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Plot Summary
A vacuum cleaner salesman is recruited by the British secret service to act as a spy in Havana.
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Director
Producer
Rotten Tomatoes Movie Reviews
TOMATOMETER
85%- Reviews Counted: 13
- Fresh: 11
- Rotten: 2
- Average Rating: 7.9/10
Top Critics' Reviews
Fresh: For those who regard Alec Guinness as the niftiest little con man on the screen, we will guarantee Our Man in Havana to be a source of immeasurable fun.
Rotten: The mixture of mayhem and heehaw is particularly tricky to handle, and not even the sure hand of Director Reed has always achieved a smooth blend.
Fresh: Polished, diverting entertainment, brilliant in its comedy but falling apart towards the end when undertones of drama, tragedy and message crop up.
Fresh: Guinness is in above-average form, and Ernie Kovacs is wonderful as the callous but charming government official with a soft spot for Guinness's daughter.
Customer Reviews
Our Man In Havana
One of my all time favorite films. It was one of those rare pieces of film that once you saw it, you had to see it over and over and over. Alec Guiness as Mr. Wormold, a very unlikely "agent", Burl Ives as the doctor, his best friend, Maureen O'Hara as Mr Wormold's "experienced" secretary, Noel Coward, complete with his own theme music as Mr. Wormold's recruiter, and of course Ernie Kovacs as the head of the secret police... Cuba just before the revolution, filmed in Cuba just after... Castro's main complaint was he thought the old regime should have been colored a bit more evil. The theme music is wonderful, reminds me of a soundtrack Orson Welles would have approved of. Overall a great film adaption of a great book by Graham Greene directed by Carol Reed, who also directed another favorite of mine, "The Thid Man". I love this movie... Now if I Tunes would get "Lady From Shanghai" I could head to that desert island...
Disappointed
This movie isn't nearly as good as the book. Both female characters are dumbed down, especially Millie, who gets an explained-away American accent too. The brightest spot is the rare and wonderful appearance of Ernie Kovacs. This one is ripe for a remake. Read the Graham Greene novel, you'll see what I mean.
I'll Have to Read the Book, but...
...I liked the movie, having just finished a marathon of Tinker Tailor and Smiley's People it was refreshing to see Alec Guinness in a somewhat comedic role. It was like watching the campy start of Smiley's career with the Service.
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- $12.99
- Genre: Comedy
- Released: 1960
- © 1959, renewed 1987 Kingsmead Productions, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.