The Heart of the Matter (1953) User Reviews

A brilliant performance in a thought-provoking film

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 11 October 2008]

Trevor Howard is a policeman who tries to get to "The Heart of the Matter" in this 1953 film based on the Graham Greene novel. It also stars Elizabeth Allan and Maria Schell. Howard plays Harry Scobie, a police officer in Sierra Leone. He and his wife have lost their young daughter, and now his wife is miserable in Sierra Leone. In order to get money for a trip for her, Scobie borrows money from an unsavory character - later on, this will lead to problems for him with his superiors. He meets a stranded widow, Helen (Schell), and the two fall in love. When his wife returns, he is faced with a religious dilemma. She is told he has been fooling around. She wants him to go to church with her and take Communion - meaning, of course, that he would have confessed his adulterous sin to the local priest. In fact, the priest comes to the house. The priest cannot accept his confession, because Scobie doesn't believe he can stop seeing Helen. In order to hide this from his wife, he commits the mortal sin of going to communion not in the state of grace.

Stripped down to the religious elements of this film, "The Heart of the Matter" doesn't sound like much. But it has a very high resonance if you're Catholic, suicide is the unforgivable sin, you can't go to communion unless you've been to confession, etc.

Trevor Howard gives a very profound performance as a man who has lost everything except his religion and who describes hell as eternal wanting. As a man who lost sight long ago of what he wants, he lives in a private hell that the surrounding locations only emphasize.

A slow, pessimistic film, a great performance, well worth seeing if you're on antidepressants.

A magnificent performance from Trevor Howard

[MOscarbradley · 8/10 · 5 May 2016]

Scobie was perhaps the most tortured of all of Graham Greene's tortured Catholics and he's played magnificently by that most underrated of great actors, Trevor Howard in George More O'Ferrall's mostly superb and largely forgotten screen version of "The Heart of the Matter". One reason Scobie is such a tortured Catholic is that he is torn between the faith he's largely lost since the death of his daughter and his love for a young refugee, (another wonderful performance from Maria Schell); he's happy to sleep with her but thinks he will go to hell if he takes Holy Communion while in mortal sin.

This is a wonderfully acted picture throughout; Howard and Schell may have the best of it but note too Elizabeth Allan, she of "A Tale of Two Cities" and "David Copperfield", as Scobie's adulterous wife, Denholm Elliot as the young man besotted by her and Gerard Oury as the diamond smuggler who blackmails Scobie. The plot may be a trifle grim and all that Catholic guilt proved too much for audiences at the time which may account for why the film is seldom revived now. An acquired taste then, but essential viewing for anyone interested in the art of acting.

"God, condemn me and give rest unto them."

[brogmiller · 7/10 · 22 December 2020]

Grahame Greene preferred to be called a 'novelist who happened to be a Catholic' rather than a 'Catholic novelist'.

That he was a master storyteller with a gift for characterisation is indisputable and 'The Heart of the Matter' of 1948 not only proved to be a best seller but has long since been regarded by the literati as one of his finest.

Brought to the screen five years later by a 'capable' director with a first rate cast, its themes of angst-ridden guilt, crisis of Faith, mortal sin, human frailty and failure would hardly be likely to appeal to the average cinema goer and so it proved. The paying public stayed away in droves.

The character of Harry Scobie, a deputy assistant commissioner in Sierra Leone is one of Greene's most complex characters. Described by his neurotic wife as a typical 'second man', as a 'coward' by his equally neurotic younger lover and by his superior as 'Scobie the Just', he goes to great lengths to achieve the well-nigh impossible task of not causing pain or suffering to anyone, even to God! Faced with this moral dilemma he decides to take the only way out.......

The makers of this have resisted the temptation to hire a Hollywood 'name' as Scobie and have cast Trevor Howard. He is absolutely mesmerising in the role and turns in what is arguably his greatest performance. His character's fall from grace is agonising to behold.

All of the performances are uniformly excellent and Maria Schell is at her most touching. The 'chemistry' between her and Howard is palpable.

The direction by George More O'Ferrall is solid but alas rather flat and uninspired.

The script is literate if not literal and the original ending has been changed in an attempt to make it more filmic.

William Golding described Greene as 'the ultimate chronicler of Twentieth Century Man's consciousness and anxiety.' There is a bit too much of both in the novel and any film version would struggle to be commercially viable.

It can still be enjoyed however by those few who recognise and appreciate fine acting.

Best of the best

[Oct · 5 May 2002]

A fairly drab production- TV veteran More O'Ferrall didn't go to West Africa for the location footage- suits the claustrophobic qualities of Greene's theological conscience-drama.

