The Green Cockatoo (1937): Graham Greene Takes Flight
A decade before The Third Man left its indelible mark on Western culture, a lesser known adaptation hit the silver screen.
A decade before The Third Man left its indelible mark on Western culture, a lesser known adaptation hit the silver screen. On the heels of Orient Express (1937), thirty-six year old Graham Greene signed off on his next project: The Green Cockatoo.
Unseen for nearly 50 years, a re-mastered version of The Green Cockatoo was screened at the 2005 New York City Film Festival.
The first thing one notices about The Green Cockatoo is the efficiency of its prologue, deftly imparting both cultural and socio-economic subtext via convincing, natural dialogue. Already, we see Graham Greene’s talent shining through.
Despite the train’s sterile atmosphere, the scene marks the first instance of an Early Noir sensibility, as many of the Film Noir stories of the 1940’s and 50’s involved trains in one way or another.
