Review of The Third Man (1949) by Ricardo O — 07 Sep 2010

For Carol Reed's followup to The Fallen Idol, he teams up again with author Grahame Greene to adapt one of his stories, The Third Man. The Third Man is a classic noir set in bombed-out, post-war Vienna where a pulp novelist by the name of Holly Martins arrives to be guest to his childhood friend Harry Lime, only to find out that he was just recently killed. After investigating some of the people closest to Lime and those around his death he begins to develop a conspiracy theory after learning of a so called "third man" present at the time of Harry's death and begins to suspect that he was not accidentally killed but murdered. The whole time he is trying to solve this case he is constantly being interfered by the investigating British office Major Calloway as well as falling head-over-heels for Harry's grief-stricken, Anna.

The Third Man is incredibly photographed by the legendary Robert Krasker, who worked on many of Reed's other works. It is full of so many crooked angles and great use of light especially the famous shot where Orson Welles' character is first shown and the final chase through the sewers. Just incredible cinematography, very much deserving of the Oscar it won for the work of Robert Krasker. Carol Reed delivers his best directed film. All the actors do a fantastic job. Joseph Cotten is really good as the pulp writer Holly Martins who tries to solve the case of Harry Lime's death. Trevor Howard gives one of his signature roles as the British officer. Alida Valli is also good as the femme fatale of the film. But most of all the performance that highlights the film most is that of Orson Welles who gives one of the shortest and most memorable performances ever put to film. He is only in three scenes and all of his lines being in the second scene he's in where Martins and Lime have their conversation on the ferris wheel and when Welles gives one of the most memorable lines of all time. The last thing to note is the famous zither score of Anton Karas. It is cynical and somewhat upbeat even a film that is as dark as this. One of the best music scores in a film.

The Third Man is one of the most perfect films ever made for all the reasons I have previously stated. It works on every level. It is intelligent, beautifully shot, wonderfully directed and acted and full of so many great moments. A highly recommended film for all kinds of fans of classic movies especially those of the film noir genre.

"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".

10/10.