Our Man in Havana (1960)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Set in Cuba shortly before the revolution (and filmed there after), Our Man in Havana stars Alec Guinness as a man reluctantly persuaded to spy for Britain. He shows no talent for the job, but a considerable talent for making things up.There's a point in the middle of the film, as his lies become amplified by competing factions, that I thought what had been a rather sedate but interesting start was going to move into hilarity. But instead the movie became less comedic after that point. Unfortunate the dramatic elements aren't all that interesting. The movie seems to know that, as it keeps a lot of dramatic threads sketchy. But that just makes the drama weaker; Burl Ives character is never properly explored, and a romance late in the film flowers out of virtually nothing.The movie is well-filmed (at times it's reminiscent in style to director Carol Reed's masterwork The Third Man) and has some good performances (Ernie Kovacs is quite good as a genial yet brutal police captain), but much of it feels like a lost opportunity to push it's brilliant satirical premise to the dark comedy it seems so capable of.

While this film has serious and somber moments in a couple of places, it is one of the best spy spoof movies ever made. It's based on the novel of the same title by Graham Greene. Director Carol Reed did a superb job with the film's cast in polishing the comedy of the plot. The story is slow and deliberate at the start, and the comedy is very tongue-in-cheek. The humor comes in the situations and the scheming by Jim Wormold, played by Alec Guinness. His deadpan expressions are particularly suited for the satire of this plot. Wormold is an expatriate British citizen who's been a resident of Havana, Cuba, for 15 years. He owns a vacuum cleaner store. The cast for this wonderful satire couldn't have been better chosen. Guinness is in the lead role as the British secret service's recruited man in Havana. Burl Ives plays his best friend, Dr. Hasselbacher, himself an expatriate from Germany. He's also been living in Havana a long time. After Wormold confided the British offer to the doctor, Hasselbacher suggested that he create an imaginary network of agents and make up things to report to agent 59200, his boss. That role is played hilariously by Noel Coward as Hawthorne. He is the head of British operations in the Caribbean. From the first moment one sees Coward's character, early in the film, you know you're in for a delightful time. His expression is even funnier than Wormold's. Coward is serious and dour. With his suit, bowler hat and umbrella, he stands out like a sore thumb amid the street throngs of Havana. He doesn't blend in with the populace, and his brisk, deliberate walking pace makes him all the more easy to spot – and follow. Enter the chief of police, Capt. Segura, played by Ernie Kovacs. This is one of those roles in which Kovacs' character is calm and unruffled, and it, too, is particularly apropos for a spy spoof. At the head of the whole British "intelligence" operation – in the London home office, is Ralph Richardson as "C." Other characters fill in the secret service bunch in London. The rest of the cast are all superb, especially those with parts in Cuba. Jo Morrow plays Wormold's daughter, Milly. Maureen O'Hara plays the British agent, Beatrice Severn, whom London sends to help Wormold. Fredy Mayne is hilarious as Prof. Sanchez whom Wormold tries to recruit initially. Paul Rogers plays Hubert Carter, Wormold's would-be assassin. This is one very funny film that lampoons the British secret service mercilessly. The satire continues to build right to the end with a surprise finish that caps the mockery beautifully. Again, most of the humor is in the scheming, plotting and situations rather than in the dialog. The script at the end, though, has a running pun that wraps it up nicely. After Wormold has been given the boot by the Cuban police, and is in London with Severn, Hawthorne says to C, "The loss of those two will create quite a vacuum." C, "What?" Hawthorne, I'm most frightfully sorry, sir. I really didn't intend to make a pun. I only thought, perhaps, that if we are to make a clean sweep …"The movie was filmed in Cuba and England. The Havana scenes are around Cathedral Square and the Havana Biltmore Yacht and Country Club. It's interesting to see photos around the square after the Cuban Revolution (1953-1959). Cam shots today show very little human traffic and activity, and deterioration of the buildings. The movie prologue quickly points out that the story takes place and the movie was made there in the days "before the recent revolution." The movie came out in 1959, just after the end of the revolution that installed Fidel Castro at the head of a communist government. Thus, the Cuban filming would have been shot before July 1953. So, besides its wonderful satire of British espionage and government offices, "Our Man in Havana" gives some snapshots of life and street scenes in the once vibrant capital of Cuba. At one point, Wormold says to Carter, "Everything is legal in Cuba." Indeed, besides its high society and cultural side, the Havana of the mid- 20th century was known as a place where morals were subdued in favor of pleasure. This is a very clever satire, even though it's on the dark side in places. It's one of the best adult films (because of its content) that spoof government "intelligence" operations. It makes a fine addition to any film library.

Alec Guinness, a vacuum cleaner salesman, is forced to be a British spy for his country while he is living in Havana, but has nothing interesting to offer, (why me he asks) when good friend Burl Ives tells him to embellish his accounts of peoples' activities and spice up his reports. What can it hurt? The reports are such a hit, he is given a secretary, Maureen O'Hara, and an assistant. Ralph Richardson, Noel Coward, and Ernie Kovacs costar in this amusing little story, which goes a long way with the stars' credible acting and the charm and irresistible personality of Sir Alec Guinness. But, given the fact, I have hundreds of dvds in my collection, I don't think I would necessarily be drawn to this again, as this really is not an essential to any Cinema 101 class, which shouldn't necessarily deter one from watching and enjoying light films. But this just might be essential to any enthusiast of Alec Guinness and who is interested in his portrayals of curious and eccentric individuals.

Before the revolution in Cuba, a vacuum cleaner salesman is recruited by the British Secret Service for the title role. This cold war comedy sets up a premise ripe with comic possibilities but fails to deliver the laughs. The script by Greene, adapting his own novel, is good for only a few chuckles. A marvelous cast is wasted, including Guinness as the recruited spy hoping to make a quick buck, Coward as his recruiter, O'Hara as his devoted secretary, and Richardson as a befuddled Secret Service superior. Kovacs steals the film as a slimy Cuban police chief who has designs on Guinness's daughter. A disappointment, considering the cast and the director (Reed).