Alec Guinness plays obsessed artist Gulley Jimson in "The Horse's Mouth," a 1958 film written by Guinness. Gulley is a grizzly-voiced, unkempt, grouchy artist who will paint his vision at all costs. We first see him being released from jail, and then, annoyed by a young man, Nosey (Mike Morgan), who wants to learn at his feet, he attempts to get back into prison.Since the prison doesn't want him, Gulley then returns to what got him into prison in the first place - harassing phone calls to a wealthy man, Hickson (Ernest Thesiger), who was given 18 canvasses by Gulley's ex-wife (Renee Houston) in payment of Gulley's debts to him. Gulley wants the canvasses back because he has a letter from another wealthy man who wants to buy one. But upon going to Hickson's house, Hickson's servant calls the police, and Gulley and his some time friend Dee (Kay Walsh) to whom he owes money have to escape via the kitchen and hijack a cab.Gulley goes to the elegant apartment of the couple (Robert Coote and Veronica Turleigh) who want to buy his painting - a small one, it turns out, for their summer home -- and what does he see but an enormous blank wall. Yes, he decides, that is what I must have for my painting of the raising of Lazurus. The couple leave for Jamaica, and Gulley stays on, commandeering a key from the superintendent. He then starts selling their things in order to buy supplies. The laugh out loud scenes come here, when Michael Gough, a sculptor, arrives and moves in his block of material. Absolutely hilarious.There is a serious undertone to all of this - Gulley Jimson is a man who has given up everything and lives on a houseboat in order to paint. His ideas are unlimited, and throughout the film, he is, in a sense, framing his next canvas."The Horse's Mouth" could be made today, it's just as fresh as it was in 1958. Guinness is sheer perfection as Gulley - nasty, contemptuous of commercialism, completely zeroed in on his vision and his art while he trashes the world around him. And for all that, a serious artist with something to say. The paintings by John Bratby are quirky and look as if someone like Gulley could have done them.It's so sad that the young man who played Nosey died of meningitis during the filming - he was delightful, as is the rest of the cast. Ronald Neame's directing is first-rate.This film is a total triumph.

Alec Guiness is Gulley Jimson, a rabid artist just released from jail. His work is pretty good, according to the consensus, though perhaps not worth as much as he thinks it is. Guiness is one of these rough-hewn artists. You know the type: Villon, Kerouac, Pollack. When they're not deeply immersed in their art, they're always pinching something -- somebody's wallet or somebody's derrière. They're unshaven and ragged and vulgar.An upper-class couple hire him to do a painting in their elegant home while they're away. Guiness decides to do an epic of Lazarus rising from the dead. The work covers an entire wall and is mostly feet of all sorts, old and cramped, or young and fresh. The couple return and are outraged to find their wall covered with huge "trotters." There is also some business about Guiness allowing a sculptor to use the upper story but the block he hauls in is so heavy that it crashes through the floor and so forth.It's not at all slapstick though. It's thoughtfully written and directed, and it deals with the place of the artist in society. Thomas Mann and James Joyce would have appreciated it.And if Guiness heaps wreckage upon the complacent and philistine middle-class, the community treats him and his work with equal contempt. He concocts a scheme to have students pay for his supervision while they paint Noah's Ark on the vast wall of a ruined chapel that is just about to be demolished -- and is, the moment the heroic work is finished.Guiness gives us some hints about appreciating the work we see. He urges his listeners to "feel the bath tub" and "feel the woman." The paintings are by John Bratby, about whom I know nothing, and I'm not an art critic, but I kind of liked the position they occupied between naturalistic "pictures" of things and interpretations of those things that are so stylized as to be unrecognizable. Oh, John Marin is a good example of what I mean. But the paintings themselves are lurid beyond belief, as if the objects had been stripped of their coats and their inner working laid bare. They're attention-getting but pretty ugly. They reminded me of a poem I had to read in high school, something about ox tails hanging in a butcher's window, that turned those rude delicacies into the most revolting articles imaginable. Gag me with a spoon.Anyhow, this may not be Ealing's greatest comedy. Guiness and his harsh voice get a little wearying after a while, and once we get used to his outrageous perfidy we might have to wait for a while between laughs. But the laughs are there, no question. I enjoyed, too, the way the serious questions about art and its place in our social fabric were nicely blended with the more playful stuff.

