The Horse's Mouth - Criterion Collection
by D.A. Pennebaker, Ronald Neame
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alec Guinness, Kay Walsh, Mike Morgan, Renee Houston, Robert CooteDirector: D.A. Pennebaker, Ronald Neame
Brand: Image Entertainment
Writer: Alec Guinness
Writer: D.A. Pennebaker
Producer: Ronald Neame
Producer: Albert Fennell
Producer: John Bryan
Writer: Joyce Cary
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled)
Format: Anamorphic, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.66:1
Running Time: 95 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-06-04
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Criterion
Movie Reviews of The Horse's Mouth - Criterion Collection
Movie Review: Quite a bit of crazy fun...
Summary: 4 Stars
I was recommended this movie by some friends of mine who share my obsession with the cinema. It was one of those comedies they said I just needed to see, for even if it's not perfect (which it isn't), when it hits its mark it is better than most. I have to say that I agree with that statement. The film isn't always as smooth as it should be, but in the moments where everything comes together there can be found such stellar perfection one cannot help but adore the film in its entirety. Sometimes we have to take the bad with the good and hope that the good outweighs the bad.
Thankfully, the good here FAR outweighs any bad.
The film casts Alec Guinness is what may be the role of his career. As gravelly voiced painter Gully Jimson, Guinness is at the top of his comedic game, crafting a character that is memorable and completely entertaining. Jimson, recently released from jail, returns to find his house boat in shambles. He's in need of some quick cash, and when his attempts at getting paid for his paintings (which he feels were stolen from him by his ex-wife and unfairly sold) backfires on him he winds up shacking up in the penthouse of a wealthy couple on holiday and completely destroying their home while trying to create his masterpiece.
The films construction can feel a little uneven at times, and be forewarned that this is a very British movie so if that humor is not to your taste you may find yourself none-to-interested here (case in point, my father hated this movie).
But, there is also so much to love here. The performances are all so rich, especially from Guinness and his female co-stars. Kay Walsh is delightful as Miss Coker. Her adoration and dire frustration with Gully is beautiful to watch, and she matches her every emotional connection with a humor that is undeniably engaging. I also loved what Renee Houston did with her character, that of Gully's ex-wife Sara. She just grabbed hold of her character and gave her such a vivacious personality. I couldn't stop watching her. Of course, this movie BELONGS to Guinness, but these two hilarious ladies surely helped out a lot.
Another big help was the script, penned by Guinness and adapted from the novel by Joyce Cary. It's funny and charming and engaging throughout. I have not read the novel, but I hear the ending is a deviation. I have to say that the ending works very well, but I cannot say if I would have preferred the original ending since I don't know what it is.
In the end I highly recommend this movie. It is not the perfect comedy, but it is a delightful treat with some great performances and it will truly stay with you for some time; and you can say you heard that straight from the horse's mouth.
Summary of The Horse's Mouth - Criterion Collection
In Ronald Neame's film of Joyce Cary's classic novel, Alec Guinness transforms himself into one of cinema's most indelible comic figures: the lovably scruffy painter Gulley Jimson. As the ill-behaved Jimson searches for a perfect canvas, he determines to let nothing come between himself and the realization of his exalted vision. A perceptive examination of the struggle of artistic creation, The Horse's Mouth is also director Neame's comic masterpiece.Alec Guinness was in the full bloom of his stardom when he suggested, scripted, and starred in this wonderfully odd 1958 adaptation of Joyce Cary's novel. As Gulley Jimson, a gravel-voiced, antisocial painter, whose artistic drive is as single-minded (and as self-absorbed) as a terrier's, Guinness sketches one of his carefully constructed marvels. The film has a bumpily episodic structure, but when it works, it really works: Gulley inhabiting (and mostly destroying) a penthouse apartment when the upper-crusty owners go on holiday for six weeks, or marshaling an army of apprentices to create a masterpiece on a giant wall in a condemned building. Departing from the novel, Guinness concocted the movie's madcap ending, which is guaranteed to bring a smile. Adding verve is the music, adapted from Prokofiev's Lieutenant Kij?, which fits Gulley like the paint under his dirty nails. The artworks, vivid and thick, are by John Bratby. --Robert Horton
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