A few weeks back I started Graham Green's Our Man in Havana, and while I enjoyed it at first, I found myself increasingly disconnected from its tone and for a time I stopped reading altogether.
I had purchased the film with Alec Guinness, however, so I decided to watch it and perhaps return to the book later.
Greene wrote the screenplay, which was not unusual for him. Often there is a comparison between film and book, but Greene went back on forth on it – The Third Man was published as a book after the film was made.
In any event, the story take place in pre-revolutionary Cuba, and the protagonist is an English ex-patriate who sells vacuum cleaners for a living. His wife has left him and he has a stunningly beautiful teenage daughter, who is attending a Catholic school with the usual adolescent indifference. One day, he is recruited by the Secret Service to spy for Britain, and hilarity ensues.
Right away we are dealing with a classic setup by Greene, who loves the unconventional. Without getting into spoilers, that tale is a typical English comedy where plausible events pile one upon the other, leading to ever greater heights of absurdity.
Greene does permit some dark moments, but the ending has a nice twist that is appropriately silly/true.
The main takeaway for me was how well Guinness manages his character's development, being whimsical in one moment, and deadly serious when required. He was a true genius, playing everything well.
As to the humor, it was subtle, so much so that one might be tempted to take the story at face value rather than giggling at the absurdity of all of it.
At the same time, Greene does not ignore questions of faith, and they figure prominently here. I'm beginning to understand why he was considered so important in Catholic circles. It was part of him, and he therefore included it in his work, though often causing it to surface in unexpected ways. In any event, it is unique to see Catholic humor so prominently placed in a what was a mainstream film.
Chateau Lloyd 
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