Charles Herold (cherold) 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.

Jonathon Dabell Based on a novel by Joseph Conrad, directed by the great British director Carol Reed, and featuring a cast of considerable distinction (Ralph Richardson, Trevor Howard, Robert Morley and Wendy Hiller), one comes to Outcast Of The Islands with high hopes indeed. Unfortunately, the film doesn't really deliver on its promise – it's an interesting, well-acted and perfectly watchable film, but by no means a masterpiece. More of a curiosity than anything, in all fairness.Caddish Peter Willems (Trevor Howard) was rescued from a life of poverty and obscurity as a boy by noble seafarer Captain Lingard (Ralph Richardson). Since then, their lives have taken different paths – Lingard has remained a staunch and reliable sea captain, travelling the seas and making his fortune through peaceful trade, while Willems has become a manipulative, opportunistic bully despised by all. When his business interests go belly-up, Willems is forced to flee from Singapore. The only person willing to help him is his old friend Lingard who, against all reason and wisdom, still sees some good in the young protégé. He smuggles Willems to a remote coastal community and suggests that he spend some time there, laying low until the storm surrounding his business controversies has blown over. He leaves Willems under the watchful eye of his daughter (Wendy Hiller) and jealous son-in-law Elmer (Robert Morley). Alas, Willems' self-destructive nature quickly leads him into trouble. He offends his hosts, falls in love with a dangerous wild-woman (Kerima), plays tribes-people off against each other, and gives away precious information about the secret sea route to the community. Ultimately, his cruel nature catches up him with and he must pay a terrible price for his mistakes.Howard is excellent, cast against type as a monstrous man with few redeeming qualities; Richardson holds his own too as the foolishly loyal father-figure trying to give him one last chance in life that he probably doesn't deserve. The Far Eastern location shooting gives the film an authentic feel, though the film doesn't quite manage to get a clear hold on what it really wants to be. A Malayan adventure? A sun- soaked tragedy? A dark comedy? A morality play? It veers amongst all of these without ever quite cutting it as one or the other. Flashes of individual power remain (Richardson bellowing "you are my shame!" – as he finally realises how much his faith in Howard has been misplaced and abused – being one of the most memorable moments), but the film as a whole is neither here nor there. It's just a very strange film – a peculiar choice for big screen treatment, sometimes fascinating but just as often flat, and ultimately a rather bitter and negative film. Worth a look in spite of all this.

bkoganbing When the Marlon Brando version of Mutiny On The Bounty came out one of the scenes I remember is Trevor Howard remonstrating with Brando after finding him getting ready to get down to business with Tarita about controlling his lust. Captain Bligh would have had little use for the character that Howard plays in Outcast Of The Island where his lust truly gets the better of him.Those tropical islands have always had a certain allure to us westerners, but this movie based on a Joseph Conrad novel clearly demonstrates the problem of having too much of a good thing. Howard's been in the area for years and he's indulged all the readily available vices too much for too long. When he's caught stealing it might be the end for him.But an old friend trading captain Ralph Richardson takes pity on him and takes him from Singapore to a small island where his son-in-law Robert Morley lives with wife Wendy Hiller and real life daughter Annabel Morley. Richardson deposits him there, not that Morley truly wants him. It doesn't take long for Howard to start stirring things up and all of his schemes and machinations involve a bad case overwhelming lust for the beautiful Kerima. She certainly is something to lust over. In the end she brings about his total ruination.The central character among the Occidentals is Howard, but Richardson and Morley aren't any model specimens either. Richardson's main concern is keeping a monopoly of the trade there. The harbor is inaccessible for the most part, but Richardson knows a narrow navigable passageway through the reefs so he monopolizes the trade. And he's pretty ruthless about keeping his monopoly.As for Morley he's one uptight businessman. The prior relationship between Richardson and Morley is taken up in a previous Conrad novel and sad to say if you haven't read that book, a lot of it will elude the viewer.Hiller is good, but sadly wasted in a role of a woman trapped in a bad situation. She's got an unrequited yen for Howard, but she's still a faithful wife, just like Jean Arthur in Shane.Outcast Of The Island is a most atypical South Seas story. Conrad's vision is not fully realized by the film, but the players all do a fine job with what they are given.

tonstant viewer This exciting film is well-worth watching. It is visually rich, and the acting is consistently surprising, even from such known quantities as George Coulouris and Wilfred Hyde-White. Trevor Howard shows great emotional flexibility, a quality we don't necessarily associate with him, and Robert Morley twinkles a good deal less than usual. Whether Sir Ralph Richardson looks good throwing a punch is something you'll have to decide for yourself.However, the camera falls in love with picturesque young boys diving into water, which delays, over-ornaments and distracts from Conrad's austere story-telling.More importantly, two of the female characters, Mrs. Almayer and Mrs. Willems, are turned from native women into transplanted Englishwomen, leaving Aissa the only native girl involved.This has the effect of turning the movie into a tract on the horrors of miscegenation, when Conrad's novel is clearly focused on Peter Willems' double betrayal of Tom Lingard. Willems' taking up with a native woman is treated by the film as unique, instead of the usual thing in these climes. It is shown as embodying Willems' personal moral decline, which the book would regard as nonsense.So if you can find the film, by all means watch it and enjoy its many virtues, but the movie has less to do with one of the great novels then it pretends to.P.S. TCM now has this film in its library!