I wanted to but couldn't!

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

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.

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!

This film falls well below Carol Reed's best work. Despite a strong cast and the benefits of location shooting, the action is dissipated by poor editing (the frenzied intercutting of shots). The idea of the worthless white man left to wash up on an alien shore (condemned to the too-fleshy arms of his 'half-caste' woman) seems terribly hackneyed from today's viewpoint. Reed's artistry, unfortunately, is not sufficient to overcome these weaknesses. The one memorable thing is the presence of the actress, Kerima, whose character does not utter even one line of dialogue. That the film's assistant director, Guy Hamilton, should have married her soon after will came as no surprise to anyone. As much as I admire Trevor Howard, Wendy Hiller and Ralph Richardson as performers, this is not a worthy vehicle for their talents. What is it about Conrad that even film-makers as good as Carol Reed struggle to put his stories to film? For what it's worth, I think Hitchcock's 'Sabotage' is a better film, albeit a loose adaptation of Conrad's 'The Secret Agent', than this more faithful adaptation of 'The Outcast of the Islands'.

As art I rate this the single greatest movie I've ever seen. Not for those with a weak stomach. An incredible performance by Robert Morley as a man driven insane by hate. The hatred is directed at Trevor Howard who's inner demons lead him to destruction. This film has a cast of cannibalistic natives who consider murder a recreational sport.