Our Man in Havana **** (1959, Alec Guinness, Noël Coward, Maureen O’Hara, Burl Ives) – Classic Movie Review 1808

Director Carol Reed’s 1959 thriller finds the ideal fit in Alec Guinness, who is perfectly cast as Jim Wormold, the meek vacuum cleaner salesman in Havana, in this delightful film of one of Graham Greene’s most effective and entertaining novels.

Noël Coward’s witty performance as the British security service agent Hawthorne who recruits Wormold as a spy towers over the rest of the movie, though Guinness smoothly and compellingly holds the centre. And time has been kind to Our Man in Havana, lending it a deliciously seedy period charm.

Ralph Richardson as the spy boss known as ‘C’ and Ernie Kovacs as the police chief Captain Segura are also to be seen giving eye-catching performances. Maureen O’Hara and Burl Ives also stand out as Beatrice Severn and Dr Hasselbacher.

Thanks, no doubt, in main part to his adept performers, director Reed unexpectedly brings out the comic side of the novel – and with a surprisingly deft hand, too.

The score is by Hermanos Deniz and there’s music from the Cuban Rhythm Band.

Jo Morrow, Grégoire Aslan, Paul Rogers, Raymond Huntley, Ferdy Mayne, Maurice Denham, José Prieto, Duncan Macrae, Hugh Manning, Karel Stepanek, Maxine Audley, Elizabeth Welch, Yvonne Buckingham and Rachel Roberts co-star.

Allowing for a bit of hyperbole in the advertising, it mostly lives up to its claim of being ‘A murderously funny story, magnificently cast….marvellously made’.

Maureen O’Hara finally was awarded an honorary Oscar at 94 on November 8 2014.

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© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1808

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