Watch The Horse's Mouth For Free

People are voting emotionally.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Alec Guinness not only stars in what amounts to a one-man show as aging, struggling London painter Gulley Jimson, he also wrote the script. Funny he got an Oscar nomination for the writing, and not for the acting.As Jimson, Guinness is a memorably growly, seedy type, testament to the artistic impulse of man running afoul of polite society. Even his nasty Fagin from "Oliver Twist" was affable company; Jimson tells off his young admirer Nosey (Mike Morgan) with a convincingly hoarse "Go do something sensible, like shooting yourself." It's all for laughs, of course, except when "The Horse's Mouth" gets mildly serious, mostly when Jimson holds forth on his vision of art."Half a minute of revelation's worth a million years of know-nothing," he tells his companion Coker (Kay Walsh)."Who lives a million years?" is her sharp reply."A million people every 12 months.""A Horse's Mouth" isn't always so smart. Walsh plays her part too shrill, Morgan his too moony, and the artist who provided Jimson's paintings, John Bratby, uses too much red. After establishing Jimson, Guinness's script doesn't do much with him. He paints some walls, gets into some trouble, and sails away, leaving others to bear witness to his "genius".What I like most about this film, other than Guinness's fine acting and occasional scenes here and there that feature his character to good effect, is the vivid picture you get of London circa the late 1950s, double-decker buses with hoardings for Gordon's Gin and Ty-Phoo Tea on their sides. Also, director Ronald Neame finds interesting angles to frame the film from in order to give the on-screen action (rarely painting itself, but frequently static conversation shots) a bit of vitality, and often outside with lively streetscape backdrops.This is like a David Lean movie once removed. Neame was Lean's cinematographer in his early days, Guinness was Lean's favorite actor, and Walsh was Lean's ex-wife. Even Anne V. Coates, later the Oscar-winning editor of "Lawrence Of Arabia", snipped this as well.She deserved her Oscar; not so Guinness his nomination here. As a comedy, "The Horse's Mouth" is a bit of a miss. A scene of Jimson ruining a rich couple's penthouse apartment is painfully unfunny, especially when a sculptor friend of Jimson (Michael Gough) arrives out of nowhere to add to the mess. Most of the other business in the movie, like a struggle between Jimson and his ex-wife for a portrait of her he needs for painting money, feels like chopped-down scenes from Cary's novel mined for easy laughs, at some expense to story.I didn't care much about Jimson by story's end, but I did enjoy his company, or rather that of Guinness playing Jimson, staring at a charwoman and fixated by her feet, "...old women's feet...thin, flat, long...clinging to the ground like reptiles". Like much else in regard to the movie, I'm at a loss to what it means, but I value the experience. That counts for something with art.

A nice chance to see ALEC GUINNESS as a mad abstract artist with KAY WALSH as his bitterly complaining friend in THE HORSE'S MOUTH. Guinness also wrote the script which has him as a mad artist--crusty, eccentric, but sometimes lovable--who has a knack for getting into trouble whenever he decides to splash his paints on any bare wall. I must say the resulting paintings are not to my taste, so I squirmed uncomfortably at the sight of them.But the film is really a character study of the eccentric man and his close friendship with some equally weird friends. Ronald Neame uses the Technicolor camera to capture some nice scenes of London, but the story is essentially a two-character study that works because of the excellent performances of Guinness and Walsh.Summing up: Uneven results but generally amusing and entertaining with some very funny moments.

It's always quite interesting to me to watch an actor in a role that almost no one knows he/she for. Just like in "Bridge On The River Kwai" (the late) Sir Alec Guinness,surprised me with his diverse acting ability. "Obi Wan" was a memorable role for him but hardly the highest point of his many levels of acting. Here,he is a cranky & crusty artist,fresh out of jail. Loking to retrieve 19 of his paintings from the gentleman that he continuously crank calls! He's also looking to make the ultimate artistic statement on someone's wall somewhere in London.Alec is hilarious in this movie and the entire picture itself seems to be ahead of it's time. It sort of reminds me of the kind of "anti-establishment/anarchy" comedies made in the 1970s. One point is when the old man has called the police on him and his female friend and they make a one of the looniest attempts at a getaway and/or "making a break for it".Another crazy scene is painting a mural on the wall of a rich couple who go on holiday. He's doing okay when another artist,a sculptor horns in on his living arrangement and makes an absolute shambles of the place. Watch what happens when the couple & friend return,too funny! Lastly,the scenes between him and a former "nude model" are funny as well,mainly the physical fight between them over a painting she's kept from him.To put it simply,if you know Guinness for other roles,you almost wont believe that's really him. His voice has a Harvey Kietel scratchiness,his comedic timing is wonderful and he puts himself 100% into this character,that in some ways is to be pitied but at the same time rooted for.9 out of 10,only 1 off for a moment or two that didn't really add anything to the film. (END)

This movie showcases the talents of a great actor and should be studied by acting students keen to learn how to adapt a character.Alec Guiness becomes this rather disreputable artist and gives him many saving qualities. Supported by a good cast and free to create one of his better though less known performances Guiness holds you spellbound Joyce Cary wrote the screenplay and the artist Gulley Jimson really comes to life using the talents of Alec Guiness ,Joyce Carey and the expert direction of Robert Neame who possibly had an easy time with this movie simply letting Carey and Guiness do what they do best. That is exercise their Godgiven talents to give the devolving public a Classic movie to remember with great affection.