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| Index | 347 reviews in total |
213 out of 250 people found the following review useful:
A movie ahead of its time, 26 June 1999
Author:
Michael Torrice (mmt02@mit.edu) from Boston
The Third Man is a movie that looks and feels not like a movie of the
40s, but like a neo-noir of the late 60s/early 70s.
This wonderful example of classic noir is one of the all time greatest
films. It combines amazing visuals, sounds, dialogue, and acting to tell a
thrilling story and comment about the atmosphere after
WWII.
Of all the movies durring the studio era (pre-1960ish), there are three
movies with cinematography that always stick out in my mind: Gregg
Toland's
work in Citizen Kane, Russel Mety's work in Touch of Evil, and Robert
Krasker's work in The Third Man (all starring Orson Welles funny enough).
I
just recently saw a restored 35mm version of The Third Man. The crisp
black
and white visuals of a bombed out Vienna are so breath-taking. Shadows are
everywhere. The unique way Krasker tilts the camera in some shots adding
to
the disorientation of the plot. And who can forget the first close-up of
Welles with the light from an apartment room above splashing onto his
face;
one of the great entrances in movie history (Lime gives his old friend a
smile that only Welles could give).
The cinematography is backed by strong performances by Welles, Cotten,
and italian actress Vali. The writing of Greene is wonderful; you can see
the plot twisting around Cotten tightly. But what makes The Third Man so
great is its historical commentary (well not really historical since it
was
commenting on its own time, but to us it is historical). On one level The
Third Man is a story of betrayal and corruption in a post-war, occupied
Vienna. On the other hand, its giving the audience a glimpse of the mood
of
Europe after the great war. The uncertainty that the Cold War was bringing
is evident through out the film; Cotten is constantly trying to figure out
who to trust. Vienna is on the frontier of the new communist bloc (we even
see the communists infiltrating Vienna trying to bring Vali back to her
native Czechoslavakia). The zither music score combined with the stark
images of bombed out Vienna are reminiscent of the frontier towns of
American Westerns. So The Third Man is not only a wonderful film noir, but
a
unique look at the brief time between WWII and the height of the Cold
War.
114 out of 155 people found the following review useful:
The real mccoy when you want to talk serious screen legends!, 29 March 2002
Author:
Noel Bailey (uds3@hotmail.com) from Longmont: Colorado US
What IS it makes THE THIRD MAN the classic most everyone agrees it is? (And
lets face it, voted no 35 in the top all-time films gives it MORE than just
some passing credibility!) Is it Orson Welles' menace? The whiff of
corruption in occupied post-war Vienna? the cuckoo-clock speech atop the big
wheel? even Anton Karras' zither? Perhaps ALL these things? If however, you
had to nominate just a single influence within the whole production that
elevates it to greatness I suggest that would be Robert Krasker's
cinematography.
The finished product innovatively, was years ahead of its birthright. Time
and time again the viewer is bailed up by stunning camera angles and
back-lighting. The eerie shadows around the deserted streets and of course
the unforgettable first glimpse of Harry Lime (Welles) himself as he skulks
like the rat he is, in the corner of the building, lit in close-up suddenly
from the light in an adjacent apartment. Offhand I cannot think of a
character's more dramatic entrance to a film.
Welles in fact has minimal screen time, though his dark presence and
influence infiltrate proceedings like an insidious disease. Yet somehow his
ultimate demise in the sewers brings into play an incredible sadness and
compassion that has absolutely no right being there. It remains for me one
of my top five film favorites. I have always given it a "10" personally but
hey, to be voted an "8.6" universally is a pretty fair vindication of my
words here.
