View source for Odd Man Out

{{short description|1947 film by Carol Reed}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2012}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Odd Man Out
| image          = Odd-man-out-poster.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [[Carol Reed]]
| producer       = Carol Reed
| writer         = [[R. C. Sherriff]]
| based_on       = {{based on|''[[Odd Man Out (novel)|Odd Man Out]]''<br>1945 novel|[[F. L. Green]]}}
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* [[James Mason]]
* [[Robert Newton]]
* [[Cyril Cusack]]
* [[F. J. McCormick]]
* [[William Hartnell]]
* [[Fay Compton]]
* [[Denis O'Dea]]
* [[William Fay|W. G. Fay]]
* [[Elwyn Brook-Jones]]
* [[Maureen Delany|Maureen Delaney]]
* [[Robert Beatty]]
* [[Kathleen Ryan]]
}}
| music          = [[William Alwyn]]
| cinematography = [[Robert Krasker]]
| editing        = [[Fergus McDonell]]
| studio         = [[Two Cities Films]]
| distributor    = [[General Film Distributors]]
| released       = {{Film date|1947|01|31|df=y|United Kingdom|ref1=<ref>{{cite news|work=[[The Times]]|title=Odd Man Out|page=4|date=31 January 1947}}</ref>}}
| runtime        = 116 minutes
| language       = English
| country        = United Kingdom
| budget         = >[[United States dollar|US]]$1 million<ref>{{cite news|title=Thrill-type tales choice of British|date=7 July 1946|work=Los Angeles Times|id={{ProQuest|165714120}}}}</ref>
| gross          = US$1.25 million (US rentals)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/variety168-1947–10#page/n131/mode/1up|title=Variety (October 1947)|work=archive.org|access-date=20 April 2016}}</ref>
}}
'''''Odd Man Out''''' is a 1947 British [[film noir]] directed by [[Carol Reed]], and starring [[James Mason]], [[Robert Newton]], [[Cyril Cusack]], and [[Kathleen Ryan]]. Set in [[Belfast]], [[Northern Ireland]], it follows a wounded [[Nationalist Party (Ireland)|Nationalist]] leader who attempts to evade police in the aftermath of a robbery. It is based on the 1945 [[Odd Man Out (novel)|novel of the same name]] by [[F. L. Green]].<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |last=Crowther |first=Bosley |author-link=Bosley Crowther |date=24 April 1947 |title=Odd Man Out (1947) ' Odd Man Out,' British Film in Which James Mason Again Is the Chief Menace, Has Its Premiere at Loew's Criterion |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=950DE0D6173CE13BBC4C51DFB266838C659EDE}}</ref> 

The film received the first [[BAFTA Award for Best British Film]], and was also nominated for the [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] for [[Academy Award for Best Film Editing|Best Film Editing]]. Filmmaker [[Roman Polanski]] repeatedly cited ''Odd Man Out'' as his favourite film.

''Odd Man Out'' follows the Mason character "on an anguished journey through the alleys of Belfast that visually presages Harry Lime's shadowy flight through the sewers of Vienna" in Reed's 1949 film ''[[The Third Man]]''.{{Sfn|Connelly|2012|p=147}}

==Plot==
[[Irish nationalism|Irish nationalist 'organisation']] member Johnny McQueen has been hiding for six months, since his escape from prison, in a house occupied by Kathleen Sullivan (who has fallen in love with Johnny) and her grandmother. He is ordered to rob a mill but his seclusion makes his men question his fitness; his lieutenant Dennis offers to take his place, but Johnny turns him down.

Johnny, Nolan, and Murphy carry out the robbery, While fleeing, Johnny falls behind the others and is tackled by an armed guard, whom he kills. Johnny is shot in the shoulder. He is pulled into the car, but falls out. Pat, the getaway driver, refuses to return to retrieve him. Weak and disorientated, Johnny hides in a nearby air raid shelter.

After telling Dennis what happened, Nolan, Murphy and Pat leave for "headquarters." On the way they are seen by police and pursued. Pat and Nolan stop off at Theresa O'Brien's well-to-do [[guest house]], but Murphy does not trust her and goes elsewhere. Theresa betrays Pat and Nolan, who are killed in a gunfight with police.

Dennis finds Johnny, but the police show up nearby. Dennis is captured after drawing them away.

