Odd Man Out

It is the winter of 1946-47. Johnny McQueen (James Mason) is a revered leader of the Irish Republican Army in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Recently escaped from prison, he plans to rob a mill to provide funds for the organization though his colleagues urge him not to be involved. Awarded Best British Film at the British Academy Awards and nominated for an Oscar for Best Editing, Odd Man Out, directed by Carol Reed (The Third Man), is the story of a botched robbery that leads to murder and the attempt of a seriously wounded man to elude capture. Pursued by "The Inspector" (Dennis O'Dea), Johnny is helped by Kathleen Sullivan (Kathleen Ryan), a young IRA woman who loves him and tries to smuggle him out of the city. He wanders helplessly in the dark streets and alleys of Belfast, buffeted by rain and snow, living in cellars with derelicts, constantly exposed to danger, looking more like a walking zombie than a revolutionary. The tone of the film is dark and Kafkaesque with its thin line between reality and nightmare.

Johnny is one of Mason's best roles especially during the early part of the film but he is submerged in the second half by a string of exaggerated supporting characters that include a demented painter Lukey (Robert Newton) who wants to paint his death mask, a priest (W.G. Fay) who wants to save his soul, sisters Rosie and Maudie (Fay Compton and Beryl Measor) who give him shelter but force him out, and con man Shell (F.J. McCormick) who wants to use him to make money. Odd Man Out is not a political film or even a suspense thriller but a surreal allegory of the limits of man's compassion. When Lukey looks at Johnny and says, "I understand what I see in him. The truth about us all", we can see ourselves -- running for our life, scared and alone, awaiting the encroaching night.

"Odd Man Out" is far more than just a very good "cops and robbers" movie, although it can hold its own with most. Beneath that is a deep psychological drama as Johnny McQueen, an IRA rebel, wounded in a holdup, is pursued by police, his own gang, and several unsavory characters. McQueen becomes less of a man and more symbol to his hunters. He is viewed as a martyr, meal ticket, and art project. Robert Newton is excellent in his role as a half-mad artist who wants to hold Johnny just long enough to paint the expression in the eyes of a dying man. Intensely suspenseful, set in the working-class neighborhoods and slums, the gray atmosphere compliments the plot perfectly. One of James Mason's finest.

Escaped from jail and sick of the violence, Johnny still is the head of the IRA and arranges a robbery on the mill. When he gets into a fight on the escape, Johnny is shot and kills a man. Half in and half out of the getaway car, Johnny falls out into the street and gets away before his comrades can collect him. Lost in the streets of Belfast, Johnny lurches from one safe-house to another while both friend and foe try to find him before the other.

While this film does feature an `organisation' that bares more than a passing resemblance to the IRA of the time and it is set in a town in Northern Ireland (unnamed in the film, but Belfast in reality) but this is not a film that is about the troubles per se; in fact it is surprising in just how non-partisan it manages to be throughout. The film goes the usual route of having the main IRA-character being either `too crazy for the IRA' or `too good for the IRA', the latter being the case here; however despite this it isn't anti-British or pro-IRA, in fact it is more about the characters and the dark landscape than about the politics.

Reed uses the same skills as he later would bring to the classic The Third Man - the dazzlingly dark streets, the imaginative shots and the photography. The actual plot is a little thin if you read the summary, however what it does do well is tell a tale of a man adrift among roughs and friends until true love is his release and redemption. For this reason, Mason actually doesn't have that much acting to do. He is quite understated in comparison to the lively and colourful support characters. His accent is way off for Northern Ireland; he tries a Southern accent but still his distinctive voice shines through. He gives a good performance but is surprisingly in the background for a leading man.

The support cast is better and is where the story really happens - in the hearts of the `normal' man. They have much better accents and characters and mannerisms that will be familiar for those who of us who are from Northern Ireland! The characters range from the good hearted to the greedy to the apathetic. The film never judges any of them but lets them be played out in their own way, it works well for this reason. The downside is that the support cast is almost more important than the banner star; the upside is that the film is never dull and is colourful throughout. The narrative takes a dramatic (if slightly melodramatic) turn at the end, but still produces a strong climax to the film, but it is the support cast and Johnny adventures through the dark streets of Belfast that makes the film move.

However to say that is the only driver is to do a disservice to the direction and photography. While the film doesn't really capture the spirit of Belfast, it does portray it as the prison that Johnny would view it as, and it does it with a great deal of style and imagination. Some scenes show great imagination - witness the faces in the beer bubbles or the pictures haunting Johnny in the art gallery.

Overall this is a great film, although narrative tends to take second place to the feel of the film, the style and the colourful character. Not near the class of Third Man but certainly a stylish and enjoyable film for those who enjoyed it's bigger brothers.

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.

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.