Odd Man Out (1947)

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While the war had helped to cement Northern Ireland's place within the United Kingdom, the immediate postwar years were initially ones of anxiety for unionists, and led to the creation of the the Irish Anti-Partition League.

It was against this backdrop that the first major fiction feature to deal with the 'troubles' in Northern Ireland since partition, Odd Man Out, was made. Odd Man Out (1947) was based on a novel written by F. L. Green, who was born in England but had moved to Belfast in 1934. The novel was published in 1945 and the director Carol Reed went to Belfast to ask Green to work on the script, which subsequently became a Two Cities Film production for the Rank Organisation. The Prime Minister, Basil Brooke, adopted the view that 'he would have no objection to a film which faithfully reproduced the atmosphere of the book' (which he regarded as 'fairly objective') but would oppose 'any attempt to glorify the activities of an illegal organisation or to build an aura of heroism around the gunman'. The film would contain 'no political significance or suggestion whatsoever'.

The film's associate producer Phil Samuel cleverly set up a series of meetings with ministers and the film was finally shot in London to huge acclaim on its release.

Extract from Cinema and Northern Ireland by John Hill