Heart of the Matter

In bringing the film version of Graham Greene's novel to New England for the first time, the Brattle has done local moviegoers a considerable favor. Although Leslie Storm's adaptation of the book does not provide high excitement and seems conscientiously to shun dramatic effect, it results in a picture that is severely honest and thought-provoking. The care with which director George More O'Ferrall and his cast have avoided any trace of trace of sentimentality helps convey to the screen the deeply depressing quality of Greene's novel.

Trevor Howard handles the part of Scobie with a degree of reserve that would seem almost painful if it were not the only way the role could be done. His understanding of a man whose code of justice and firm Catholicism meet a situation in which they seem useless, is evident throughout the film. Maria Schell, as the Austrian refugee girl with whom Scobie falls in love while his wife is on vacation, manages superbly to make her character sympathetic and pitiful without a touch of the maudlin. And Elizabeth Allen's performance presents Louise Scobie in terms so plausible that it is impossible to condemn her. Without careful performances in there two roles, Howard's job of showing the desperate insolubility of Scobie's problem would have been incredibly difficult. As it is, however, his quiet agony of indecision is totally convincing.

In happy coincidence with its title, the picture is solid throughout, and even the smaller roles show depth and good characterization. Denholm Elliott, as Wilson the clerk, Peter Finch, as Father Rank, and Gerard Oury as Yusef all contribute positively in small ways. Yusef's dialogues with Scobie provide some of the scarce light spots of the evening, but because of their disturbing implications never contradict the overall tone of the film.

Thanks to O'Ferrall's direction, there is nothing in Heart of the Matter which does not pertain directly to Scobie's ordeal. He has avoided dramatic effects and mood sequences for their own sake and has concentrated on getting the essentials of a deep and complicated story into a normal-length film. The result is quite remarkable, for althought it seems that there is too much talk and too little action in Heart of the Matter, every conversation is of such pertinency that it cannot help but be gripping. Certainly if there is not much excitement, there is no monotony at all.

The story of Scobie's problem and its final resolution is gripping and profoundly disturbing; it is more worthwhile than many other stories that might be more thrilling. But you will not leave the theatre happier, for Heart of the Matter pulls no punches.