very unusual film, this. Haunting. I'm not a big fan of James Mason but he is excellent in this.

An unnamed organisation (the IRA) in an unnamed Norhern Irish city (Belfast) carry out an armed robbery that goes wrong. Johnny ends up shot, dying and on the run. The movie tracks the multiple stalking of this wounded, dying creature. Everyone wants a piece of him for different reasons.

Why the IRA and Belfast aren't named I don't know - perhaps the politics of the time caused this.

Some aspects of the movie have dated somewhat, but much of it remains gripping and fascinating.

Harold Pinter refers to it constantly in his play Old Times and you can imagine that a young Pinter would have been influenced by this movie.

Check this one out, for sure.

The settings and photography of this film are absolutely outstanding, Johnny's hiding place, Shell's odd room full of canaries, the elaborate Victorian tavern,the snow covering Johnny as he lies unconscious. I love the Third Man but this is by far my favorite Carol Reed production. It is slow and contemplative and transforms essential theological and philosophical concepts into visual media. It is strange and almost at times hallucinatory, but after all Johnny is often hallucinating in his pain and fever and this dreamlike quality is quite appropriate -- the slow thoughts of a man before he dies, as he tries to figure out what it was about and where he may be going. Reed does so much with film without dialog -- his close-ups of faces, his soft, dark streets and odd angles turn very difficult concepts and feelings into a visual masterpiece. I am always surprised to see how little commentary, what short shrift this excellent film is given

James Mason gives the performance of a lifetime as a dying IRA-man.

There's little I can say to add to others' description of the movie except for a few historical notes:

The city _is_ Belfast. It was shot on the streets - according to my Grandfather most outside scenes had huge audiences. The Bar which McQueen ends up in is the Crown Bar, on Great Victoria Street. The exterior of the actual bar is seen although a replica of the inside is seen. This is an architecturally beautiful bar and well worth a visit!

Mason wins the viewers' pity for a dying rebel. Remember, this is the 'old' IRA and not the latter-day thugs we are familiar with. From the outset you feel sympathy for the man and this increases as you are taken through the last hours of his life.

It is hard to get on video, though BBC2 (UK) usually shows it round Christmas. Set your video!