Johnny makes his way toward Kathleen's place, but collapses in the street. Passers-by Maureen and Maudie take him home, thinking he has been struck by a passing lorry. They attempt to give first-aid then see it is a gunshot wound, realising who they have found as the husband returns. An argument over what to do starts, Johnny hears their debate and departs, getting into a parked [[hansom cab]]. "Gin" Jimmy, the cab driver, comes out and starts looking for a fare, unaware he already has a wanted man for a passenger. When he finds out, he abandons Johnny in a vacant lot.

Shell spots him dumping the now nearly unconscious fugitive. He goes to Catholic priest Father Tom, hoping for a financial reward. Kathleen arrives shortly afterward, looking for help. Father Tom persuades Shell to fetch Johnny. Upon returning home, Shell has to fend off another resident, the eccentric painter Lukey, who wants him to pose for a portrait again; an argument starts between them. Meanwhile, Johnny revives and stumbles into a local [[pub]] where he is recognised by the landlord, who quickly deposits Johnny in a [[Pub#Snug|snug]] where no one else will see him, with the intention of getting rid of him later. Shell and Lukey who separately have converged on the bar start a fight with each other. Fencie breaks it up, closes for the evening, and persuades Lukey to take Johnny away as compensation for the damage he caused the pub. Lukey takes Johnny back to his studio to paint his portrait. Failed medical student Tober tends to Johnny's wound, and he flees.

Kathleen slips away from Father Tom during the visit to the rectory by a police inspector hunting for Johnny. She arranges passage on a ship for Johnny and goes searching for him. Shell starts Johnny toward Father Tom's, and Johnny encounters Kathleen. She takes Johnny toward the ship but sees the police closing in. She draws a gun and fires twice. The police return fire killing them both.

==Cast==
{{Cast list|
* [[James Mason]] as Johnny McQueen
* [[Kathleen Ryan]] as Kathleen Sullivan
* [[Robert Newton]] as Lukey, the artist
* [[Cyril Cusack]] as Pat
* [[F. J. McCormick]] as Shell
* [[William Hartnell]] as Fencie, the barman
* [[Fay Compton]] as Rosie
* [[Denis O'Dea]] as inspector
* [[William Fay|WG Fay]] as Father Tom
* [[Maureen Delany|Maureen Delaney]] as Theresa O’Brien
* [[Elwyn Brook-Jones]] as Tober
* [[Robert Beatty]] as Dennis
* [[Dan O'Herlihy]] as Nolan
* Kitty Kirwan as Grannie 
* [[Beryl Measor]] as Maudie
* Roy Irving as Murphy
* [[Maureen Cusack]] as Mollie
* Maura Milligan as cashier 
* [[Joseph Tomelty]] as Jimmy "Gin Jimmy", the cabbie
* Ann Clery as Maureen
* [[Eddie Byrne]] as policeman
* [[Wilfrid Brambell]] as tram passenger (uncredited)
* [[Guy Rolfe]] as policeman watching Kathleen's house (uncredited)
* [[Albert Sharpe]] as bus conductor (uncredited)
}}

==Production==
===Development===
F.L. Green's novel, also used as the basis of the 1969 [[Sidney Poitier]] film ''[[The Lost Man]]'', was published in 1945. It followed upon wartime action by the [[Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)|IRA]] in Belfast, in consequence of which [[Northern Ireland]] undertook its first and only execution of an [[Irish republicanism|Irish Republican]], 19-year-old [[Tom Williams (Irish republican)|Tom Williams]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ireland in the Twentieth Century|last=Coogan|first=Tim Pat|publisher=Random House|year=2003|location=London|isbn=9780099415220|page=334}}.</ref> In the novel, an IRA plot goes horribly wrong when its leader, Johnny Murtah, kills an innocent man, and he is gravely wounded. The source of Green's familiarity with the Belfast IRA at the time is thought to be the Belfast writer [[Denis Ireland]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://treasonfelony.wordpress.com/tag/john-graham/|title=John Graham|date=14 February 2019 |publisher=The Treason Felony Blog|access-date=2020-01-27}}</ref> Ireland's anti-[[Partition of Ireland|Partition]] Ulster Union Club had been infiltrated by the IRA intelligence officer and recruiter [[John Graham (Irish republican)|John Graham]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The IRA|last=Coogan|first=Tim Pat|publisher=Macmillan|year=2002|location=London|page=178}}</ref>

