Columbia Pictures Corporation presents "OUR MAN IN HAVANA" (1959) (111 min/B&W) -- Starring Alec Guinness, Burl Ives, Maureen O'Hara, Ernie Kovacs, Noel Coward & Ralph Richardson
Directed by Carol Reed
Jim Wormald (Alec Guiness) is an Englishman selling vacuum cleaners in Cuba on the cusp of the 1959 Castro-led revolution. Hawthorne (Noel Coward), a British intelligence agent, is looking for information on Cuban affairs and recruits Jim to act as a spy. Jim has no experience in espionage and no useful knowledge to pass along, but Hawthorne is willing to pay for his services, and since Jim's daughter Milly (Jo Morrow) has expensive tastes, he can use the money. To keep Hawthorne happy (and his paychecks coming in), he turns in reports on the Cuban revolution that are copied from public documents, "hires" additional agents who don't exist, and presents blueprints of secret weapons that are actually schematics of his carpet sweepers. However, Hawthorne and his associate `C' (Ralph Richardson) think that Jim is doing splendid work and encourage him to continue; meanwhile, Capt. Segura (Ernie Kovacs), the corrupt chief of police, has been fooled by Jim's charade into believing he's a real spy - and has also become attracted to Milly.
Great supporting roles for Burl Ives and Maureen O'Hara in this witty comedy inspired by Cold War paranoia and penned by Graham Greene.
BIOS:
1. Carol Reed (Director)
Date of Birth: 30 December 1906 - Putney, London, England, UK
Date of Death: 25 April 1976 - Chelsea, London, England, UK
2. Alec Guinness [aka: Alec Guinness de Cuffe]
Date of Birth: 2 April 1914 - Marylebone, London, England, UK
Date of Death: 5 August 2000 - Midhurst, Sussex, England, UK
3. Maureen O'Hara (aka: Maureen Fitzsimons)
Date of birth: 17 August 1920 - Ranelagh, County Dublin, Ireland (now Ranelagh, Dublin, Ireland)
Date of death: Still Living
4. Burl Ives
Date of Birth: 14 June 1909 - Hunt City, Illinois
Date of Death: 14 April 1995 - Anacortes, Washington
Mr. Jim's Ratings:
Quality of Picture & Sound: 4 Stars
Performance: 5 Stars
Story & Screenplay: 5 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars [Original Music, Cinematography & Film Editing]
Total Time: 111 min on DVD ~ Columbia Pictures Corporation ~ (February 3, 2009)