93 out of 119 people found the following review useful:
Joseph Cotten is Excellent in Revolutionary Film Noir, 21 May 2002
Author:
peanutthegreat from New York
"I never knew the Old Vienna, before the war, with its Strauss Music," opens Carol Reed's The Third Man, and we catch a glimpse of the New Vienna, with its Black Market and its Shady Deals. Joseph Cotten plays cheap novelette author Holly Martins, just arrived in Vienna to meet with long-time friend Harry Lime, who offered him a job. He instead meets with the mysterious facts surrounding the death of Lime, learned bit-by-bit from Lime's friends, a woman named Anna Schmidt, who has problems of her own (played excellently by Valli), and two British officers, Calloway and Paine. Learning, that there is more to death of Lime than there seems to be, Martins begins his investigation for the truth. This film was shot with some of the greatest, most ahead-of-its-time cinematography ever, and it creates mystery and deceit. It is complimented by the excellent use of shadows. The soundtrack is essentially one long song, which plays throughout the film, changing and stopping as the emotion calls for. It is a zither composition by Anton Karas made for the film. This is all topped off by an engrossing storyline, and a great performance by Joseph Cotten, as the ordinary man mixed up in this web of mystery.
91 out of 117 people found the following review useful:
A Flawless Classic, 23 July 2001
Author:
Snow Leopard from Ohio
This is a rare film that is flawless in every respect. It combines great
acting and memorable characters with a fascinating story, taking place in an
interesting setting and adding a creative musical score. "The Third Man" is
remembered for many things - for Orson Welles' wonderful performance in his
appearances as Harry Lime, for its wonderfully appropriate musical score,
and for its nicely conceived plot surprises. Adding to these is Joseph
Cotten's fine portrayal of Holly Martins, which holds the rest of it
together - it is his character who initiates most of the action, and also
through whom we view everything and everyone else.
The story starts, after a nicely done prologue, with Martins arriving in
Vienna, and finding out that his friend Harry is not only dead but is
accused of running a particularly destructive black market racket. Martins
sets out at once to prove his friend's innocence, getting into an immediate
scuffle with the police, and it seems at first to set up a conventional plot
about clearing the name of a friend - but the actual story that follows is
much deeper and much better. It is just right that Martins is an innocent
who writes cheap novels for a living, and he gets a pretty memorable lesson
in fiction vs. reality. There are some great scenes (the Ferris-wheel
confrontation being as good a scene as there is in classic cinema) leading
up to a memorable climactic sequence, and a good supporting cast, with Alida
Valli as Anna being very good in complementing Lime and Martins. The
setting in crumbling post-war Vienna and the distinctive zither score go
very nicely with the story.
This is a fine, flawless classic, and while obviously belonging to an
earlier era, it deserves a look from anyone who appreciates good
movies.
97 out of 137 people found the following review useful:
Atmospheric British thriller, 18 January 2002
Author:
bob the moo
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
American author Holly Martins arrives in Vienna to meet old friend Harry
Lime. On arrival he finds Harry was just killed in an accident and attends
his funeral. The police are happy that his death was an accident and are
also closing crimes by attributing them to him. Martins begins to
investigate the accident and finds out things that lead him to a shocking
discovery that will eventually challenge his values and
friendship.
This is a classic bit of British cinema that owes a lot to the source
material (Graham Green) and the slanted, moody cinematography throughout.
The story is quite straight forward and can be perceived more complicated
than it is. The best bits of the story come early, with Martins
investigating the accident against a backdrop of secrecy and cover-ups, and
later when he confronts Lime briefly on a Ferris wheel. The story is mainly
a story of friendship and morals packed into a mystery setting. The final
shot of the film is really good and gives a realistic (if not happy) end to
the story.
Joseph Cotton was always good around this period and seemed to be on a roll
when he teamed up with Wells. Here he is good as Martin, even if his
character is not as interesting as Harry Lime is. Orson Wells is excellent,
casting a huge shadow (literally!) over the film despite having a very short
time onscreen compare to Cotton. The director and the writer fought the
producer to cast Wells in order to make the film more sellable to the
American audience (the producer wanted Noël Coward) and the film is much
better for their choice. His character hugely lacks morals and, despite
being a small hustler, is almost a demonic figure - most notably in his
speech on the Ferris wheel where he defends his actions to
Martin.