===Casting===
According to Richard Burton, the lead role was originally offered to [[Stewart Granger]]. Burton wrote in his diaries:
<blockquote>Reminds me of Jimmy Granger being sent the script of Odd Man Out by Carol Reed and flipping through the pages where he had dialogue, deciding that the part wasn't long enough. He didn't notice the stage directions so turned it down and James Mason played it instead and made a career out of it. It's probably the best thing that Mason has ever done and certainly the best film he's ever been in while poor Granger has never been in a good classic film at all. Or, as far as I remember, in a good film of any kind. You could after all have a 'James Mason Festival' but you couldn't have a 'Stewart Granger' one. Except as a joke. Granger tells the story ruefully against himself.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Richard|last=Burton|title=Richard Burton Diaries|date=24 June 1971}}</ref></blockquote>
Aside from Mason, the supporting cast was drawn largely from Dublin's [[Abbey Theatre]]. Among the other members of the Organisation are [[Cyril Cusack]], [[Robert Beatty]], and [[Dan O'Herlihy]]. On his travels, Johnny meets an opportunistic bird-fancier played by [[F. J. McCormick]], a drunken artist played by [[Robert Newton]], a barman ([[William Hartnell]]) and a failed surgeon ([[Elwyn Brook-Jones]]). [[Denis O'Dea]] is the inspector on Johnny's trail, and [[Kathleen Ryan]], in her first feature film, plays the woman who loves Johnny. Also notable are [[William Fay|W. G. Fay]]—a founder of the Abbey Theatre—as the kindly Father Tom, [[Fay Compton]], [[Joseph Tomelty]], and [[Eddie Byrne]]. [[Albert Sharpe]] plays a bus conductor. A number of non-speaking parts were filled by actors who later achieved public attention, including [[Dora Bryan]], [[Geoffrey Keen]], [[Noel Purcell (actor)|Noel Purcell]], [[Guy Rolfe]] and [[Wilfrid Brambell]] (a standing passenger in the tram scene). Few of the main actors in the film actually manage an authentic [[Ulster]] accent.

===Filming===
The cinematographer was [[Robert Krasker]], in his first film for director Reed, lighting sets designed by [[Ralph Brinton]] and [[Roger Furse]]. Reed made extensive use of location filming, which was uncommon at the time.{{Sfn|Connelly|2012|p=154}} Exterior scenes were shot in West Belfast,<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk" /> although some were shot at [[Broadway Market, London|Broadway Market]] in London.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039677/locations 'Filming locations for Odd Man Out] ''The Internet Movie Database''</ref>

The bar set was based on the [[Crown Liquor Saloon|Crown Bar]] in Belfast but was a studio set built at [[Denham Film Studios|D&P Studios]] in [[Denham, Buckinghamshire]].<ref name="news.bbc.co.uk">[https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6388303.stm 'BBC seeks stars of Belfast film noir'], ''BBC News'' 23 February 2007</ref> The duplication was so authentic that tourists in subsequent years would visit the Crown Bar, thinking it was the bar in the film. To further enhance the realism of the film, Reed used real sounds instead of standard [[Sound effect|sound effects]], recording the "actual drum of mill machinery and the echo of hoof beats." The narrowness of Johnny's world is represented by scenes shot on location in small rooms and in alleys. {{Sfn|Connelly|2012|p=154}}

The film went over budget and overschedule so although it was successful it hurt Reed's relationship with the Rank Organisation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://historyproject.org.uk/sites/default/files/BEHP%200143%20T%20Sidney%20Gilliat%20Transcript.pdf|website=British Entertainment History Project|date=15 May 1990|title=Interview with Sidney Gilliat| first1=Roy|last1= Fowler|first2=Taffy|last2= Haines|page=124}}</ref>

===Music===
Composer [[William Alwyn]] was involved writing the [[leitmotif]]-based film score from the very beginning of the production. It was performed by the [[London Symphony Orchestra]] and conducted by [[Muir Mathieson]].

== Political context and censorship ==
The film did not mention the IRA by name and, like [[John Ford]]'s ''[[The Informer (1935 film)|The Informer]]'' (1935), only "casually touched on the underlying conflict." Both use the backdrop of conflict in Ireland to present morality tales designed to appeal to the broadest possible audience. The IRA was portrayed as little more than a criminal gang. Politics and the cause of Irish nationalism was avoided to "circumvent controversy and pass the censors."{{Sfn|Connelly|2012|p=148}}

