Odd Man Out

Odd Man Out
Theatrical release poster
Directed byCarol Reed
Written byR. C. Sherriff
Based onOdd Man Out
1945 novel
by F. L. Green
Produced byCarol Reed
Starring
CinematographyRobert Krasker
Edited byFergus McDonell
Music byWilliam Alwyn
Production
company
Distributed byGeneral Film Distributors
Release date
  • 31 January 1947 (1947-01-31) (United Kingdom)[1]
Running time
116 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
Budget>US$1 million[2]
Box officeUS$1.25 million (US rentals)[3]

Odd Man Out is a 1947 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, and starring James Mason, Robert Newton, Cyril Cusack, and Kathleen Ryan. Set in Belfast, Northern Ireland, it follows a wounded Nationalist leader who attempts to evade police in the aftermath of a robbery. It is based on the 1945 novel of the same name by F. L. Green.[4]

The film received the first BAFTA Award for Best British Film, and was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film Editing. Filmmaker Roman Polanski repeatedly cited Odd Man Out as his favourite film.

Odd Man Out follows the Mason character "on an anguished journey through the alleys of Belfast that visually presages Harry Lime's shadowy flight through the sewers of Vienna" in Reed's 1949 film The Third Man.[5]

  1. ^ "Odd Man Out". The Times. 31 January 1947. p. 4.
  2. ^ "Thrill-type tales choice of British". Los Angeles Times. 7 July 1946. ProQuest 165714120.
  3. ^ "Variety (October 1947)". archive.org. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  4. ^ Crowther, Bosley (24 April 1947). "Odd Man Out (1947) ' Odd Man Out,' British Film in Which James Mason Again Is the Chief Menace, Has Its Premiere at Loew's Criterion". The New York Times.
  5. ^ Connelly 2012, p. 147.