Tag Archive: Graham Greene


The life and times of Flann O’Brien

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August 29, 2018

NO LAUGHING MATTER by Anthony Cronin (First published by Grafton Books, 1989)

984085There are certain novels, like Robert Musil’s ‘The Man Without Qualities’, that I find too daunting to even attempt and others, such as Malcolm Lowry’s ‘Under The Volcano’ that I have tried but failed to complete.

‘At Swim-Two-Birds’ by Flann O’Brien was, until this year, gathering dust in my unfinished pile. I have Anthony Cronin’s candid and informative biography of O’Brien to thank for finally completing this short, comic but notoriously challenging novel.

Cronin skillfully puts the work into a literary and historical context while bluntly presenting the man behind it as a sad character. Continue reading →

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THE BEST EVER MOVIE ENDING

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May 27, 2013

In the book version of Graham Greene’s masterly The Third Man, he wrote a romantic ending for Anna Schmidt and Holly Martins.

He was unconvinced by Carol Reed’s uncompromising conclusion but when he saw the movie, he changed his mind.

The first time you watch it, you think for all the world that Anna (Alida Valli) will link arms with Holly (Joseph Cotten) and they will make a life together, united in grief over the death of Harry Lime (Orson Welles).

You have to admire Reed’s boldness as the long walk from the cemetery concludes with Anna walking off screen without so much as a glance in the direction of Holly. He lights a cigarette and tosses away a spent match. Roll credits.

This is the umpteenth time I’ve seen the movie and this closing scene gets me every time – the best ever ending to a movie in my humble opinion.

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GRAHAM GREENE : FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM

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May 10, 2013

THE POWER AND THE GLORY by Graham Greene (First published, 1940).

In 1926, aged 22, Graham Greene converted from Atheism to Catholicism.

In his autobiography, A Sort of Life, he explained that  “I became aware of the probable existence of something we call God, though I now dislike the word with all its anthropomorphic associations……….there was no joy at all, only a sombre apprehension”.  

This hardly sounds as if  ‘seeing the light’ was an altogether  pleasurable experience.

I always thought the big advantage of belief was that it is supposed to bring serenity rather than doubt. Continue reading →

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BORING AND UNREAD BOOKS

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March 1, 2008

How To Talk About Books You Haven’t Read by Pierre Bayard
(translated from the French by Jeffrey Mehlman – Granta, 2007)
Boring Books by Louis Theroux (The Idler-Issue 10 -July/August 1995)

Pierre Bayard’s book is a columnists dream. Here we have the paradox of a professor of literature in Paris proposing non-reading as a legitimate academic strategy.This isn’t as whacky as it first sounds.
It’s an undeniable fact that even the most erudite scholar can only scratch the surface of the world’s literature. In our short lifetimes there are only so many books it is possible to read.It follows that we will often find ourselves in situations when we are called upon to express an opinion on works we have only a scant knowledge of, or in extreme circumstances haven’t even heard of. Continue reading →

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My all-time favorite movie

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December 20, 2007

I’m often asked to name my all time favorite movie; well, come to think of it, hardly anyone asks me this question but if someone did I’d have no hesitation in naming Carol Reed’s 1949 classic ‘The Third Man’ starring Joseph Cotton and Orson Welles.

Why do I like it so much you may (or may not) ask? One reason is because of this clip containing Welles’ famous cuckoo clock speech:

Other reasons include the following:
orson welles

  • Best ever screen entrance – a light from a window shines on Orson Welles (as Harry Lime – presumed dead) – he grins with tongue in cheek. One of the most magical scenes in movie history.
  • Brilliant screenplay by Graham Greene.
  • Shadowy slanted expressionist photography.
  • Joseph Cotton as the clueless Holly Martins – his finest role.
  • Trevor Howard’s (Major Calloway) shiny raincoat – British cops in movies are rarely this cool. He even makes a beret look stylish!
  • The elegant charm of Valli as Harry Lime’s girlfriend, Anna Schmidt – languid and classy.
  • Best ever sewer chase scene – not a lot of competition in this field but great drama all the same
  • Best ever closing scene – Anna’s long slow walk from the graveyard after Lime’s funeral.

    • Martins waits . In a feel good Hollywood finale the two would kiss and walk off arm in arm, instead Anna just keeps on walking. I once attended a special screening of the movie at London’s National Film Theatre where Joseph Cotton was interviewed afterwards. He said that for the closing moment when he lights a cigarette and tosses a match away, he didn’t realise that they were still filming – “Turned out pretty good though”, he commented – a massive understatement.

    Anton Karas’ zither theme sounds pretty weird and dated now but it doesn’t detract from a movie that I could watch over and over.

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