The Third Man (1949)

Director:

Carol Reed

Writers:

Graham Greene (story)
Graham Greene (screenplay)

Release Date:

3 September 1949 (UK)

Genre:

Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Carol Reed's Classic Thriller

Plot:

Arriving in Vienna, Holly Martins learns that his friend Harry Lime, who has invited him, recently died in a car accident.

Plot Keywords:

Vienna Austria | Military Occupation | Shot To Death | Car Accident | Cuckoo Clock

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Joseph Cotten	...	Holly Martins
Alida Valli	...	Anna Schmidt (as Valli)
Orson Welles	...	Harry Lime
Trevor Howard	...	Major Calloway
Bernard Lee	...	Sergeant Paine
Paul Hörbiger	...	Harry's Porter (as Paul Hoerbiger)
Ernst Deutsch	...	'Baron' Kurtz
Siegfried Breuer	...	Popescu
Erich Ponto	...	Dr. Winkel
Wilfrid Hyde-White	...	Crabbin
Hedwig Bleibtreu	...	Anna's Old Landlady

Also Known As:

The 3rd Man (USA) (poster title)

Runtime:

104 min | USA:93 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German | Russian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Netherlands:6 (DVD rating) | Iceland:12 | South Korea:15 (2003) | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:11 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #14125) | West Germany:12 | New Zealand:G

Filming Locations:

Isleworth, Middlesex, England, UK

Company:

London Film Productions

Trivia:

Bernard Lee was second choice for Sgt. Paine. The actor who was first choice was not hired because of billing issues.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Calloway and the police stand waiting for Harry to arrive at the station, an elderly balloon man tries to sell them a balloon. His balloons have designs printed on them. Calloway has the Seargant buy one to get rid of the old man but the balloon has no printing on it as the shot of the police was filmed later in London.

Quotes:

Harry Lime: Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. So long Holly.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kiss Me Again (2006)

Soundtrack:

The Third Man Theme

A movie ahead of its time

The Third Man is a movie that looks and feels not like a movie of the 40s, but like a neo-noir of the late 60s/early 70s. This wonderful example of classic noir is one of the all time greatest films. It combines amazing visuals, sounds, dialogue, and acting to tell a thrilling story and comment about the atmosphere after WWII.

Of all the movies durring the studio era (pre-1960ish), there are three movies with cinematography that always stick out in my mind: Gregg Toland's work in Citizen Kane, Russel Mety's work in Touch of Evil, and Robert Krasker's work in The Third Man (all starring Orson Welles funny enough). I just recently saw a restored 35mm version of The Third Man. The crisp black and white visuals of a bombed out Vienna are so breath-taking. Shadows are everywhere. The unique way Krasker tilts the camera in some shots adding to the disorientation of the plot. And who can forget the first close-up of Welles with the light from an apartment room above splashing onto his face; one of the great entrances in movie history (Lime gives his old friend a smile that only Welles could give).

The cinematography is backed by strong performances by Welles, Cotten, and italian actress Vali. The writing of Greene is wonderful; you can see the plot twisting around Cotten tightly. But what makes The Third Man so great is its historical commentary (well not really historical since it was commenting on its own time, but to us it is historical). On one level The Third Man is a story of betrayal and corruption in a post-war, occupied Vienna. On the other hand, its giving the audience a glimpse of the mood of Europe after the great war. The uncertainty that the Cold War was bringing is evident through out the film; Cotten is constantly trying to figure out who to trust. Vienna is on the frontier of the new communist bloc (we even see the communists infiltrating Vienna trying to bring Vali back to her native Czechoslavakia). The zither music score combined with the stark images of bombed out Vienna are reminiscent of the frontier towns of American Westerns. So The Third Man is not only a wonderful film noir, but a unique look at the brief time between WWII and the height of the Cold War.