The film is given a great mood of shadows throughout. The city itself is
shown as both beautiful and in ruins and is constantly slanted and shadowy.
The final confrontation in the sewers of Vienna is excellent. The score is
also good - at first it doesn't seem to fit, as it seems out of step with
the mood, but it does work well with the culture that exists in the city at
the time - I can't really explain it better than that but it does
work.
Overall this is a classic. The story may not be enough to support repeat
viewings but the moody, the cinematography and a towering performance by
Wells all make this essentially viewing for film fans.
63 out of 83 people found the following review useful:
Murder, Mystery & Harry Lime, 25 January 2000
Author:
Ron Oliver (revilorest@juno.com) from Forest Ranch, CA
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Post-war Vienna. A dangerous city, full of intrigue, crime & sudden
death. Notorious American racketeer Harry Lime starts to cross a
street. There is an accident and he is killed instantly. Or is he? His
body is carried to the sidewalk by two friends. Or does another man
assist them? If so, who is THE THIRD MAN and what does he know about
Lime's suspicious death?
Such is the puzzle at the beginning of what many consider to be the
greatest film ever made. Its glories are so obvious that it is almost
futile to pick out any for observation: the marvelous sewer chase, the
balloon man, the little boy with the ball, the giant wheel, the cuckoo
clock speech & the long closing walk across the cemetery. All of these
linger in the mind, becoming permanent residents of our cinematic
subconscious.
The entire cast is excellent: Joseph Cotton as Lime's American friend
trying to piece together what has happened; Trevor Howard as the
stalwart British Major of Police; gorgeous Valli as Harry's faithful
lover; Bernard Lee as the tragic Police Sergeant; Wilfrid Hyde-White as
a dithering English cultural attaché. And then there's Orson Welles...
The character of Harry Lime, alive or dead, on-screen or not, is one of
cinema's most fascinating villains. Charming & deadly as any cobra, he
attracts & repels at the same moment. It is interesting to note that
BBC Radio resurrected the character for the series 'The Lives of Harry
Lime' very shortly after the film's release. Harry was not allowed to
stay in his grave for long...
Three more items of note: (1) The cinematography is first-rate, making
Vienna by night look almost lunar. (2) Orson Welles' first appearance
on screen is a real dandy. (3) Above & around & through everything is
the famous zither music of Anton Karas, which becomes like a Greek
Chorus, commenting on the action. Its complete silence during the sewer
chase only underscores the starkness of the sequence.
68 out of 95 people found the following review useful:
Four men on a bridge, 13 October 2004
Author:
jotix100 from New York
A great deal has been said about "The Third Man" by contributors to
this forum. Having seen the restored copy that was shown at the Film
Forum, recently, I could not resist watching this masterpiece once more
when it was shown by TCM, the other night.
This movie owes a debt of gratitude to Graham Greene, a writer who had
the most developed sense of intrigue among his contemporaries and one
of the best writers of the last century. It also helped that a great
director, Carol Reed, brought it to the screen. Mr. Reed was a director
who had an eye for detail, as he demonstrates here, as well as in the
rest of the body of work he left for us to enjoy.
The screen play is faithful to the original novel. If to all of the
other elements we add the fabulous cinematography of Robert Krasker,
the result has to be the masterpiece we see today. Never before has a
city taken center stage in the development of the story that is
presented here. Mr. Krasker's wonderful night vision of this city
enhances the story as we are taken along for a fantastic trip of the
post war Vienna of 1949.
The casting of this film is amazing. Never had so many excellent actors
been thrown together in a film, as it is the case as with this picture.
Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard, Orson Welles, Bernard Lee,
Ernst Deutsch, Paul Horbiger, Erich Ponto and Wilfred Hyde White are
splendid in their roles. It is hard to imagine these characters played
by other actors.
