RyothChatty ridiculous rating

Dartherer I really don't get the hype.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

JohnHowardReid Copyright 19 November 1951 by British Lion Film Corp. A London Film Production, presented by Sir Alexander Korda. U.S. release through United Artists: 11 July 1953. New York opening simultaneously at the Astor and the Fine Arts: 15 May 1952. U.K. release through British Lion: 25 February 1952. Australian release through London Films/Universal-International: 21 August 1952. 9,225 feet. 102 minutes. Censored to 8,981 feet (less than 100 minutes) including Censorship Certificate — "Not Suitable for Children" — in Australia. Cut to 93 minutes in the U.S.A.SYNOPSIS: An unprincipled English swindler's consuming passion for a native girl leads him to betray his friends. Setting: An island in the Far East. — Copyright summary.COMMENT: A lavish historical spectacle. Unfortunately, the conclusion is unsatisfactory and the picture could stand some trimming. It's a shame that the pace and the exotically heady atmosphere of the film's best scenes was not maintained. It's when the characters try to use some of Conrad's original dialogue that the film falls down. Wisely, however, Reed decided to eliminate all Kerima's speech in the editing stage. We never hear her voice. This adds rather than detracts from her mysterious appeal, and allows her beautifully expressive, sultry face to convey her emotions unhindered.Trevor Howard seems convincing and the support cast is strong (Wilfrid Hyde-White treats us to another incisive portrait), but Sir Ralph Richardson delivers his lines in his usual throwaway style — which is not always appropriate.For all its minor defects, "An Outcast of the Islands" will bowl any audience over with its stunning visual delights. The superlative camera-work is often abetted by marvelous film editing. Did you notice that Howard and the river-boy never appear on-screen together? I didn't.OTHER VIEWS: Working on the same plan as he did throughout production of "The Third Man" with two complete technical crews, Carol Reed successfully directed "Outcast of the Islands". This plan is a simple one — for the crews. One camera unit lines up a shot, lights the set and Carol Reed steps in to direct the scene. Meanwhile, the second camera unit on another stage is lining up and lighting for a different scene. Reed hurries from one to another. Production experts estimate that a total of over four weeks' studio shooting time is saved by this method thus saving overheads to a considerable amount. When Reed is concentrating on a lengthy scene with one unit, the other crew busy themselves with inserts and traveling Matte shots. Apart from the physical energy consumed during a day lasting from 8.30am to 7.15pm in the studio, Carol Reed's mental activity is superlative. He appears to switch from scene to scene quite readily; can adapt his mind to completely different technical and emotional problems connected with his script.The director spends his whole lunch break viewing the previous day's work in the studio theater and when floor work is over for the day hurries off to the cutting rooms to consult with editor, Bert Bates, about the work on the film to date. — Studio Publicity.

johnr-05888 Having read the above reviews I agree that there were some production compromises - the rear projection noticeable but not as offensive as in color productions of the time - 'The African Queen' etc. The novel does not achieve the existential challenge of 'The Secret Sharer' and Conrad's narrator is somewhat unsteady - surprisingly not compensated considering what Reed managed with 'The Third Man'. The basic problem is the failure in the adaptation by William Fairchild to preserve the cross-cultural context. Willem's business acumen is understated and the question of inter-racial marriage entirely ignored: Mrs. Vinck and Mrs. Willem are absent, and Mrs. Almayer becomes British. The former is disturbed - perhaps sexual jealousy - by Willem's marriage to Hydig's bi-racial daughter. And the pervasiveness of this prejudice is ultimately expressed by Aisee's calling her an ugly 'Sarani' (Nasrani or European Christian/Malay). There were however liberties taken that enhanced the narrative - the hammock over the bonfire entirely invention. The real flawed characters are Captain Lingard in his charitable vanity and Almayer in his foolishness. The latter fully expressed in the sequel 'Almayer's Folly'. I would have preferred Willem's accidental death as per the novel. And I would have preferred a Malay - perhaps a Dayak - for Aisee. But all said and done it is a very stirring - if flawed film - and worthy of a place in the canon.

MARIO GAUCI Although he made a handful of worthwhile films before them and won a competitive Oscar much later, Carol Reed is still most admired for his immediate post-WWII work: ODD MAN OUT (1947), THE FALLEN IDOL (1948), THE THIRD MAN (1949) – all of them BAFTA winners – and the movie under review. The latter is the least-seen and least-regarded of the lot (perhaps because there are very few sympathetic characters in it!) but emerges a remarkable achievement nevertheless, with the director's sure hand more than evident in several striking sequences throughout. It features a great cast, all of whom deliver splendid performances: Trevor Howard (second-billed but clearly the protagonist here), Ralph Richardson, Robert Morley, Wendy Hiller, George Coulouris (as an English-speaking native!), Wilfrid Hyde-White and Frederick Valk. While the Far East atmosphere is undeniably vivid and captivating (and John Wilcox's cinematography suitably gleaming), this never draws attention away from the complex character study at the center of Joseph Conrad's typically sea-based and compelling plot line (which works its way up to an abrupt yet memorable ending) about a rogue trader driven mad by lust for a native girl (the silent Kerima) and delusions of grandeur a' la Kurtz in the same author's "Heart Of Darkness". For the record, OUTCAST OF THE ISLANDS was also a BAFTA nominee, was apparently shorn of 8 minutes for U.S. TV screenings and is featured in cult American film-maker Monte Hellman's All-Time Top 10 list, apart from being championed by eminent movie critics like Pauline Kael and David Thomson!

bkoganbing When the Marlon Brando version of Mutiny On The Bounty came out one of the scenes I remember is Trevor Howard remonstrating with Brando after finding him getting ready to get down to business with Tarita about controlling his lust. Captain Bligh would have had little use for the character that Howard plays in Outcast Of The Island where his lust truly gets the better of him.Those tropical islands have always had a certain allure to us westerners, but this movie based on a Joseph Conrad novel clearly demonstrates the problem of having too much of a good thing. Howard's been in the area for years and he's indulged all the readily available vices too much for too long. When he's caught stealing it might be the end for him.But an old friend trading captain Ralph Richardson takes pity on him and takes him from Singapore to a small island where his son-in-law Robert Morley lives with wife Wendy Hiller and real life daughter Annabel Morley. Richardson deposits him there, not that Morley truly wants him. It doesn't take long for Howard to start stirring things up and all of his schemes and machinations involve a bad case overwhelming lust for the beautiful Kerima. She certainly is something to lust over. In the end she brings about his total ruination.The central character among the Occidentals is Howard, but Richardson and Morley aren't any model specimens either. Richardson's main concern is keeping a monopoly of the trade there. The harbor is inaccessible for the most part, but Richardson knows a narrow navigable passageway through the reefs so he monopolizes the trade. And he's pretty ruthless about keeping his monopoly.As for Morley he's one uptight businessman. The prior relationship between Richardson and Morley is taken up in a previous Conrad novel and sad to say if you haven't read that book, a lot of it will elude the viewer.Hiller is good, but sadly wasted in a role of a woman trapped in a bad situation. She's got an unrequited yen for Howard, but she's still a faithful wife, just like Jean Arthur in Shane.Outcast Of The Island is a most atypical South Seas story. Conrad's vision is not fully realized by the film, but the players all do a fine job with what they are given.