Odd Man Out

Carol Reed is famous for two completely different movies: the film noir The Third Man and the musical Oliver! He has made a variety of movies, but he's known for those two.

Odd Man Out was made two years before The Third Man, and from watching it you can foretell what is to come. Like The Third Man, Odd Man Out is shot within the many dark corners of the city. The city is a character in itself.

Odd Man Out stars James Mason, a fine actor who I consider underrated by today's standards. I continually forget that he was in The Verdict and North by Northwest, but his work in A Star is Born and Bigger Than Life has stuck with me. So has Odd Man Out. He's slowly suffering throughout, but he isn't left alone to suffer. The city and its inhabitants won't let him be.

If you compare Odd Man Out to The Third Man too much, it makes it clear that The Third Man is the superior one. That doesn't mean Odd Man Out isn't as good. There are certain aspects that work better in The Third Man, but Odd Man Out is a fine film in its own right.

My Rating: ****1/2