LeonLouisRicci Atmospheric and visually impressive story that is metaphoric and at times mesmerizing. Most film buffs are bewitched by this and rant endlessly about its greatness and maybe so. It sure is complex and uncompromising in a lot of ways but it takes a great amount of effort on the viewers part to sustain the wonderment for such a lengthy film. It could have been just as powerful and not as plodding and heavy going if it was a bit thinner. The great hypnotic and hallucinatory images and the stylish touches keep things together albeit at a very slow pace and there are some interesting and some irritating characters. Wildly cinematic allegories and parables aside, it is unapologetically European and pure film noir to be ethnocentric, is almost always American. The British efforts somehow seem more maudlin and self conscious and their urban milieu is inevitably physically war-torn rather than pathological and therefore a separation and categorization of of the two types of the noir style is necessary.The cultural separation is significant and therefore this should be labeled as an excellent example of foreign film-noir.

Claudio Carvalho In the Northern Ireland, Johnny McQueen (James Mason) is the leader of an underground organization that needs funds to keep it in action. Johnny was in prison and has broken jail. His hideout for the last six months is in the house of Kathleen Sullivan (Kathleen Ryan), who has fallen in love with him, and her grandmother. Johnny plots a factory heist to raise funds but the scheme does not work as planned and Johnny is wounded and kills a man. The clumsy driver of the runaway car panics and leaves Johnny on the street. The police organize a manhunt with a great number of policemen while Johnny's gang seeks him out. While trying to reach the hideout, Johnny is helped and betrayed while Kathleen and a priest try to find salvation for him."Odd Man Out" is a film about human reactions, feelings and emotions in a large scale manhunt. The plot is politically neutral and never makes any reference to the IRA or to Belfast and that is clear in the very end. Johnny McQueen may belong to IRA or to a mafia and this is not important for the film. Carol Reed uses a magnificent camera-work associated to angles and shadows to disclose a gloomy thriller without redemption. The Brazilian DVD released by Cult Classic Distributor has no synchronization between images and subtitles and it is very difficult to follow the dialogs. My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "O Condenado" ("The Condemned")

anghmho I have always loved this film. I discovered it in my teens, and to me me it has always represented exactly what the film makers said: the unpredictability of the human heart when people meet other people, whether in distress or otherwise.Both my parents emigrated to the United States, one from Scotland and the other from Ireland, both Protestants, and both regarded this film as a masterpiece. Both were pro-British. Which makes me wonder why so many British commenters find fault with this film, particularly with such details as the authenticity of accent and validity of the Republican cause, while neglecting the human aspect of the story, i.e., the remorse and the slow death of the James Mason character. It seems that the British have a deep-seated prejudice against the Irish that gets in the way of seeing any situation from anything other that that prejudiced viewpoint.Comments?

Michael O'Keefe This film noir directed and produced by Carol Reed received critical acclaim on both sides of the pond in 1948; Best Film editing in America and Best British Film of the Year. James Mason plays Johnny McQueen, the leader of an underground Irish organization. A precisely planned heist will put much needed funds in the coffers to keep the group going. Members of the gang feel that Johnny is not ready to pull the job off, because he has been hold up inside hiding too long. The crime is underway and things go sour and Johnny is wounded and doesn't make it back to the hideout. He will roam and hide in the underbelly of a snowy Belfast. The local police put on an all-out search with intent to capturing the revered Johnny McQueen. Suspenseful and dark. A real strong cast that also features: Robert Newton, Cyril Cusack, Kathleen Ryan, Denis O'Dea, Kitty Kinwan and Dan O'Herlihy.