“Recently released from prison after serving time on charges of terrorism, Johnny (James Mason)--against the advice of his comrades--participates in another heist in pursuit of his cause. Weakened by his prison term he is unable to keep up with his companions when their holdup plans end in murder. Abandoned by them, wanted by the police, Johnny is left mortally wounded to wander through Belfast seeking refuge. Thus begins one of the most exciting and complex man-on-the-run sequences ever filmed. A dying man, he is seen as a man beyond help by his friends. And it is through Johnny's dying eyes that Carol Reed introduces us to Belfast as one by one his family, friends and comrades avoid turning him in to the police yet refuse to give him a place to die. We watch him reel from house to house, a delirious man losing faith almost as fast as he is losing blood. Reed's concern for human values transcends any one political viewpoint. He maintained, ‘Certain people want to put over their own ideas about life and politics on film, but I believe that a director has no right to inflict his amateur politics and opinions on an audience.' Reed is considered by some to be one of the most brilliant craftsmen of the modern cinema, and Odd Man Out bears witness to his skill. Reed and photographer Robert Krasker create, through a series of stunning vignettes of city life, a Belfast which is at once politically ambiguous and morally disquieting. You won't forget the girl with one roller skate, the old priest and shady, seedy little man bargaining for Johnny's soul, the untalented painter who wrecks a pub in a world without charity. James Mason gives one of his finest performances as Johnny in a difficult role that requires almost no dialogue. The intensity and subtlety of Mason's characterization creates a pathos and a tragic dignity that approaches the Christlike.” --Diane Gysbers