Review of The Third Man (1949) by Dan H — 30 Mar 2014
An extremely sad film. When American pulp novelist Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) travels to Vienna to visit old friend Harry Lime, he arrives only to learn that Lime was recently hit by a car and died.
After a police major makes insulting comments about Lime, Martins sets out to prove him wrong and almost immediately realizes there is more to the accident than meets the eye, soon finding himself stuck squarely in the middle of two warring sides.
This is the most beautiful Noir I have seen, the dark alleys and corners are fully explored to beautiful effect here, completely filling the screen and Orsen Welles puts on a fine performance as a man many believe to be bad but is much more complex than that.
He makes for a charming and lovable POS, and amazingly one we feel great sympathy for. This is one of the more different and unique noirs you can see since it doesn't follow any of your typical noir story lines.
Definitely a must see, and it's guaranteed that you won't ever forget the name Harry Lime once the film ends.
This review of The Third Man (1949) was written by Dan H on 30 Mar 2014.
The Third Man has generally received very positive reviews.
Was this review helpful?
