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Features: DVD
Cynical pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, black-market opportunist Harry Lime, and thus begins this legendary tale of love, deception, and murder. Thanks to brilliant performances by Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, and Orson Welles; Anton Karas' evocative zither score; Graham Greene's razor-sharp dialogue; and Robert Krasker's haunting deep focus shots, off-kilter angles, and dramatic use of light and shadow, The Third Man, directed by the inimitable Carol Reed, only grows in stature as the years pass.
"The greatest British film ever made." BFI Screen Online
"A monumental arty thriller of British noir." Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
"...great thrills, smart style." James Rocchi, NetFlix
"...one of the great motion pictures of all time." John J. Puccio, DVD Town
"This moody thriller about love & friendship, loyalty & betrayal and honesty and greed is a haunting tale..." Urban Cinefile
Editor's Note
This classic noir mystery, from the team of Carol Reed and Graham Greene, is generally considered to be the best filmwork of both of these estimable talents. THE THIRD MAN features Joseph Cotten as Holly Martins, a pulp novelist who has come to post-WWII Vienna with the promise of work from his friend, Harry Lime (Orson Welles). When he finds that Lime has just been killed in a questionable car accident, he decides to remain in the city to investigate his friend's demise.
Plot Summary
Carol Reed reached the peak of his form with this classic noir, an elegy for American innocence and European elegance. Joseph Cotten, in fine form, stars as unemployed pulp-novelist Holly Martins. When he arrives in post-WWII Vienna on the promise of a job from his old friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles), he finds that Lime has recently died in a dubious car accident. Against the advice of British sector authority Major Calloway (Trevor Howard), who accuses Lime of criminal behavior, the indignant Martins decides to stay to investigate his friend's death. He searches this city of rubble-strewn streets and bombed-out buildings, earnestly questioning Lime's associates, a cynical, war-weary collection of black-market hustlers. At length, he realizes that the stories he's hearing are so full of contradiction, he's getting nowhere. Yet, he's entranced by Lime's beautiful girlfriend, Anna Schmidt (Alida Valli), who, unlike the others, seems to have loved Harry. Calloway finally provides evidence of Harry's treachery, and Martins, despondent, is about to return home when everything changes in a shadowed moment. THE THIRD MAN is a masterpiece of melancholia featuring extraordinary writing, acting, and directing, as well as a classic zither score by Anton Karas. Welles is memorable as the seductive villain, but the true star may be the camera work of Robert Krasker, which transforms Vienna into a coruscating, expressionist nightmare.
| Features | 90-Minute Feature Documentary: Shadowing The Third Man | | A Booklet Featuring Essays By Luc Sante, Charles Drazin, & Phillip Kerr | | A Look At The Untranslated Foreign Dialogue In The Film | | Abridged Recording Of Graham Greene's Treatment, Read By Actor Richard Clarke | | Actor Joseph Cotton's Alternate Opening Voice-Over Narration For The U.S. Version | | Archival Footage & Photos Of Postwar Vienna | | Audio Commentary By Film Scholar Dana Polan | | Audio: English Dolby Digital Mono | | Illustrated Production History, With Rare Behind-The-Scenes Photos & A Press Book | | Interactive Menus | | New, Restored High-Definition Digital Transfer | | Radio Broadcast: The 1951 A Ticket To Tangiers Episode Of The Lives Of Harry Lime Series | | Scene Selection | | Video Introduction By Writer-Director Peter Bogdanovich |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Image |
| Release Date: 5/15/2007 |
| Running Time: 104 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1949 | | Catalog ID: 1690 | | UPC: 00715515023429 | | Number of Discs: 2 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Video: B&W |
Aspect Ratio | | Standard 1.33:1 [4:3] |
| Cast & Crew
| Awards |
Winner (1951) | | | Oscar, Robert Krasker, Best Cinematography, Black-and-White | |
Nominee (1951) | | | Oscar, Carol Reed, Best Director | | | Oscar, Oswald Hafenrichter, Best Film Editing | |
Winner (1950) | | | British Academy Awards, The Third Man, Best British Film | |
Nominee (1950) | | | British Academy Awards, The Third Man, Best Film from any Source | |
Winner (1949) | | | Cannes Film Festival, Carol Reed, Grand Prize of the Festival |
| Memorable Quotes| "In Italy for thirty 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 five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock."----Harry Lime (Orson Welles) |
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| | Professional Reviews | Sight and Sound
"...The film's disenchanted romanticism exerts an irresistible charm. Nearly half a century on, that charm hasn't diminished in the least..." 04/01/1994 p.54-5Los Angeles Times
"...THE THIRD MAN provides superior roles for all its lead actors..." 06/10/1999 p.F10 Chicago Sun-Times
"...One of the greatest of all films, and one of the most entertaining....It is one of the few films every movie lover absolutely must see..." 07/30/1999 p.29 USA Today
"...The greatest of the foreign-based film noir dramas..." 12/03/1999 p.17E Total Film
"...Carol Reed's gripping 1949 thriller was proclaimed as the best British film of all time by the British Film Institute..." 10/01/2000 p.104 Premiere
"Lime is a character of volatile complexity..." 04/01/2004 p.55 Premiere
"Welles could play the most seductive of villains; his amoral, charismatic Harry Lime is one of his most unforgettable." 05/01/2006 p.98 Entertainment Weekly
"[A]n unassailable classic....[Welles'] speech comparing the ruthless Borgia family and the peace-loving Swiss still raises goose bumps." -- Grade: A 05/25/2007 p.69 ReelViews 10 of 10
Many critics consider The Third Man to be the best British post-World War II film noir. There are others (myself included) who believe it to be one of the best-ever examples of film noir to come out of all of Europe. The Third Man has all the right ingredients: an engaging, twisty storyline (written by Graham Greene); one of the most diabolical and charismatic villains ever to grace the screen; crisp, innovative directing (by the underrated Carol Reed); a score (by Anton Karas) that it as unforgettable as it is unconventional; and cinematography (by Robert Krasker) that uses the black-and-white medium to its fullest. Not only is The Third Man a darling of the critics, but it has been embraced with glee by the general populace for more than five decades...For lovers of film noir, The Third Man is unquestionably a must-see - one of the masterpieces of a genre that has contained everything from milestone motion pictures to low-budget potboilers. - James Berardinelli
Chicago Sun-Times 10 of 10
Has there ever been a film where the music more perfectly suited the action than in Carol Reed's "The Third Man''? The score was performed on a zither by Anton Karas, who was playing in a Vienna beerhouse one night when Reed heard him. The sound is jaunty but without joy, like whistling in the dark. It sets the tone; the action begins like an undergraduate lark and then reveals vicious undertones..."The Third Man'' is like the exhausted aftermath of "Casablanca.'' Both have heroes who are American exiles, awash in a world of treachery and black market intrigue...Of all the movies I have seen, this one most completely embodies the romance of going to the movies. I saw it first on a rainy day in a tiny, smoke-filled cinema on the Left Bank in Paris. It told a story of existential loss and betrayal. It was weary and knowing, and its glorious style was an act of defiance against the corrupt world it pictured. - Roger Ebert
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