Outcast of the Islands   Starring: Robert Morley, Trevor Howard, Ralph Richardson and Wendy Hiller Studiocanal RRP: £15.99 OPTD2344 Certificate: 15 Available 23 April 2012

Willems has run out of friends and protectors, having borrowed and gambled away other people’s money, when things look bleak an old friend, Captain Tom Lingard, arrives in port. Seeing no other choice Willems arranges passage, by faking a suicide. Lingard takes him deep into the jungles. With no money to squander Willems boredom leads him to the daughter of the local chief. Willems affair with the girl not only leads to his destruction, but that of those surrounding him...

Outcast of the Islands (1951 - 1 hr, 35 min, 33 sec) is a drama, directed by Carol Reed (The Third Man (1949), Our Man in Havana (1959), Oliver! (1968)). The film was an adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s second novel, An Outcast of the Islands (1896). Following on from Reed, previous three films, especially The Third Man, Outcasts has often been lost in its bigger brother’s shadow, when in fact it is a wonderful examination of self-destruction. The film was nominated, in 1953’s BAFTA’s for Best British Film and Best Film from any Source.

The film boasts some of the cream of contemporary British character actors, many who play against type. Trevor Howard, usually the stalwart hero of most films plays the dissolute Willems, not as an evil man, but rather as a man who lacks a moral centre, allowing him to engage in behaviours which other men might balk at. His main adversary, Elmer Almayer, is played by Robert Morley, better known for his bumbling persona, usually in light comedies; he made a career out of playing vicars and similar roles. Here, however, he is a man bent on destruction through his jealousy of Willems' relationship with Lingard.

The moral centre of the film is supposedly taken by Ralph Richardson (Lingard) who has an over optimistic view of his friends and colleagues, believing that everyone has a chance at redemption, it is the primary reason he rescues Willems in the first place, even though the behaviour of those around him makes a nonsense of his beliefs.

It’s a complex film with the audience’s sympathies shifting all the time. Do we view Lingard as a good man, even though he abandons Willems in the middle of nowhere and when Willems has got into mischief, as anyone knew he would, Lidgard abandons him for good. Almayer, likewise, plots Willems downfall, but he has been left to look after him. Worse still Lingard look to elevate the useless Willems over the hard working Almayer.

Although, on one level, the chaos which ensues is caused by Willems, it is really caused by Lingard. Robert Morley has a powerful speech near the end of the film castigating Lingard, listing all the times he has supposedly engaged in good deeds which only ended up in tragedy and death

The picture does show some film grain and the very occasional bit of very minor dirt, but overall it’s surprising how well the film print has held up, with fine levels of contrast and clarity. The location filming in Sri Lanka evokes such a foreign clime that the middle England characters look very out of place, compared to the natives. There is a vein of white colonialism which runs through the film, much of which comes directly from Conrad’s original novel.

Sadly, the DVD contains no supplementary features above subtitles for the hard of hearing.

8

Charles Packer