‘Odd Man Out’ Draws Us Into His Predicament

British movie suspense may have had its most valuable player in Alfred Hitchcock, but Carol Reed was no slouch, either.

“The Third Man,” released in 1949, is probably his most celebrated. “Odd Man Out” came two years earlier and also showed Reed’s deftness with all things desperate.

“Odd Man Out” (which continues UC Irvine’s “Global Fishbowl” series Friday night) begins with a political disclaimer, an unusual step in its own right.

Although the picture focuses on Johnny McQueen, a fictitious Irish rebel leader fighting British rule in the 1940s, Reed says in the opening credits that he isn’t interested in judging Johnny’s motives. Instead, the movie wants to explore “the conflict between people when they become unexpectedly involved” in Johnny’s predicament.

After Johnny (played by a tense, wanly romantic James Mason in one of his first pictures) is shot during a heist to get money for the Irish Republican Army’s cause, Reed takes us on a staggering, edgy chase through the dark streets of an unnamed Irish city. Separated from his cohorts and bleeding badly, Johnny stumbles from alley to alley, from stranger to stranger as he avoids the police.

What makes “Odd Man Out’ effective is Reed’s love of detail, especially when it comes to the mix of characters Johnny encounters along the way. With economical cinematic strokes, Reed describes these people, getting us to wonder about them and, ultimately, to have a sense of who they are.

They’re fully textured, from the neighborhood girl (Kathleen Ryan) who loves Johnny to the bum (F. J. McCormick) who plans to exploit him, and the drunken artist (Robert Newton) who wants to paint him in his death-agony.

The film is also vividly stylistic and atmospheric--other Reed trademarks. Except for the opening scenes, the entire film is shot at night on either rain-soaked or snow-covered streets. Reed’s cinematographer Robert Krasker uses the weather like an imposing, threatening character.

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For silent-movie fans, the Newport Harbor Art Museum is sponsoring “The Beginnings” series, highlighted with Lon Chaney in “The Phantom of the Opera.” This 1925 original version of the famous tale will screen Feb. 17.

The three-part program opens Friday with “Sunrise.” The 1927 movie, directed by F. W. Murnau, tells the story of a farmer who plans to murder his wife after falling for another woman.

The series concludes March 19 with “Greed.” Directed by Erich von Stroheim, the 1924 picture centers on a man who kills his wife and is then pursued by her former lover.

All films begin at 6:30 p.m. Admission is $5 general admission and $3 for students, seniors and museum members. Information: (714) 759-1122.

What: Carol Reed’s “Odd Man Out.”

When: Friday, Jan. 20, at 7 and 9 p.m.

Where: The UC Irvine Student Center Crystal Cove Auditorium.

Whereabouts: Take the San Diego (I-405) Freeway to Jamboree Road and head south to Campus Drive and take a left. Turn right on Bridge Road and take it into the campus.

Wherewithal: $2 to $4.

Where to call: (714) 824-5588.

MORE SPECIAL SCREENINGS

China Jade and The National Palace Museum--5,000 Years of Chinese Art

(NR) Two films that explore the heritage of traditional Chinese art will be shown at 7:30 p.m. today at the Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, 2002 Main St., Santa Ana. Included with the price of admission, $1.50 to $4.50. (714) 567-3600.

Rose Marie

(NR) Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy sing and star in this film about a woman who falls in love with the Mountie trying to capture her fugitive brother. The film, directed in 1936 by W.S. Van Dyke II, will be shown at 12:45 Friday at the Cypress Senior Center, 9031 Grindlay St., Cypress. FREE. (714) 229-6776.

Blue Skies

(NR) Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire play former show business partners vying for Joan Caulfield’s attention in this 1946 film featuring Irving Berlin songs. The film, directed by Stuart Heisler, will be shown at 12:45 Wednesday and Jan. 27 at the Cypress Senior Center. FREE.