Orson Welles has perhaps the best part, even though his time before the
camera is short. This must have been one of the best roles in which
Welles appeared. Of course, there are so many others, but his Harry
Lime is an original and could have fitted perfectly in one of his own
films.
The music by Anton Karas is still haunting, with the exception of a few
times at the beginning of a couple of scenes, when it startles the
viewer and actually doesn't add anything to what we are about to see.
This film will live forever.
50 out of 69 people found the following review useful:
"The Third Man" may be the greatest film made in Britain since World War II…, 20 May 2005
Author:
ironside (robertfrangie@hotmail.com) from Mexico
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
"The Third Man" is a flawless film of intrigue and suspense, a summit
of perfection within the genre… It is one of the most literate
thrillers ever made… It is superb1y acted by an ensemble working in an
understated, effortless style… Its cinematography includes some of the
best black-and-white work ever done… Its score of haunting zither music
is still remembered, instantly familiar to anyone who ever saw the
film, and now thorough1y identified with most people's impressions of
Vienna… Finally, the direction by Carol Reed is exemplary… Rarely has a
motion picture represented the collaboration of so many exceptional
talents... "The Third Man" may be the greatest film made in Britain
since World War II…
The night city terrain of "The Third Man" is unique: occupied postwar
Vienna, baroque, bombed-out, decadent, patrolled by Jeeps containing
representatives of the four occupying powers, an American, an
Englishman, a Frenchman, and a Russian…
Corrupt, world-weary people hang about its fringes: the overly suave
Rumanian, Popescu; the frayed violinist, Baron Kurtz; the atheistic
collector of Catholic antiquities, Dr. Winkel; Crabbit, the tired head
of the Anglo Cultural Center; and Anna Schmidt, the Czechoslovakian
girl friend of Harry Lime, an obscure actress with forged papers…
Moving among them are three extraordinary principals, Holly Martins, a
typical Greene creation; a hack American writer; a used- up
second-rater; Colonel Calloway, a Scotland Yard type, chief of British
Military Police; and Harry Lime (WeIles), the corrupt two-bit
racketeer, a fully immoral, totally unreachable villain…
These characters wander through rain-slick night streets, in and out of
shabby cafés, over the rubble of bombed-out buildings, even into a
terrain vague dominated by a huge Ferris wheel…
The Vienna of "The Third Man" is a vast city that seems empty… Its
streets are always damp, and water rushes through a system of
sweet-smelling sewers underneath… It is a world of slinking cats and
biting parrots, of people taking advantage of each other without pity…
"The Third Man" meets the test of complexity… The characters interact,
their stories conflict: A man who is supposed to be dead turns up
alive, there is a question of whether two men or a "third man" carried
off Lime's "body," there are conspiracies, deceits, and double crosses…
Reed owes debts to Fritz Long for some of his ideas: the geometrical
shots, the montage of evidence, Welles' whistling, etc., but Reed has
his own original visual style, particularly his use of a slightly
tilted camera to produce so-called "Chinese angles," employed to
project danger, foreboding, a twisted universe… He is also capable of
providing suspense in the tradition of Hitchcock…
"The Third Man" is unique in the genre for its realism… Despite the
complexities of plot, the characters are understandable, dimensional,
emotionally genuine—a tribute to the fine ensemble playing and special,
low-keyed acting style that is the cinematic equivalent of Graham
Greene's writing…
Carol Reed was knighted for his excellence as a British filmmaker, and
for a body of work that is notable for its good taste… It is this
taste, of course, that works so well in "The Third Man," but which has
destroyed some of his other films, such as "Our Man in Havana," which
require a certain amount of excess to make them work…
43 out of 59 people found the following review useful:
Haunting and Poetic; A True Masterpiece..., 27 September 2003
Author:
MovieAddict2013 from UK
