Carol Reed's haunting, suspenseful study of an IRA gunman on the run in the Twenties, through a Belfast permanently pelted by rain or coated with snow. James Mason broke right away from his run of Regency cads in the title role, and there are memorable supporting performances from Kathleen Ryan, as his tragic girl-friend, FJ McCormick, as the little man who tries to sell him for money, and Cyril Cusack as his hot-headed fellow-rebel. Fortunately, Robert Newton only appears in the last half-hour, as his extravagant performance almost unbalances the film. Robert Krasker's black-and-white photography adds greatly to the mounting tension, as events build up to an exciting and agonising finale. Krasker was nominated for an Oscar that year, but had to wait two years before he actually won one - for another Reed classic, The Third Man.

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