Carol Reed

Remembered largely for his trio of 1940s masterpieces (Odd Man Out, The Fallen Idol, The Third Man), Carol Reed is a film-maker whose work as a whole is long overdue for reconsideration. This volume ranges over his entire career, and combines observation on general trends and patterns with detailed analysis of key films, some well known, and others that deserve to be better known. The book avoids a simplistic auteurist approach, and places the films in their autobiographical, socio-political and cultural contexts, but in ways that invariably relate these to the analysis of Reed's art. The critical approach refers to a variety of models, including psychoanalysis, gender and performance theory, and the analysis of form. Archival material is also relied on to clarify Reed's relations with his creative team, financial backers and others, as well as to draw conclusions, through comparisons of various screenplay drafts, about the priorities concerning the released version of any given film.

Peter William Evans teaches Film at Queen Mary, University of London.