Review of The Third Man (1949) by Theresa J — 04 Nov 2010

The Third Man is a masterpiece, plain and simple, and is one of my very favorite films. Not only that, it is certainly one of the most entertaining film noir dramas ever made, thanks in large part to the acting performances by Joseph Cotten (a personal favorite), Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard whom I find particularly enjoyable.

The plot is as follows...

After arriving in post WWII Vienna, a broke American novelist named Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten), who has been offered a job by his childhood friend Harry Lime, learns that Harry has been killed in a fatal car accident. But after receiving varying accounts of the incident from the witnesses and discovering the presence of a third mysterious stranger, he decides that things are just too coincidental for his friends death to be accidental; unfortunately, the police are convinced that Lime was a murderous racketeer and aren't interested in supporting Holly's cause.

While every acting performance, Carol Reed's direction, and Graham Greene's screenplay are all spot on, in my humble opinion, the standout's are the beautiful cinematography (maybe the best ever) by Robert Krasker and Anton Karas's wonderfully loopy zither score. There is little else I could say about this film; except perhaps, if you haven't yet seen it, watch it - you're in for a treat.

Won 1 Oscar, 2 Nominations - Best Cinematography (WON), Best Director, Best Film Editing.