How do you follow up a masterpiece? This was Carol Reed's first film after what I (and many others) have always considered his greatest, "The Third Man". That was the second of Reed's trilogy of films noirs, all with a contemporary setting, the other two instalments being "Odd Man Out" and "The Man Between". With "Outcast of the Islands" he decided to do something a little different. It is a late nineteenth century period drama, based on a novel by Joseph Conrad and set in what was then the Dutch East Indies.
The main character is Peter Willems, an employee of a Singapore shipping company, who is sacked for dishonesty. He meets Tom Lingard, a ship's captain who once befriended him as a boy. Although you might think that Willems is the author of his own misfortunes, Lingard feels sorry for him. Lingard has made a considerable amount of money through trading with a village which can only be reached via a dangerous river mouth; the secret of navigating this difficult passage is known to Lingard alone. He takes Willems on his next voyage and introducers him to Almayer, his son-in-law and his representative in the village. The idea is that Willems should act as Almayer's assistant while Lingard is away on one of his trading ventures.
Well, they say that no kind deed goes unpunished. Willems, predictably, proves just as untrustworthy in his new position as he was in his old one. He quarrels with Almayer after the two men take a deep dislike to one another. He seduces Aissa, the daughter of the local village chief and betrays Lingard by revealing the secret of the navigation channel to an Arab trader, one of Lingard's rivals. Eventually he leads the villagers in an attack on Almayer, who escapes with his life but at the cost of a loss of his dignity.
Trevor Howard had appeared in "The Third Man" as Major Calloway, a humane and decent British officer. He appears again here as Willems, a very different type of character. "Outcast of the Islands" is a rare example of a film with a wholly unsympathetic protagonist. Reed's main characters are rarely paragons of virtue or clean-cut heroes, but for all their flaws they generally have some redeeming points. James Mason's IRA man in "Odd Man Out" may be a terrorist, but at least he eventually comes to realise the futility of violence and hatred. Ivo Kern in "The Man Between" (also played by Mason) is a complex, tormented figure, a one-time idealist whose idealism has been cruelly shattered by his witnessing the horrors of Nazism. Even Harry Lime in "The Third Man", although he is a monster of cynical self-interest who has no regard for the sufferings of others, manages to achieve a certain monstrous grandeur.
There is no grandeur about Willems. He is a disreputable, seedy little man, selfish, lustful and avaricious with no redeeming qualities. Even Lingard eventually recoils from him in disgust. It is to Howard's credit that he managed to make so unpleasant a character fascinating enough to hold the audience's interest, even if we only watch in a spirit of "I wonder what this scoundrel will get up to next" or "I wonder how he will get his comeuppance". There is another good performance from Robert Morley as Almayer, a man who, while not as dishonest as Willems, is nearly as unsympathetic- arrogant, pompous, patronising and self-satisfied. It is hardly surprising that they detest one another, as both are detestable.
"Outcast of the Islands" is not quite in the same class as "The Third Man", but then few films are. As an account of colonial-era villainy it remains very watchable. 8/10.
The main character is Peter Willems, an employee of a Singapore shipping company, who is sacked for dishonesty. He meets Tom Lingard, a ship's captain who once befriended him as a boy. Although you might think that Willems is the author of his own misfortunes, Lingard feels sorry for him. Lingard has made a considerable amount of money through trading with a village which can only be reached via a dangerous river mouth; the secret of navigating this difficult passage is known to Lingard alone. He takes Willems on his next voyage and introducers him to Almayer, his son-in-law and his representative in the village. The idea is that Willems should act as Almayer's assistant while Lingard is away on one of his trading ventures.
Well, they say that no kind deed goes unpunished. Willems, predictably, proves just as untrustworthy in his new position as he was in his old one. He quarrels with Almayer after the two men take a deep dislike to one another. He seduces Aissa, the daughter of the local village chief and betrays Lingard by revealing the secret of the navigation channel to an Arab trader, one of Lingard's rivals. Eventually he leads the villagers in an attack on Almayer, who escapes with his life but at the cost of a loss of his dignity.
Trevor Howard had appeared in "The Third Man" as Major Calloway, a humane and decent British officer. He appears again here as Willems, a very different type of character. "Outcast of the Islands" is a rare example of a film with a wholly unsympathetic protagonist. Reed's main characters are rarely paragons of virtue or clean-cut heroes, but for all their flaws they generally have some redeeming points. James Mason's IRA man in "Odd Man Out" may be a terrorist, but at least he eventually comes to realise the futility of violence and hatred. Ivo Kern in "The Man Between" (also played by Mason) is a complex, tormented figure, a one-time idealist whose idealism has been cruelly shattered by his witnessing the horrors of Nazism. Even Harry Lime in "The Third Man", although he is a monster of cynical self-interest who has no regard for the sufferings of others, manages to achieve a certain monstrous grandeur.
There is no grandeur about Willems. He is a disreputable, seedy little man, selfish, lustful and avaricious with no redeeming qualities. Even Lingard eventually recoils from him in disgust. It is to Howard's credit that he managed to make so unpleasant a character fascinating enough to hold the audience's interest, even if we only watch in a spirit of "I wonder what this scoundrel will get up to next" or "I wonder how he will get his comeuppance". There is another good performance from Robert Morley as Almayer, a man who, while not as dishonest as Willems, is nearly as unsympathetic- arrogant, pompous, patronising and self-satisfied. It is hardly surprising that they detest one another, as both are detestable.
"Outcast of the Islands" is not quite in the same class as "The Third Man", but then few films are. As an account of colonial-era villainy it remains very watchable. 8/10.