The Third Man (1949)

The Third Man
Directed by Carol Reed
Written by Graham Greene from a story by Greene
1949/UK
Carol Reed’s Production/London Film Productions
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental
#230 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

[box] Calloway: [to Holly Martins] You were born to be murdered.[/box]

It’s films like this that inspired my love for classic movies,  I have seen it so many times that I can hardly write about it.  It retains its ability to excite and surprise from one viewing to the next, perhaps better than any other movie.

Pulp novelist Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) arrives in occupied Vienna broke and in happy expectation of a reunion with his old friend Harry Lime who has offered him a job.  He calls on Harry only to discover that his friend was run over by a car and killed.  The funeral is to take place that very day.

Holly arrives in time for the burial at the cemetery.  There he meets Maj. Calloway (Trevor Howard) for the first time.  He also glimpses three of Harry’s European friends and the beautiful Anna Schmidt (Alida Valli).  Calloway offers Holly a ride into town.  Calloway, a British investigator, had been on Harry’s trail for quite some time.  He claims that Harry was one of the corrupt capital’s worst racketeers, his most notorious crime being robbery of penicillin from military hospitals and selling it back in a worthless, diluted form.  He tells Holly to go back home immediately and even offers him space on a military plane.

Holly, who distrusts policemen, thinks Calloway must be wrong about Harry.  He sets out to prove it when he fortuitously stumbles into a lecturing gig.  Holly’s meetings with the porter in Harry’s building and Harry’s colleagues begin to make him to suspect that the death was a murder.  His growing infatuation with the heart-broken Anna leads him to be drawn further and further into the case.

Holly is in way over his head.  The closer he comes to the truth the greater is his danger. Eventually, he is wanted for the murder of the hotel porter. Anna, a Czech carrying forged identity documents provided by Harry, retains her loyalty to her dead lover despite the increasing possibility that she will be turned over to the Russian military for repatriation to her home country.  Holly must wrestle with his own loyalties before the story is over.  With Orson Welles.

It is impossible to say anything new about this film.  To me it is perfect in every way from the breathtaking chiaroscuro lighting to the oddly fitting zither score.

The Blu-Ray DVD I rented came with an audio commentary by the Reed’s assistant, a continuity girl, and a Welles scholar.  I loved the war stories from the shooting.  Cotten was none too happy to be playing the part of a laughable American bumbler.  This view was shared by David O. Selznik, who cut 8 minutes out of the film and added an opening narration by Cotten for the American release.  I think both men missed the point of Greene’s screenplay.  In the end, Holly Martins is the one character of conscience and with a true morality.  There are also many stories about Welles. who was not about to set foot in any sewer.  See The Third Man before you die.  Preferably more than once.

Robert Krasker won an Academy Award for his awesome cinematography.  The film was also nominated in the categories of Best Director and Best Film Editing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ihlku1aKpRg

Trailer