Elizabeth Allan is adequately shrewish or pathetic by turns as Scobie's wife, trapped in the hot, dull hellhole of a wartime colony; Elliott does an early essay in the caddishness that would be his speciality; Schell is drippily gamine as the girl who provokes Scobie's fall. But this is Trevor Howard's show- an astonishing step forward from the nice young doctor of Brief Encounter or even from the more cynical British officer of The Third Man.

David Shipman, Britain's finest writer on movie stars, said that Howard's performance is "unequivocally one of the best in the whole history of films". He brings out the policeman's private agony in every dry inflection and slight tightening of eyes or brow. More O'Ferrall was a pioneer of TV drama production, and the close-up emphasis of early studio technique helps here: the upper lip remains stiff but the soul shows through the mask.

The ending was criticised for softening the book's suicide, but it is legitimately cinematic. It gives Scobie, at the very last, someone to whom he can explain himself, as if in the confessional he cannot bear to visit. More than any entry in his long and now unjustly disregarded career, Howard here justifies Shipman's verdict that he was Britain's best film actor.

Good Graham Greene adaptation; hard to overlook the fact, though, that the potential for a true classic has been missed.

[barnabyrudge · 6/10 · 21 September 2013]

A hard-to-film Graham Greene novel is brought to the screen with a modicum of success in The Heart Of The Matter. Largely shot on location in Sierra Leone, the film is a typically heavy-going examination of faith, guilt and inner torment driven by one of Trevor Howard's finest performances. It's not his best film – not by a long shot – but certainly a performance of remarkable depth and power. His efforts alone make it worth a look.

In 1942, British policeman Scobie (Howard) works in Sierra Leone, keeping a close eye on local troubles, plus any attempts to smuggle diamonds out the country. He is also mindful of wartime skulduggery, for even in this far flung corner of Africa spies and thieves are hard at work for their respective war machines. Scobie's wife Louise (Elizabeth Allan) despises her life in Sierra Leone – their daughter died tragically some years previously, she loathes the country and its people, and their relationship is strained to say the least. By unethical means, Scobie manages to acquire enough money to send Louise away for a time. During her absence he gets to know Helen (Maria Schell), a pretty, young European girl who survived a torpedo attack on a ship off the country's coast. It isn't long before Scobie and Helen are madly in love; but this adultery soon catches up with him when he is blackmailed for his wrongs and, worse still, learns that his wife will be returning soon. For Scobie the most obvious way out is suicide, but as a devout Catholic he knows this would constitute the worst of sins…

The location filming, plus the inclusion of indigenous tribal music rather than an actual score, add immeasurably to the film's flavoursome atmosphere. The film is strongly acted throughout, with Howard in marvellous form (as mentioned) and great support from Allan, Schell and various excellent character actors like Denholm Elliott, Peter Finch, Michael Hordern and Gerard Oury. Where it comes undone somewhat is in the rather anonymous direction of George More O'Ferrall; rather too many of the potentially great scenes are handled flatly, or, at least, without much oomph, much panache. That's not to say The Heart Of The Matter is a bad film, far from it; simply that it's a 'quite good' film which could have been 'excellent' if handled better. The film infamously changes the book's bleak and powerful ending – while the ending here remains pretty unhappy it is softened from the original enough to distort Greene's intentions. Still a worthwhile film in spite of its flaws, but everyone involved has done better and there's a nagging suspicion that, while a good film has been made, the opportunity for a brilliant one has slipped by unfulfilled.

Guilt with a capital G

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 1 October 2013]

After watching The Heart Of The Matter for all the exotic atmosphere of a film set in Sierra Leone during World War II what the film boils down to essentially is a Catholic soap opera. Which would follow since it is based on a Graham Greene novel. Had lead character Trevor Howard not been Catholic, would this story had even occurred.

Howard gives a capable performance of a British colonial policeman who is stationed in Sierra Leone caught up in a mid life crisis. He's fallen out of love with wife Elizabeth Allan whom he sends away on money borrowed from a man who the authorities suspect of smuggling, an offensive looked at even more during wartime.

He also embarks on an affair with Maria Schell, an Austrian refugee who were others had been on a life raft for 40 days at sea after Allan has been sent away. That and the fact that he now has the appearance of impropriety has his superiors questioning him after accusations were brought by another civilian Denholm Elliott.

Nothing like Catholic guilt. His theological musings with Father Peter Finch bring him no solace. Howard's troubles are big, but he's his own harshest judge as per his religion.

Although The Heart Of The Matter was well received and it is a well acted story, it hasn't aged well in the past 60 years since it first came out. If anything it's one serious argument against Catholicism should one be considering converting.

an excellent film and good remake of Greene's novel

[val-54 · 9/10 · 26 July 2000]

A fairly good remake of the Graham Greene novel. Though the ending is different from the novel, the tragic theme is prevalent throughout the film. Trevor Howard brings out Scobie's inner torment credibly - as the principled police officer scared of the misery around him. The colonial aspects of the time period are handled well, you can almost feel the heat and humidity and the occasional fevers that rack the body. This combined with good acting, flesh out the Greene novel faithfully. A terrific movie about the machinations of the human conscience, and what it can lead to.

