“Our Man in Havana” (1960)
Filmed in Cuba soon after Castro took over but before he aligned with the Soviet Union, Our Man in Havana is one of the last movies set there. It was written by Graham Greene and directed by Carol Reed. Noise was so great in the street scenes that all the actors’ dialogue during them had to be redubbed. Alec Guinness is a vacuum cleaner salesman; his teen daughter wants a horse. An English Secret Serviceman, played by Noel Coward, recruits Guinness as a spy; he accepts for money, and in several funny scenes begins to fabricate sub-agents and discoveries to buy his keep. Unfortunately, he’s playing it as a game, but the others are not, and tragedy follows. This is a weird mixture of comedy and spy conventions, and the two make uneasy bedfellows. The mood was fitting for Cuba at the time, though. It was in the wake of a corrupt regime, and optimistically embarking on a new one that wouldn’t prove so different from the old one.
July 26th, 2008 at 10:50 am
You wrote, “…Maureen O’Hara is his lovely daughter…” No, that’s not true. maureen O’Hara did NOT play Guinness’ daughter, but the agent sent out to assist Guinness’ character.
July 26th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Oops! You are correct, and I’ve edited the entry. Thanks for pointing that out.