It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Highly original and entertaining, this film explores the bizarre world of artist Gulley Jimson (Alec Guinness) whom we meet as he is released from jail. He's a scammer and a reprobate, but he's also a great artist who doesn't believe in art. Yet he is compelled to paint.With the help of maybe girl friend (Kay Walsh) they try to track down the paintings sold on the cheap to pay off the debts of his former wife (Renee Houston). The art dealer (Ernest Thesiger) is a crook and has cheated everyone by telling them the paintings are worthless. So Gulley tries to find an art patron who will support him. He finds an older couple of patrons but after they go on holiday, he moves into their apartment and trashes it while he paints a mural.Gulley is always looking for "a big wall" on which to paint his big paintings and finally finds the side of a building about to be demolished. His compulsion is so great, he MUST paint on this wall but has no money, so he "sells" sections of the wall to amateurs who combine to create a fabulous urban mural (to his design). This project seems to assuage his compulsions, but after the wall's destruction he's off to find a new horizon... or is he? This is one of Guinness' great performances. In a comic role with serious undertones, few actors were ever better than Guinness, and he grabs onto this quirky role with great gusto. Indeed, Guinness even wrote the script (based on a novel by Joyce Cary). At age 44, he's totally believable as the grizzled 60-ish artist. The great and underrated Kay Walsh turns in a ferociously funny turn as the friend he owes money to. Walsh's character lives in fury that she has been cheated and short-changed by life. Together, Walsh and Guinness burn up the screen with their acting talent.Co-stars add just the right touch. Houston and Thesiger are old pros. Michael Gough plays the obsessed sculptor. Veronica Turleigh and Robert Coote are fun as the art patrons. Gillian Vaughan is a hoot as the model. May Hallatt is funny as the scrub woman.A special word must be said for Mike Morgan who plays Nosey, the adoring and gangling young man who follows Gulley everywhere. Morgan is just terrific here with just the right blend of awkward youth and that special British eccentric comedic touch. In his late 20s, Morgan died suddenly of meningitis before the film was finished, and several of his scenes were dubbed by another actor.This is a great film.

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.

A truly great classic of film-making and faithfulness to the author's original intentions. The Guiness interpretation of Gully Jimson resonates for anyone who has ever known a slightly mad painter. The production values are splendid. The Bratby paintings are perfectly in keeping with the tone and thrust of the story. Casting for all the supporting roles was great throughout. This is a film that lives on in memory and continues to elicit smiles. I wholeheartedly recommend the film as entertainment at its best. I also applaud the choice made for the music track, it was inspired. You can never again hear that suite without it bringing to mind the running shuffle of Gully Jimson.

I love this movie; it's on my all-time (ever-growing) list of the ones I love to see again and again. Not very surprising, I also loved reading Joyce Cary's wonderful book. However fine a film version of a work of literature, there is always more in the text. One of the glories of this film is how much of Cary's book it brings to full life. I didn't know, until seeing it in someone else's comment here, that "The Horse's Mouth" is only one book of a trilogy about Gulley Jimson. I will seek out the others as soon as possible. To the person whose name i didn't think to write down when reading your comment: Thank you very much.