Graham Greene on film
Few of the 20-odd movies adapted from Graham Greene's fiction catch the mournful crosscurrents of suspense and doubt that were his strong suit — a failing that especially disappointed the author, who spent a decade as a film critic. What Greene termed his ''entertainments'' often made it to the screen in better shape than his more serious novels, if only because the latter's darkly internal themes do not lend themselves to a visual medium. Nonetheless, select gems stand out. Here are some to look for on the late show.
Brighton Rock (1947)
Retitled Young Scarface for U.S. release, it's a bleak, cynical thriller about a youth gang led by a vicious
Richard Attenborough, light-years away from directing Gandhi.
The Fallen Idol (1948)
From a short story, ''The Basement Room,'' a
movie masterpiece about a boy whose worship of the family butler
(Ralph Richardson) turns destructive.
The Fugitive (1948)
Greene's The Power and the Glory is turned
into a somber John Ford film, with Henry Fonda as the burned-out
priest on the run in Mexico.
Ministry of Fear (1944)
Director Fritz Lang threw out most of the
complexities of Greene's brooding spy mystery, but the result is
still excellent imitation Hitchcock, with an appealing performance by
Ray Milland.
The Quiet American (1958)
An interesting, nearly honorable
failure from writer-director Joseph Mankiewicz. Audie Murphy plays
Greene's naive American in strife-torn 1952 Saigon.
The Third Man (1949)
The only work Greene wrote directly for the
screen is also one of the all-time great movies, a witty metaphysical
thriller featuring Joseph Cotten and a smiling, slippery Orson
Welles.
This Gun for Hire (1942)
A Gun for Sale, a nearly existential
novel about a vengeful triggerman, becomes a key film noir starring
Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake.