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Carol Reed's "The Third Man" strikes all the right cords, establishing itself on so many different levels that it almost becomes untouchable. It has an underlying tone of darkness that not only thrills but chills. It grabs the viewer from the start and never lets go. It opens with Anton Karas' startling zither music and quickly propels the viewer into a world of evil and lies. The tale is familiar to any film lovers: A pulp Western writer named Holly Martin (Joseph Cotten) is invited to post-war Vienna by an old friend of his, Harry Lime (Orson Welles). The city has been divided into American, British, French and Russian zones. The city exists as a shattered remnant of the past - haunting and horrifying, dark and mysterious. Upon his arrival, Holly discovers to his horror that his old college pal is dead - hit by a car in the middle of a street. But for Holly, the circumstances don't add up - everyone involved in the accident was related in some way or another to Harry. So Holly searches for clues, much to the chagrin of the British officer Calloway (Trevor Howard), whose name is misused as Callohan by Holly many times throughout the film. ("It's 'Calloway,' Mr. Martin, I'm not Irish.") Holly Martin does begin to stumble upon some vital clues as to the real story behind Lime's death - and finds out more than he bargained for. Lime's old girlfriend is a stage actress. ("Always comedy.") She accompanies Holly throughout the film, and we expect an underlying romance to blossom, but yet in the end it does not - one of the many surprises of the film. I suppose it would be a sin for me to give away how Harry Lime reappears, or even give away the fact that he does, for that matter (though by now I am sure you realize Orson Welles is in this movie and therefore turns out to be alive). But for those who have seen the film, we all remember that terrific scene where the cat meows, and suddenly he appears, an evil smirk on his face like a child who has gotten away with the cookie from the jar. And then the ferris wheel scene, and the chase through the sewers that no doubt helped win the film an Oscar for cinematography. These are all some of the most memorable of film scenes. The director of "The Third Man," Carol Reed, stumbled upon the film's musician, Anton Karas, one night in a trashy bar in Vienna. It is no wonder that out of all his candidates he chose Karas - the film's tune is literally the most perfect example of matching harmony between a film and its music I have ever seen (although "JAWS" is up there with it). To go into the music is pointless - it must simply be heard in synchronism with the film for you to understand where I am coming from. When I think of film noir, "D.O.A." (1949) and "The Third Man" (1949) are the first two films that come to mind. Both accomplish what they set out to do, but "The Third Man" exceeds even farther than the former - it is haunting and almost poetically vibrant in the way it displays its story and the outcome of its characters. It is a film that will be around for years and years. "Citizen Kane" is often thought of as the greatest American motion picture of all time. But if I had to choose between the two, I would most likely choose "The Third Man." It's just my opinion, of course, and many may not agree, but as far as I see, "The Third Man" beats "Citizen Kane" - for me - on more levels than one. Welles' "Citizen Kane" (1941) was an artistic film that rarely used close-ups. It would almost stand back from the scenes and let the viewer focus on what he or she wanted to focus on. "The Third Man" has many close-ups. I do not take this as a director trying to give the audience what he wants them to see, but rather a director in touch with his feelings and ideas. Director Carol Reed knows just how to evoke characters' feelings from scenes and close-up shots. The camera tilts at awkward angles more often than not. The more and more paranoid and afraid our hero becomes the more and more intense the close-ups and angles. There is some haunting material in "The Third Man," some material the most novice of filmgoers might not expect. And the music and direction only makes it all the more terrifying and haunting. This is a film that you must witness to believe. 5/5.
58 out of 94 people found the following review useful:
the best of all time, 27 October 1998
Author:
matt hintze from california
Unrelenting fascination is what I have every time I watch this movie. It never seems old. It's in my mind, haunting me, with its unearthly music and its dark, oblique photography. And that great Orson Welles' speech, and also the best entrance in movie history to go along with the best exit in movie history. It couldn't be better. I can't even express how I feel in words. Watch it again and again, and you'll be dazed!
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