Nobody cares about Carol Reed‘s Outcast of the Islands, a 1952 adaptation of Joseph Conrad‘s novel with Trevor Howard in the lead role of Willem, a man who surrenders his dignity and civility for the love of a native woman. It’s a forgotten film and nobody cares at all. Except, I’m thinking, possibly those obsessive weirdos at the Criterion Collection. Those guys are just whacked enough to put out a remastered version of this British-produced film on DVD.

I saw it on the tube eons ago, and I’ve never forgotten a scene in which Robert Morley has been tied up inside a hammock with the hammock having been hung by a rope from a tall tree, and Morley, poor fellow, is shown swinging back and forth while being taunted by Howard and some local natives with sticks and spears.
The story mostly takes place in Malaysia. I don’t remember the particulars. I’ve never read the Conrad book, but I’ve been told it’s a bit grim. Ralph Richardson and Wendy Hiller costar in the film. The striking black-and-white cinematography is by Ted Scaife and John Wilcox.