Ronald Neame is, like Lewis Gilbert, a British film maker who it seems to me has never had the credit due to him, despite producing an impressive body of work, with films such as 'The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie', 'The Card', and 'Tunes Of Glory' to his name.'The Horse's Mouth', made in 1958, was a favourite of mine, and used to play regularly on television, but for some reason or other has not been seen anywhere in years. As soon as I discovered it was on D.V.D., I snapped up a copy. I was a bit fearful of watching though in case my memories did not live up to the reality.I need not have worried. It is absolutely wonderful.Based on a book by Joyce Cary, it stars the brilliant Alec Guinness ( will the person who said he was not one of the world's greatest actors please tell us who they think is better? ) as 'Gulley Jimson', an eccentric artist. Gulley only has to walk past a blank wall for him to be compelled to paint, and often his visions are quite remarkable. He is not a particularly pleasant man, looks as though he has not had a bath in years, is prone to borrowing money ( with no intention of returning it ) and making crank calls to the rich in an effort to secure work. In appearance, he resembles 'Albert Steptoe', right down to the Homburg hat. He lives on a dilapidated house boat, and when let loose in someone's home will think nothing of getting drunk and stealing valuables.If you think all this makes him sound a nasty piece of work, you would be right. But it is a tribute to Guinness that he makes this horrible man not only immensely likable but strangely lovable. The most important thing in his life is art. He uses everyone around him, such as barmaid 'Cokey' ( Kay Walsh ) and stammering youthful admirer 'Nosey' ( Mike Morgan ), but they put up with him because they admire his genius.I thought artists such as Gulley were far fetched, until I read an 'Observer' article about the late Francis Bacon. From all accounts, a brilliant man, but rather dreadful, often prone to drunkenness and openly insulting those he did not like.The plot is episodic; with Gulley involved in one happening after another. I am not going to spoil your enjoyment with detail - watch for yourself. Suffice it to say, it is hilarious, sad and intelligent, with Gulley's observations on art being rather profound. You will feel for him as one of his pictures does not turn out as expected. "Its not the vision I had!", he mutters, echoing those of us who at one point or other in our lives have seen a good idea fail badly.Wonderful supporting cast, particularly Kay Walsh and Renee Houston as Gulley's first wife 'Sal'. Mike Morgan, who plays 'Nosey', sadly died a week before the production ended. He was only eighteen. Guinness was in good company here.Gulley's paintings were by John Bratby, an artist with a distinctive visual style. He never used a brush, preferring instead to squirt tubes of paint onto the canvas. His eye catching pictures are just what you would expect from someone like Gulley.No music was composed specially for the film, but instead classical pieces by Prokofiev were employed, fitting it to a tee.This is a charming, quirky movie, one of a kind. Guinness wrote the script himself, as no-one wanted to make a movie about a painter. One wishes he had done more writing for the cinema. I would say without a doubt that this is his second best movie performance ever, the first being 'Colonel Nicholson' in David Lean's 'Bridge On The River Kwai'.If the hallmark of a good movie is that when it ends, you immediately want to see it again, then 'The Horse's Mouth' qualifies. Be warned though - afterwards you may feel an overwhelming urge to paint the next blank wall you see.

Although most Americans have little knowledge of his work other than Star Wars, Alec Guinness produced an amazing body of work--particularly in the 1940s-1950s--ranging from dramas to quirky comedies. I particularly love his comedies, as they are so well-done and seem so natural and real on the screen--far different from the usual fare from Hollywood.I first saw this movie when I was about 13 or so, and didn't appreciate it very much. Years later, when I became fascinated with Guinness' comedies, I decided to give it another chance. And boy am I glad I did!! The movie concerns the life of an extremely edgy and rather nasty artist. Guinness really plays this up and creates one of the quirkiest and funniest characters I have ever seen. In essence, the man is a rascal that is driven to create his art regardless of what it takes to get it done! What I missed the first time I saw the film were the extremely catchy music and the amazing art created for this movie. I am not the biggest fan of modern art, but the second time i saw the movie I really liked most of the works done for the movie--it just was a darn shame that much of it was destroyed in the course of the movie! In addition to music and art, the performances throughout of all the actors was nearly perfect.Finally, the version of the movie I saw last was from the Criterion Collection. Get this version!!!! It had so much wonderful background information about the actual art, the making of the movie, and interesting background information--such as how they got the musical score WITHOUT having to pay royalties and the incredibly sad tale of a magnificent performance by a young supporting actor that did not live to see the finished product.