With an eye toward distribution of the film in the United States, the film script was submitted to [[Joseph Breen]] of the [[Motion Picture Association|Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America]], who advised the producers that the original ending, a murder-suicide, violated the [[Hays Code|Hollywood Production Code]]. Years earlier, Breen had similarly submitted the script of ''The Informer'' to the [[British Board of Film Classification|British Board of Film Censors]], which requested numerous changes to omit references to the Anglo-Irish conflict.{{Sfn|Connelly|2012|p=148}}<ref>Rogers, Steve. ''Soldier in the Snow: A Look at the Making of Odd Man Out, Its Key Players and Critical Recognition''. (Network, 2006).</ref>

''Odd Man Out'' and ''The Informer'' are also similar in being "dramatic portrayals of lapsed Catholics rediscovering their lost faith," and "end with their dying protagonists assuming Christ-like poses."{{Sfn|Connelly|2012|p=147}}

Writing in ''The IRA on Film and Television: A History'', author [[Mark Connelly]] observes that Johnny is "more of a mob boss than revolutionary," and that the F.L. Green novel upon which the film was based took a dim view of Irish nationalism.{{Sfn|Connelly|2012|p=154}}

==Reception==
===Critics===
''Odd Man Out'' was "hailed as a masterpiece by many critics and a box office hit—at least in Europe, where Reed had gauged the mood of postwar despondency with caliper-like accuracy."{{sfn|Moss|1987|p=69}}

''[[The New York Times|New York Times]]'' film critic [[Bosley Crowther]] praised the performances and the plotting of the early sequences in the film, which he compared favorably to ''[[The Informer (1935 film)|The Informer]],'' but he criticized the subsequent portions of the film, which he described as "fumbled" by shifting attention away from Mason and his motivations to "cryptic characters," relieving the protagonist of his illustrative role, and "whatever it is they are proving—if anything—is anybody's guess."<ref name="NYT" />

In ''[[Time (magazine)| Time]]'' in 1947, critic [[James Agee]] wrote, "''Odd Man Out'' is an extraordinarily ambitious movie{{nbsp}}... the story, after a stunning start, branches and over-extends itself and gradually loses contact with humanity. The hero is so near death that he hardly exists as either man or dramatic force; he becomes merely a passive symbol of doomed suffering{{nbsp}}... Dostoevskian in conception and design, the story progressively becomes more wildly adventurous, more mystical, more half-baked. But even in its failures, ''Odd Man Out'' is admirable. It is a reckless, head-on attempt at greatness, and the attempt frequently succeeds."<ref>Agee, James - ''Agee on Film Vol.1'' © 1958 by The James Agee Trust.</ref>

''[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' wrote "This film puts Reed high in the first rank of directors."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/media/mfb/1003333/index.html|title=Monthly Film Bulletin review|website=screenonline.org.uk}}</ref>

===Box office===
It ranked eighth among more popular movies at the British box office in 1947,<ref>{{cite news|title=JAMES MASON 1947 FILM FAVOURITE|newspaper=The Irish Times|location=Dublin, Ireland|date=2 January 1948|page=7}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|first=Josh|last=Billings|magazine=Kinematograph Weekly|title=What the box office returns show for 1947|date=18 December 1947|access-date=5 July 2025|url=https://archive.org/details/kinematograph-weekly/1947/Kinematograph%20Weekly%20%232120%20%281947-12-18%29%20%28BNA%29/page/13/mode/1up?}}</ref> and was one of the most successful films ever shown in South America.{{Sfn|Connelly|2012|p=147}}

===Awards===
The film received the [[BAFTA Award for Best British Film]] in 1948. It was nominated for the Golden Lion award at the [[Venice Film Festival]] in 1947, and nominated for a Best Film Editing [[Academy Award|Oscar]] in 1948.

{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|- style="background:#ccc; text-align:center;"
! scope="col"|Award / Film Festival
! scope="col"|Category
! scope="col"|Recipients and nominees
! scope="col"|Result
|-
| [[20th Academy Awards|Academy Awards]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Film Editing|Best Film Editing]]
| [[Fergus McDonell]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[1st British Academy Film Awards|British Academy Film Awards]]
| [[BAFTA Award for Best British Film|Best British Picture]]
| ''Odd Man Out''
| {{won}}
|-
|}

===Legacy===
Carol Reed biographer Robert F. Moss notes that ''Odd Man Out'' is "almost indisputably Reed's masterpiece."{{sfn|Moss|1987|p=146}}

