Our Man in Havana [Blu-ray]

This is one of the fabulous early Alec Guinness films. It is based on the enticing novel by Graham Greene. It makes a mess of and fun of the British Secret Service. Great lines, comedy, suspense, brilliant. Wonderful scenes shot in early Havana too. I hope that it is never "remade" because nothing could top off this production.We were recently gifted with a few film channels and are looking forward to revisiting Guinness's "Lady Killers", "Man in the White Suit", and "The Horse's Mouth". Those are my favorite, top four films mostly because of the unique, brilliant characterizations that Guinness brings to these great scripts, and the fabulous, ridiculous scenes and characters that the directors and writers weave with and around Alec and into the story. Actually these four films do rival my other top favorite, Dr. Strangelove, and this confession gives you an insight into my sense of humor about human nature and our potential (or real) screw ups. And a bonus: no 'suspension of disbelief' is required for these films as the ludicrous human misbehavior is quite believable.

The expression: Our Man in Havana is the something of a way to invoke the cynicism of and around the world of intelligence. As such it is not a universal expression but it is a rare case of a writer capturing the mood of an era. The movie: Our Man in Havana is based on the book by the same name with the screenplay written by the same author: Graham Greene. Note that Graham Greene did have experience as a reporting agent for MI6. He was one of several well-known British writers selected for this role in part according to the story, because they could travel to unusual places without drawing attention; but also because they could write witty, readable reports.By turns cynical, blackly humorous and one suspects too close to the truth this movie is very worth your time.Jim Wormold played by Alec Guinness is a British ex-patriot selling vacuum cleaners in prerevolutionary Cuba. His daughter Milly is coming-of-age, perhaps a little too sophisticated in her tastes and is aware that she is caught the eye of an important Police Captain Segura played by Ernie Kovacs. Into this mix comes the obvious British spy Hawthorne played by Noel Coward. (Under the heading of just how small the world is or was Noel Coward's neighbor on the island of Jamaica was his friend writer and one time spy Ian Fleming.)Hawthorne recruits Jim to be our "Man in Havana" for the British secret service. Hawthorne however is a nobody with no contacts and no influence. Between the pressures he is under as a family man and as Hawthorne's agent, Jim begins to fake intelligence. Cobbling together information from the newspaper, Time Magazine and whatever rumors he can hear, he begins feeding "information" to MI6. Over time he becomes more creative and concocts an obviously elaborate story. This obvious fiction causes British intelligence to decide he is an agent of such importance that he needs his own staff. At about the same time Capt. Segura begins to roll up the otherwise innocent people named as agents by Jim. It is at this point where, what has been a dark comedy reveals itself as a cynical comment on the spy business.It is a cliche to say that the book is better than the movie. In this case both are excellent both should be enjoyed for the advantages in each media. Alec Guinness fully captures the bumbling, desperate and creative drafted spy. Ernie Kovacs, not known as a serious actor completely inhabits the role of a police captain more than willing to use torture and who has an eye for teenage girls. Burl Ives as a burned out German ex-patriot lends pathos and heart to this story. The smaller roles played by Noel Coward Ralph Richardson and Maureen O'Hara are star quality.While some will conclude that this is a strictly Cold War era movie with no relevance to our age; 25 years later, John le Carre'would lift the plot outline and place it into his book the Tailor of Panama.This is an excellent movie. The cast performs as you would expect this level of actor to perform. The movie stands well against the original book. Black humor is not always an easy laugh but in this one the smiles can be quickly followed by the sad realization that real people become the tortured victims of even the innocent mistakes by the intelligence community.My copy of the DVD performed well. Both picture quality and sound quality were to my satisfaction.

In this rather peculiar story, the British government has concerns about Cuba and wish to employ a British subject who already resides in Cuba to set up a spy network. Their recruiter arranges to meet a likely prospect: Mr. Wormold, a local shop owner.Mr. Wormold makes a modicum of money selling vacuum cleaners, but not enough money to support his grown daughter's love of horse riding and his desire to send her off to a safer part of the world. So, when the Secret Service recruiter promised him significant money, he agrees to become a part-time spy.Mr. Wormold has a problem: there is simply nothing, that he is aware of, in Cuba worth reporting on. At the suggestion of a friend, he begins making up outlandish reports from his fictitious Cuban sources on a revolutionary weapon being built in the rebel-controlled mountains. It would make the H-bomb look like just a conventional weapon.Mr. Wormold soon has another problem: others are beginning to take notice of his activities, and unfortunately for Mr. Wormold, they don't deal in make-believe weapon systems, but in guns, poison, and accidental murders ...Some movies are like forgotten time capsules. This 1959 film gives us a glimpse of life in Cuba before Fidel Castro. Havana was no paradise, but a thuggish police-state where intimidation, torture, and death were the razor-edged tools of the state.Overall, I found this movie interesting. It is difficult to categorize. Although it has comic elements, it is not a comedy, but perhaps you could call it a comic film noir.Extras: Movie trailer and Martini Minutes: two brief films which start with a hodgepodge of movie clips, an ingredients list for an alcoholic drink, and finally a plug for several movies.Picture (DVD): good.

The premise behind this movie is great - and when Guiness, pretending to be a spy who has to show his "superiors" that he is legit sends them "secret" blueprints for what is really an early electric vacuum cleaner (yes, apparently old world Cuba did get dirty), it is a small piece of absolute movie magic.The film has a lot going for it, with a great cast and some beautiful scenes, but despite some great moments is still overall about a 3 1/2 star effort. I love old movies, and enjoy slow pacing, but this one was a little too slow, Guiness wasn't used to his full potential, and the subplot about his daughter in my mind proves to be a distraction as it serves as a mere plot device that could have been satisfied in much better ways. If you can get this cheap it's not a bad pickup, but from time to time it sells for some reasons at over $50.Considering how many movies are being remade these days that shouldn't have even been made in the first place, this film was an above average effort that, if done right, could be a homerun.