Moving and thoughtful.

[jdm1051 · 9/10 · 21 February 2003]

Trevor Howard makes the dilemmas facing his character unforgettable. I saw this movie decades ago, and there are scenes - some sensational, some very quiet - that still haunt me. I hope I have the chance to see the movie again - I'd like to share it with my daughter and discuss the theological issues raised with her - and of course, celebrate Howard's marvelous acting.

Diamond Geezer

[writers_reign · 5/10 · 9 December 2016]

George Moore O'Ferrall, the director of this film came to it straight off The Holly And The Ivy, arguable the finest 'christmas' film in the history of cinema - and, no, I have not forgotten the original Miracle on 34th Street - and so I was predisposed to look favourably on anything else he worked on. Alas, for reasons best known to himself and/or his bank manager, he opted for one of Graham Greene's doom- fests in which Catholic guilt rears its ugly head as soon after the opening credits as is feasibile and an angst-filled time is had by all. This time around it is Trevor Howard who totes the burden as an English policeman on the lookout for diamond smugglers in Freetown, Sierra Leone, circa 1942. Unhappily married to Elizabeth Allen but unable to scare up the passage money to send her to where she yearns to go he, 1) succumbs to the blandishments of the corrupt and amoral Gerard Oury and 2) the all-but-virginal charms of Maria Schell, thus landing himself with enough guilt for both Catholics and Jews. Howard is, as always, outstanding as is the support which, apart from those already cited, includes George Colouris and Denholm Eliot. Clearly it's not easy being Greene.

The Heart Of The Matter - A Rare Classic

[krocheav · 8/10 · 24 May 2021]

While this might not offer much appeal to movie buffs hooked on action flicks - any that value truly classic writing (Graham Green) will be more than compensated by this in-depth character study of the eternal triangle - as examined through the eyes of Catholic guilt and dedication to specific vows and doctrine. Trevor Howard is absolutely superb as Scobie, the trapped in a loveless marriage, deputy commissioner of the Sierra Leone police in the early 40s. With the arrival of survivors from a torpedoed ship, Scobie finds himself drawn to a vulnerable young woman. Lovely Award-winning Austrian-Swiss born, Maria Schell is his equal in her performance of the young survivor.

Beautifully photographed on location, in B/W by Award-winner Jack Hildyard (Bridge on the River Kwai) and reasonably directed by highly regarded TV man, George More O'Ferrall - this richly detailed soul-searching drama is filled with wonderfully defined characters, well played by a sterling international cast.

Not to be missed by all who value classic storytelling and solid British movie-making. The newly restored DVD transfers make it a valuable re-discovery.

Inner Demons

[spookyrat1 · 5/10 · 10 February 2019]

Adapted from one of Graham Greene's "Big 4" "Catholic novels", The Heart of the Matter is notable for its excellent production standards. In an example of literacy audiences differing from those of the cinema, the film is generally accepted as being a commercial failure, I would suggest due to its rather bleak and depressing storyline.

The acting is first class with Trevor Howard excelling as Scobie, the principled expatriate Catholic police officer serving in Sierra Leone. Enmeshed in a loveless marriage with an adulterous wife, he still attempts to do the right thing by all parties, including his wife's smarmy lover Wilson (a fine young Denholm Elliot), as well as do his job professionally, though aware he is to be passed over for promotion for a younger officer. Both his faith and desires however are tested mightily after meeting the young refugee Helen.

The black and white cinematography shot by the great Jack Hildyard on location in Sierra Leone is superb, as is the indigenous, largely percussive soundtrack.

The storyline does parallel much of Greene's life, as he served in Sierra Leone during World War 2, not for the police, but the nascent MI6. The self-confessed "Catholic agnostic", in creating the character of Harry Scobie, forms a template mirroring his own inner torments and depressions, whilst trying to adjust his life to established institutions such as lasting marriage to one person and living one's life according to Catholic doctrines.

Though quite a literal and respectable adaption from Greene's book, this is also arguably the root reason for the film's failure to win much of an audience, apart from those with a fair awareness and interest in Catholicism. Unlike some of Greene's other work embracing aspects of espionage mystery and suspense, this film pretty much eschews any thought of embellishing the story with a police procedural. It serves almost solely as a psychological examination of Scobie's inner demons and challenges. Both the narrative and its conclusion can best be described as unrelentingly harsh and cheerless.

Unsurprisingly, as such, it was never a film likely to gather a large audience, despite its its many production virtues.