Outcast of the Islands perhaps illustrates the reasons someone with the talents of Carol Reed so rarely achieved true greatness. Reed could make a great movie when everything came together, as in The Third Man, but unlike Orson Welles, he didn't have the level of brilliance where even his mistakes were interesting.
Outcast is the story of sleazeball Peter Willems, played with gusto by Trevor Howard, who embezzles some money then sets sail with an old sea-captain mentor who sails him to an Indonesian village. There he contends with the captain's angry son, considers betraying his mentor, and becomes obsessed with a local beauty.
Filmed in Sri Lanka, the film does a lovely job of portraying the village, offering a level of authenticity unusual for the time and a real sense of a living, breathing place. This is undercut by the casting of Europeans in major parts. George Coulouris in brown make-up doesn't look or sound remotely like the extras surrounding him, and while the French actress Kerima doesn't look as out of place, it seems weird that they wouldn't consider a Sri Lankan actress for a non-speaking part.
This authentic/non-authentic dichotomy plagues the movie. Ralph Richardson's sea captain was weirdly unweathered; it was hard to believe he'd done more than day sailing. And I swear the little girl's voice is dubbed by a child impersonator, although I don't know why since she's still generally incomprehensible.
I also found the character development weak. The dynamics between the captain and his family seem poorly defined. The captain does a lot of dumb things and is insufferably paternal to the islanders (and neglectful to his son), yet I felt the movie was putting him forth as the "good" character. And I found his daughter-in-law's attitude towards Willems odd, in part because I was never clear on what she thought of her husband; it would make sense if she loathed him passionately and was completely blind to Willems flaws, but that's not clear in the film.
Robert Morley is excellent as the bitter son, but I feel there's an issue with the character. Morley is rather unpleasant to his wife and openly hostile towards Willems, and I think we're supposed to find him loathsome, but because his father is so unfatherly and because Willems really is a terrible person that the son is completely right about, I feel he's got some justifiable anger.
The end result is a movie with wonderful moments - the little boy trailing after the disdainful Willems, Kerima's eyes peering through a hut's reed wall, the little girl shouting "pig" as her father is tortured - undercut by all sorts of unfortunate directorial and casting decisions and a script that skimps on motivation.
Outcast is the story of sleazeball Peter Willems, played with gusto by Trevor Howard, who embezzles some money then sets sail with an old sea-captain mentor who sails him to an Indonesian village. There he contends with the captain's angry son, considers betraying his mentor, and becomes obsessed with a local beauty.
Filmed in Sri Lanka, the film does a lovely job of portraying the village, offering a level of authenticity unusual for the time and a real sense of a living, breathing place. This is undercut by the casting of Europeans in major parts. George Coulouris in brown make-up doesn't look or sound remotely like the extras surrounding him, and while the French actress Kerima doesn't look as out of place, it seems weird that they wouldn't consider a Sri Lankan actress for a non-speaking part.
This authentic/non-authentic dichotomy plagues the movie. Ralph Richardson's sea captain was weirdly unweathered; it was hard to believe he'd done more than day sailing. And I swear the little girl's voice is dubbed by a child impersonator, although I don't know why since she's still generally incomprehensible.
I also found the character development weak. The dynamics between the captain and his family seem poorly defined. The captain does a lot of dumb things and is insufferably paternal to the islanders (and neglectful to his son), yet I felt the movie was putting him forth as the "good" character. And I found his daughter-in-law's attitude towards Willems odd, in part because I was never clear on what she thought of her husband; it would make sense if she loathed him passionately and was completely blind to Willems flaws, but that's not clear in the film.
Robert Morley is excellent as the bitter son, but I feel there's an issue with the character. Morley is rather unpleasant to his wife and openly hostile towards Willems, and I think we're supposed to find him loathsome, but because his father is so unfatherly and because Willems really is a terrible person that the son is completely right about, I feel he's got some justifiable anger.
The end result is a movie with wonderful moments - the little boy trailing after the disdainful Willems, Kerima's eyes peering through a hut's reed wall, the little girl shouting "pig" as her father is tortured - undercut by all sorts of unfortunate directorial and casting decisions and a script that skimps on motivation.