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| The
Third Man |
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| The Third Man (1949) is a
British film noir directed by Carol
Reed. The screenplay was written by
novelist Graham Greene. Greene wrote
a novella of the same name in
preparation for the screenplay, and
this was published in 1950. |
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Plot
Synopsis |
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| The story is set in the Austrian
city of Vienna, just after the
Second World War, when it was
divided between the Allied powers of
Britain, France, the USA and the
USSR. The central character is pulp
western |
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| author, Holly Martins, who
is searching for an old friend, Harry Lime, who has offered
him the opportunity to work for him in Vienna. |
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| Details |
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Upon arriving in Vienna,
Holly Martins, an American pulp-novelist, heads to stay with
a friend of his, Harry Lime, who offered him a job. When he
arrives at Lime's apartment, Holly learns that Lime was
killed by a truck while crossing the street the other day.
Shocked, Holly heads to the cemetery to attend Harry's
funeral, where he meets Major Calloway. After the services
end, Calloway, a police officer, gives him a lift to the
hotel, advising him to leave Vienna, as he can do nothing
more than get himself into trouble.
After arriving at the hotel, Holly agrees to speak in front
of a book club and arranges a meeting with a friend of
Lime's. Holly meets the man, Kurtz, in a cafe in the city to
discuss Harry's death. Kurtz shows Holly exactly what
happened when Harry was killed. He says that he and another
friend of Harry's picked him up and brought him over to the
side of the street, where Harry asked them to take care of
Holly and Anna, Harry's girlfriend. Kurtz tells Holly where
Anna works, but advises against investigating.
Holly then heads to Anna's theatre and arranges a meeting
with Anna. During the course of their conversation, Holly
becomes suspicous and wonders if Harry's death was really
accidental. Later, the porter tells Holly that there is no
way Harry could have been alive immediately after getting
hit by the truck due to the way his head was bent and that
it was three men that carried Lime across the street, not
two, as Baron said. Holly tries to get the porter to give
his evidence to the police, but the porter refuses,
eventually getting very upset with Holly and asks him to
leave. |
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Holly walks Anna back to her
apartment, where the police are searching her room. When
they find a forged passport, they leave, taking Anna with
them. Holly then speaks with the other witnesses, but learns
nothing new.
When Anna and Holly arrive at the porter's apartment, they
find that he has been murdered. The crowd around the
building suspects Holly and chases him. Eventually, Holly
gets away and is taken to talk at Crabbin's meeting, after
which he flees from two suspicous looking men and eventually
meets up with Calloway.
Major Calloway advises Holly to leave Vienna and, when Holly
refuses, tells Holly about Harry Lime's racket. Calloway
then reveals that Harry sold diluted penicillin to military
hospitals and subsequently killed or injured many people.
Holly, saddened by this new information, promises to leave
Vienna. As Holly leaves, a Russian officer comes in, asking
for Anna's passport so that they may arrest her.
Holly then heads back to Anna's apartment and tries,
unsuccessfully, to win her back. Leaving her apartment,
Holly hears Anna's cat mew, looks over, and can barely make
out the man in the doorway, the cat rubbing against his
legs. A moment later, a woman across the street opens her
window to yell at Holly, spilling light on to the man in the
doorway -- Harry Lime, alive and well. Harry takes off
around the corner and disappears, prompting Holly to get
Major Calloway, who determines that Harry had escaped to the
sewers via a service entrance; he's been using the sewer
tunnels to move about the city undetected. The police then
dig up Harry's grave, only to find that Joseph Harbin has
been buried in his place. The next day, Holly meets with
Harry in an amusement park. They talk and Harry offers to
bring Holly in on his racket.
Holly goes to the arranged meeting place, but plans to turn
Harry over the police, in exchange for amnesty (and a train
ticket) for Anna. Anna stays behind, and when Harry shows
up, the police chase him down to the sewers, where he is
eventually cornered and opens fire on Sgt. Paine, killing
him. Harry is then shot by Major Calloway, but manages to
drag himself up a staircase and up to a grating. Holly then
takes Sgt. Paine's gun and corners Harry, shooting him.
