Carol Reed / Robert Krasker / James Mason = A Golden Team

Odd Man Out, Directed by Carol Reed - 1947 With James Mason, Robert Newton, Robert Beatty, F.J.McCormick - Cinematography by by Robert Krasker - Carol Reed's taut character study (disguised as a suspense melodrama) was adapted from the novel by F.L. Green and stars James Mason in his star-making role as I.R.A. operative Johnny McQueen. Breaking out of jail, Johnny takes it on the lam, but idealism forces him out of hiding in order to raise money for the I.R.A. cause he believes in so strongly. He decides to rob a bank, but the hold-up goes bad and Johnny is seriously wounded by the police. Staggering through the streets of Belfast, Johnny meets a succession of people who either want to help him or turn him over to the authorities. Johnny finally stumbles into a pub, where he is taken in by a homosexual artist (Robert Newton) who wants Johnny to pose for him in order to capture the desperation in his eyes. Johnny breaks free from the artist and tries to make his way to the waterfront in a final effort to escape ... but the police are slowly closing in ---- In almost any country one could name, the period between 1935-1965 produced some of the finest motion picture camera work one is likely ever to see on the screen. Perhaps only the great silent period, from 1909-1928, was its equal. For whatever reasons of past culture or artistry or pioneering efforts in the field England was especially blessed with a large collection of first-class cinematographers whose efforts have, with only a few exceptions, largely gone unnoticed. It will be this writer's attempt to acquaint readers with the other fine craftsmen in this area of British film-making, and it is only fitting that we begin with one of the greatest of them all, Robert Krasker. We've all seen, of course, his most famous film work, Brief Encounter and The Third Man, two films that seem to turn up on everyone's "top movies" lists. In those two works, directed by David Lean and Carol Reed respectively, Krasker reached the apogee of his craft even though there were (some may be surprised to learn) other masterpieces to follow. Let us get a little taste of this remarkable man's achievements. Bob Krasker was Australian by birth, born in Perth on August 21, 1913. He was in France when he began his career as a camera assistant, a country that did not find it difficult to produce cameramen of brilliance. But it was not long after that he began work at the studios of Sir Alexander Korda in Britain, and it was that studio that would see the first flowering of his talent.