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Apr 21, 2015 Web Exclusive By Austin Trunick

Much like Reservoir Dogs almost five decades later—though the two films couldn’t have handled the scenario more differently—the bulk of Odd Man Out occurs in the fallout of a botched robbery. Ringleader Johnny McQueen (the late, great James Mason) is shot while trying to escape the holdup of a Belfast mill; he’s abandoned by his gang as they manage to evade authorities. Mortally injured and on the run from police, Johnny falls into the hands of numerous individuals, each with their own reasons for sheltering a wanted fugitive. Meanwhile, both his gang and the woman he loves mount searches for their missing man—all while trying to elude the police manhunt themselves.

English filmmaker Carol Reed made Odd Man Out two years before his better-known masterpiece, The Third Man. A disclaimer at the top of the movie reads, “This story is told against a background of political unrest in a city of Northern Ireland. It is not concerned with the struggle between the law and an illegal organization, but only with the conflict in the hearts of the people when they become unexpectedly involved.” Though it’s never stated outright, Johnny’s “organization” is understood to be the Irish Republican Army. Though the intertitle served to put some distance between the filmmakers and any specific political stance, it does echo the film’s wider scope: to tell a story that’s not about either side of the conflict, but the way a conflict affects innocent bystanders. Over the course of a single night, Johnny’s fate is left in the hands of two old women, a med school dropout, a hobo bird salesman, a drunken portraitist, a little girl, a bartender, a cabbie, and others; each must decide whether they sympathize with his plight, or if they’ll turn him out—or if they’ll turn him in to the police for a reward. Watching how these multitude characters react to the sudden company of a wanted, wounded man is what makes Odd Man Out intriguing.

On the other hand, this method in which Odd Man Out chose to tell its story is sometimes the film’s primary fault. Johnny is a passive hero—almost as passive as they come—who spends the majority of the film slowly dying, with long stretches of time spent either passed out or in a slurring stupor. Though he’s occasionally able to stumble from one safe haven to another, Odd Man Out can sometimes feel like a long game of pass-the-fugitive that becomes a little too repetitive. In addition, a few performances—primarily, the three vagabonds who take Johnny under their wing in the film’s later half—are far too over-the-top in contrast with the film’s grim, naturalistic tone.

Criterion’s release of Odd Man Out arrives with many bonus features, including three newly-produced documentaries. The first features scholar John Hill explaining the film’s historical context, not only as a portrayal of the IRA but as one of the first films taking place in an urban, Northern Ireland setting; there’s another about the movie’s unusual score; and finally, a compilation of interview clips with critics and filmmakers (including John Boorman) speaking about the nuances of Reed’s work. Another documentary, Home, James, was produced in 1972, and features actor James Mason walking a camera crew through his old childhood haunts. Finally, there’s an early 1950s radio dramatization of the film starring Mason and a brief essay by Imogen Sara Smith. It’s a lot of extra content to dig through, and each is a helpful companion piece. The film’s transfer itself is crisp and clear, which is important with so many scenes set in the dark. (Cinematographer Robert Krasker went on to team up with Carol Reed a second time for The Third Man, to which Odd Man Out has an understandably similar look.)

www.criterion.com/films/28173-odd-man-out

Author rating: 6.5/10