The Life and Films of Carol Reed

Book excerpt: Routinely hailed as Britain's greatest film director during the late 1940s, Sir Carol Reed was responsible for the 'Best British Film' for three years in a row - a feat still unequalled. Although those three movies - Odd Man Out, The Fallen Idol and The Third Man were the undoubted high point of a four decade career, Reed's other pictures were never less than entertaining and meticulously made, including Bank Holiday, Night Train to Munich, The Stars Look Down, Trapeze and Outcast of the Islands. Although less acclaimed today, Carol Reed's enviable body of work is long overdue for reassessment. James Howard's most recent books have included definitive surveys of the careers of British film-makers Michael Powell and Robert Hamer.