Four years after The Third Man, Trevor Howard returned to another Greene adaptation in a role that seems almost a continuation of the stiff upper lip Major Calloway, now given central stage. Howard gives full, tormented life to Harry Scobie, a classic Greene understated anti-hero who, though thoughtful and conscientious, feels burdened by a past tragedy, a difficult marriage and his job as a police commissioner in Sierra Leone that proves a consistent source of moral quandaries. When a series of difficult decisions pit his ethics against his desires, Scobie must answer the question that many of Greene’s protagonists ultimately face: whether there is any way to reconcile his Catholic faith with earthly happiness.