Review of The Third Man (1949) by Stuart K — 05 Sep 2012

Directed by Carol Reed (Trapeze (1956), Our Man In Havana (1959) and Oliver! (1968)), and written by Graham Greene, The Third Man is an atmospheric British film-noir that makes the most of it's locations and has some good performances, clever camerawork and an amazing score, but it is a hard film to watch and it requires patience, but it pays off.

In Vienna, American writer Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) has come to see his childhood friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles), who has offered Holly a job in Vienna. However, when Holly gets there, he discovers Harry was killed in a traffic accident, after attending Harry's funeral, Holly hears alternating versions of events of how Harry died, one from Harry's friend Baron Kurtz (Ernst Deutsch), and another from Harry's girlfriend Anna (Alida Valli).

But, it soon transpires that Harry has faked his own death, but there are people after him, as Harry was running a racket was stealing penicillin and selling it on the black market. Holly ends up with British Major Calloway (Trevor Howard) trying to find and capture Harry while he's still in Vienna.

It's very atmospheric, and Anton Karras' zither music is almost like a character in itself within the film, when Welles appears, he adds his own inimitable suave charm to the proceedings, but Cotten, (an underrated actor) carries the film well as the bewildered Holly Martins.

This is a film that could only have worked in black and white.