Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime.
- Won 1 Oscar
- 5 wins & 4 nominations total
- Anna Schmidt
- (as Valli)
- Karl
- (as Paul Hoerbiger)
- Kurtz's Mother
- (uncredited)
- International Patrol A
- (uncredited)
- Soldier
- (uncredited)
- Man Chasing Holly
- (uncredited)
- Casanova Barman
- (uncredited)
- Military Policeman
- (uncredited)
- Russian Military Policeman
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe Vienna Police Dept. has a special unit that is assigned solely to patrol the city's intricate sewer system, as its network of interlocking tunnels make great hiding places for criminals on the run from the law, stolen property, drugs, etc. The "actors" playing police officers in the film were actually off-duty members of that unit.
- GoofsIn the two separate back projection shots of Calloway, Martins and Paine, supposedly traveling in a jeep at night in Vienna, a double-decker London bus can be seen in the background.
- Quotes
Harry Lime: 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.
- Crazy creditsOpening credits prologue: V I E N N A
- Alternate versionsThe UK version features introductory voice-over by the director Carol Reed; in the US version Joseph Cotten provides the voice-over, as his character Holly Martins. The UK version runs 104 minutes, versus the US version at 93 minutes, which was cut by producer David O. Selznick to give the film a tighter pace. Both versions have been released on video in the U.S., but as of today the most common is the longer British cut. A video comparison between the narrations appears on the U.S. Criterion Collection DVD.
- ConnectionsEdited into American Cinema: Film Noir (1995)
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.
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official site
- Languages
- Also known as
- El tercer hombre
- Filming locations
- 8 Schreyvogelgasse, Vienna, Austria(doorway where Harry Lime first appears)
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,067,364
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $13,576
- May 9, 1999
- Gross worldwide
- $1,406,393
- Runtime1 hour 33 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1