The Horse's Mouth - Criterion Collection

Rating:
Summary: How To Out Bluff A Film Buff
Review: If a film buff askes you to name a classic film you realy like you can do no worse than to answer "The Horse's Mouth". Try to suppress a smile as the buff looks at first puzzled and then cautiously admits that they have never heard of let alone seen that movie so can it be that good?

Well actually yes it is explain to them then casually mention that it is the only film that Alec Guinness ever wrote a screenplay for and that he gained an Academy Award nomination for his trouble and that in his "Parkinson" interview in 1977 he almost (but not quite) admitted that it was his favourite film in his long career.

Then you can go on to tell that it is one of the few films from the 1950's that shows London in colour and the music adapted from Sergei Prokofieff's "Lieutenant Kije" gives the film a touch of class and a unique sense of style not to be found in other films of the period.

You may then mention that the acting is superb; as well as Guinness' faultless study of an obsessive and slightly desturbed artist Gulley Jimson. Kay Walsh(Mrs. David Lean)adds humour and pathos as Miss Coker the comugenly woman who none the less has a soft spot for Jimson and music hall turn Renee Houston as Sara Munday (Gulley's ex-wife) adds a bit of bawdy fun to the proceedings. Young actor Mike Morgan gives an energetic perfomance all the more sad because he died before the film's release.

As the discussion continues you may point out that there are a few technical problems; the original three strip Technicolour camaras were so heavy, with their sound blimps, that the camera doesn't move that much during dialoge shots but that makes the actors move more especially when Gulley and Coker are escaping from the police . Also because the film was assembled onto one roll of negative (a common practice in British films until the 1960's )the dissolves are a bit klunky. But any discerning viewer will forgive such imperfections like the bullet holes in a Jimson painting.

You can then round off your discourse by stating that the end of the film, when Jimson sets sail in his wreck of a boat (a metaphor for his own body?), to find something new to paint is sublime.

Then if the film buff is still a bit bemused you can tell them that there is an excellent DVD of the film including an interview with director Ronald Neame and a D.A. Pennebacker Short that accompanied the film on it's original release from Criterion and that no serious DVD collection should be with out it and that comes, as they say, from the horse's mouth.

Rating:
Summary: A BRILLIANT COMIC MASTERPIECE
Review: Rarely seen and not widely known by the new generation of videophiles, "THE HORSE'S MOUTH" is a recent and most welcome arrival on DVD.

The late, great Alec Guinness was at the peak of his considerable powers when he wrote and starred in this wondrous screen adaptation of Joyce Carey's novel about the eccentric, driven, eremitic painter Gulley Jimson. Widely acclaimed as one of cinema's greatest comic characters, Guinness' scruffy, gravelly-voiced and ill-behaved Jimson is also an unusually perceptive examination of the process of artistic creation and the fine line between the hallucinations of a madman and the inner visions of a genius. Or, in Jimson's case, perhaps there is no dividng line at all. Jimson lets nothing stand in his way as he searches for the perfect canvas. In this case, he needs a giant wall-size space for an epic mural of feet and toes in all their gnarly glory. And when Jimson explains his vision, citing the worn, torn lizard skinned feet of Job, it makes sense. And we fearfully root for him when he nearly destroys a stranger's luxury apartment to realize his dream. Unsaid is the notion that because Jimson is a creator, he is most like God and ordinary rules do not apply.

Director Ronald Neame, in a 2001 interview (an extra on the disc), recalls that Carey's novel was originally brought to him by actor Claude Rains, but Neame thought it unfilmable. When Guinness later suggested the same title to Neame as a project for himself, Neame said the same thing and Guinness replied, "Ronnie, you're quite wrong," and went off and wrote the screenplay, expanding the novel's ending.

Greatly enhancing Jimson's mindset is the memorable music adapted from Prokfiev. The original art seen in the film is by John Bratby, a leading proponent of UK's "provincial realism" school. The lush digital transfer was supervised by Neame himself. Also Included on the disc are vintage trailers and D. A. Pennebaker's "Daylight Express," the Duke Ellington scored short that played prior to "The Horse's Mouth" in its theatrical run.

This is a comic masterpiece that belongs on the shelf with "Some Like It Hot" and "Withnail & I." Highest recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: A knock-out piece of comedy dialogue
Review: This is a well-made video; good sound, good clarity, good color. The comedy, should be required viewing for every aspiring fine arts painter. It portrays "the artist" as he is measured through the supporting cast; his affluent benefactor, his ex-wife, the adoring teen-aged-would-be artist, an antagonist sculptor, a market-minded Tate Gallery, and more, all making up a host of foils for Guiness the drunk, poetry quoting, oil painter of rawhide nudes. The dialogue gets on a fast track--I don't want to give away the plot, but "What does this review say to you?"

Rating:
Summary: Alec Guinness does comedy (again)
Review: This review is for the Criterion Collection DVD edition of the film.

British movie star Alec Guinness (best known fr his role of Obi Wan Kenobi in Star Wars eps. 4-6) stars in this fine comedy.

A painter, Gulley Jimson, just released from prison is looking for work. His attempts to find a place to paint a new mural result in comical misadventures with slapstick humor. He finds a place to paint his mural but does not realize that it is scheduled for demolition until it's too late.

This film has great acting by Alec Guinness in one of his best known comedic roles.

The Criterion Dollection DVD has some fine special features for this director-aproved edition.

There is an interview with director Ronald Neame and a theatrical trailer.

In addition, there is a short documentary by D.A. Pennebaker titled "Daybreak Express" about a now-gone NYC railroad line. This film was shown with "Horse's Mouth" during its New York City theatrical run. The film includes an introduction by Pennebaker.


Fans of 1950's British comedy will like this.