Filmmaker [[Roman Polanski]] repeatedly has cited ''Odd Man Out'' as his favourite film.{{sfn|Cronin|2005|pages=159, 189}} Polanski stated that ''Odd Man Out'' is superior to ''[[The Third Man]]'', another film that has been considered to be Reed's masterpiece:
{{blockquote|I still consider it as one of the best movies I've ever seen and a film which made me want to pursue this career more than anything else...I always dreamt of doing things of this sort or that style. To a certain extent I must say that I somehow perpetuate the ideas of that movie in what I do.{{sfn|Cronin|2005|pages=159, 189}}}}

[[Sam Peckinpah]] also cited it as a personal favorite.{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

American novelist, essayist and some-time screenwriter [[Gore Vidal]] called the film a "near-perfect film" and its screenwriter [[R. C. Sherriff]] "one of the few true film auteurs."<ref>Vidal, Gore. "Screening History – The William Massey Sr. Lectures in the History of American Civilisation 1991".(Harvard University Press).</ref>

Writing in 2006, ''[[The Guardian|Guardian]]'' film critic [[Peter Bradshaw]] gave the film three out of five stars. He wrote that the film was a "fascinating but imperfect thriller" that reflected "Belfast's forgotten identity as a bustling, prosperous provincial city, not obviously shattered by sectarianism or terrorism: a city in which a packed tram can head for the [[Falls Road, Belfast|Falls Road]], without any visible sense of fear."<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Bradshaw |first=Peter |date=2006-09-01 |title=Odd Man Out |url=http://www.theguardian.com/film/2006/sep/01/thriller2 |access-date=2022-12-10 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref>

Leonard Maltin gave the movie 4 out of 4 stars naming it "Incredibly suspenseful."{{Citation needed|date=May 2023}}

{{Rotten Tomatoes prose|100|8.2|32|ref=yes|access-date=March 20, 2025}} {{Metacritic film prose|87|18|access-date=March 20, 2025}}<ref>{{Cite Metacritic |title=Odd Man Out |id=odd-man-out |type=movie |access-date=March 20, 2025}}</ref>

==Radio adaptation==
''Odd Man Out'' was presented on ''[[Suspense (radio drama)|Suspense]]'' 11 February 1952. [[James Mason]] and his wife [[Pamela Mason]] starred in the 30-minute adaptation.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Kirby|first1=Walter|title=Better Radio Programs for the Week|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2540149/the_decatur_daily_review/|work=The Decatur Daily Review|date=10 February 1952|page=38|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = 2 June 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book |last1=Connelly |first1=Mark |title=The IRA on Film and Television : a History. |date=2012 |publisher=McFarland & Co., Publishers |location=Jefferson |isbn=9780786489619}}
* {{cite book|editor1-last=Cronin|editor1-first=Paul|title=Roman Polanski: Interviews|location=Jackson, Mississippi|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|year=2005|isbn=978-1-57806-800-5}} 
* {{cite book|last=Moss|first=Robert F.|year=1987|title=The Films of Carol Reed|location=New York City, New York|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn= 978-0-231-05984-8}}
* Jerry Vermilye ''The Great British Films'', Citadel Press, 1978, pp.&nbsp;106–109 {{ISBN|0-8065-0661-X}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0039677}}
* [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/odd-man-out-am8480 ''Odd Man Out'' at AllMovie]
* {{tcmdb title|id=85373}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|1015383-odd_man_out}}
* [http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/477046/index.html ''Odd Man Out''] at [[BFI Screenonline]]
* [https://archive.org/download/OTRR_Suspense_Singles/Suspense_520211_460_Odd_Man_Out_-64-44-_13940_29m33s.mp3 ''Odd Man Out''] radio adaptation at ''[[Suspense (radio drama)|Suspense]]'' on 11 February 1952 with James Mason and [[Pamela Kellino]]
* [https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/3524-odd-man-out-death-and-the-city ''Odd Man Out: Death and the City''] an essay by Imogen Sara Smith at the [[Criterion Collection]]

{{Carol Reed}}
{{R. C. Sherriff}}
{{BAFTA Best British Film}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Odd Man Out, A}}
[[Category:1947 drama films]]
[[Category:1947 films]]
[[Category:Abbey Theatre]]
[[Category:British chase films]]
[[Category:Film noir]]
[[Category:Films based on British novels]]
[[Category:Films directed by Carol Reed]]
[[Category:Films set in Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Films shot in Northern Ireland]]
[[Category:Two Cities Films films]]
[[Category:British drama films]]
[[Category:Best British Film BAFTA Award winners]]
[[Category:Films scored by William Alwyn]]
[[Category:Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)]]
[[Category:British black-and-white films]]
[[Category:1940s English-language films]]
[[Category:1940s British films]]