Holly attends Harry's second funeral. Afterwards, he waits
to speak to Anna, but she simply walks past him. |
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Alternate version |
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| As the original British
release begins, an unnamed narrator (actually the voice of
director Carol Reed) is heard describing post-war Vienna
from the point of view of a racketeer. The version shown in
American theatres replaced this with narration by Holly
Martins. This change was made by David O. Selznick, who did
not think American audiences would relate to the seedy tone
of the original. In addition, eleven minutes were cut.
Today, Reed's original version now appears on American DVDs
and in showings on Turner Classic Movies. (both the
Criterion Collection and Studio Canal releases include a
comparison of the two opening monologues.) |
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| Style |
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| The atmospheric use of black
and white expressionist cinematography (by Robert Krasker),
with harsh lighting and distorted camera angles, is a key
feature of The Third Man. Combined with the unique musical
theme, seedy locations, and acclaimed performances from the
cast, the style evokes the atmosphere of an exhausted,
cynical post-war Vienna at the start of the Cold War. The
film's unusual camera angles, however, weren't always
appreciated. C.A. Lejeune in the Observer described Reed's
"habit of printing his scenes askew, with floors sloping at
a diagonal and close-ups deliriously tilted" as "most
distracting". Reputedly American director William Wyler, a
close friend of Reed's, sent him a spirit level, with a note
saying, "Carol, next time you make a picture, just put it on
top of the camera, will you?". |
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| Score |
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| The distinctive musical score
was composed and played on the zither by Anton Karas. A
single, "The Third Man Theme", released in 1950 (Decca in
UK, London Records in USA) became a best-seller, and later
an LP was released. Before the production came to Vienna,
Karas was an unknown wine bar performer. Reed and Howard
fell in love with Karas' zither after hearing him play
inside a café. Karas agreed to record some of his own
compositions on a reel-to-reel tape machine that Reed set up
in the bedroom of his hotel; one of these was later to
become the Harry Lime Theme and become a popular hit. The
exposure made Karas an international star after the movie
was released. Film critic Roger Ebert wrote, "Has there ever
been a film where the music more perfectly suited the action
than in Carol Reed's 'The Third Man'?" |
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| Awards |
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The film won the 1949 Grand
Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, a British Academy Award
for Best Film, and an Academy Award for Best Black and White
Cinematography in 1950.
The film was also voted the best British film of all time by
the British Film Institute, while in 2004 the magazine Total
Film named it the third greatest British film. The film also
placed 57th on the American Film Institute's list of top
American films, "100 Years... 100 Movies" in 1998, an
accolade which is controversial because the film's only
American connection was its executive co-producer, David O.
Selznick; the other two, Sir Alexander Korda and Carol Reed,
were British. In 2005, viewers of BBC Television's Newsnight
Review voted the film their fourth most favourite of all
time; it was the only film in the top five made prior to
1970.
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| The
Third Man |
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Directed by
Carol Reed
Produced by
Alexander Korda, David O. Selznick
Written by
Graham Greene
Starring
Orson Welles
Joseph Cotten
Alida Valli
Trevor Howard
Wilfrid Hyde-White
Bernard Lee
Music by
Anton Karas
Editing by
Oswald Hafenrichter
Distributed by
British Lion Films (UK) |
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Text source in extracts: |
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| WIKIPEDIA - the free
encyclopedia |
| Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia
with more than 100 languages, where everyone can
contribute with their knowledge |
| de.wikipedia.org |
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| THIRD MAN MUSEUM |
| A 1040 Wien, Pressgasse 25 |
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The "third man private
collection - 3mpc" is a privately run museum
dedicated to the movie classic "The Third Man"
shot in Vienna in 1948.
Ten rooms illustrate the movie's international
success and the daily life in post-war Vienna
showing a wide range of originals and documents.
This a living collection that grows and grows...
Please visit us from time to time on this
website or in the
museum to see what's new.
The museum is a tribute to Graham Greene, Carol
Reed, Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli,
Anton Karas, Trevor Howard and ... Harry Lime! |
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map |
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| further Information about |
| The Third
Man |
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Internet Portal
Betriebsges.m.b.H.
Praterstrasse 33/20
A-1020 Vienna
Tel: +43/01/9580808
Fax: +43/01/9580909
E-Mail: office@citype.com
www.citype.com
FN 200659 m
ATU 50515900 |
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