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See the movie, but read the book... or book then movie
This is based on Jan de Hartog's book: The Captain. Both are essentially the same story but you'd swear they were different. Both are worth the effort.
[Thursday, June 12, 2008]
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Why not a DVD with both endings?
I saw the film with the original downbeat ending in Davenport, Iowa in 1958. It must have been a test-market showing, since Carol Reed's biography suggests that version was never distributed in the States. As I recall, the Holden character arrives at the locked station gates after the train has departed and tells his driver, "I'll find her! I'll find her the next time I get up to London." "Sure you will," the driver replies. From the beginning the Holden character, a bit older than the others (excepting Trevor Howard and Oskar Homolka), is faced with proving himself, and having become one of the lads chooses that identity (by passing on The Key to his harshest critic) over the transforming love the Loren character has experienced. The happy if incredible ending (he shoves the guard aside, forces the gates open and sprints to pull himself aboard the last car, in which Loren is seated looking as if she doesn't believe it either) denies that choices have consequences that can't be fixed. Holly Martin, in The Third Man, made an even harder choice and paid the price. According to the biography, Graham Greene tried to soften the ending but Reed held firm. Evidently he lacked the clout to do so again. The DVD technology that allows rated and unrated versions to coexist on disc could be put to better use here. Let's hope the negatives have been preserved.
[Thursday, January 02, 2003]
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Who is hiding this movie?
Why is this movie so obscure? Three of the finest actors of the 50's and 60's play gritty and spooky, yet real and gripping roles, and only a few people take notice? This early WWII drama plays out the spent innocence, desperation, and despair of people trying to live with hope through a hopeless situation. Where are the flaws in this movie? Am I blind? Why is this movie not commercially popular like so many other equally worthy classic movies? Forget the stars! The supporting roles played by very gifted actors, the stark and stunning cinemataography, and the tensely paced story that unfolds makes this a great, if appearently unpopular classic. This is a quality movie that stands on its own merits regardless of popularity...
[Saturday, October 05, 2002]
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