Main Cast: Alec Guinness, Kay Walsh, Mike Morgan, Renee Houston, Robert Coote
Release Year: 1958
Country: UK
Run Time: 93 minutes
Plot
The Horse's Mouth is an acting and a writing tour de force for Alec Guinness, who authored the screenplay in addition to starring in the film. Gulley Jimson (Alec Guinness) is an aging artist with a reputation as a genius, though he lives an impoverished life. Jimson has reached the point in his life where he no longer feels any need to moderate his irascible persona -- he has a taste for alcohol and a tendency toward boisterous spirits where the ladies are concerned -- in search of canvasses to paint and commissions that will allow him to live comfortably, and Guinness lives the role to the hilt. Released from jail for some indiscretion, he immediately begins harassing his wealthiest patron, Hickson (Ernest Thesiger), for money. When that fails, he insinuates himself into the home of a would-be patron, Sir William and Lady Beeder (Robert Coote, Veronica Turleigh), and manages to destroy their home and that of their downstairs neighbor with a huge block of stone and some help from a sculptor friend (Michael Gough). Courted by a potential buyer, he is desperate to retrieve one of his early works from his former wife, but even that prospect is closed off to him. Finally, with help from his young admirer, Nosey (Mike Morgan), his friend, Coker (Kay Walsh), and some art students eager to work with the legendary Gulley Jimson, he begins painting his largest canvas of all. The painting is completed and promptly destroyed. Jimson finally takes off in his wreck of a houseboat for the open sea, eyeing the huge hulls of the passing ships as potential canvasses to paint. As he disappears up the river, Coker looks on in panic and Nosey calls after him, declaring his admiration for Jimson and who he is and what his work means -- knowing for certain that he can't be heard. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
Review
The Horse's Mouth not only features a tour de force performance by Alec Guinness, but also showcases Guinness' Oscar-nominated screenplay, which takes the film beyond clichéd eccentric character study to a deeper level of examining an artist whose obsession has in many ways left him alone and ruined. Once again displaying his legendary ability to physically transform into his character, Guinness plays the aging artist Gulley Jimson as a man whose desperation to express his creativity has almost turned him into a social outcast. This is not the scenery-chewing, over-the-top performance that one would expect from such a character, but instead a subtle, heartbreaking, and darkly comical exploration of the need for artistic expression. Kay Walsh and Renee Houston are also very good as the women in Gulley's life, both getting their moments to shine thanks to the fact that Guinness' central performance is not over-dominating. Director Ronald Neame makes excellent use of Sergei Prokofiev's "Lieutenant Kije" suite, and Arthur Ibbetson's color photography has a painterly feel to it. John Bratby's renditions of Gulley's paintings also work very well, reflecting Gulley's personality. In that tiny genre of films that explore the inner workings of the artist, The Horse's Mouth can proudly stand beside such other classics as Lust for Life and La Belle Noiseuse. ~ Bob Mastrangelo, All Movie Guide
Bill Andrews - Art Director, Colin M. Brewer - First Assistant Director, Ronald Neame - Director, Anne V. Coates - Editor, Albert Fennell - Executive Producer, Kenneth V. Jones - Composer (Music Score), Muir Mathieson - Musical Direction/Supervision, Harold Fletcher - Makeup, John Harris - Camera Operator, Arthur Ibbetson - Cinematographer, John Bryan - Producer, Ronald Neame - Producer, Bill Andrews - Set Designer, Alec Guinness - Screenwriter, Joyce Carey - Book Author
