really good video about my favourite late night movie to watch when everyone else has gone to sleep. love the description of the score as something you might hear at a Clown's Funeral.
In my book, The Third Man is one of the greatest movies ever made. Once seen, the originality makes this movie "stick!" The music is so original. It becomes the "conscience" of the film. Americans need to see the movie to get a sense of "post-war Europe." Orson was great, but so was Joseph Cotton and Alida Valli. Seeing it one summer at 12 years of age, the emotions I felt forced me to ask my Mom for another quarter so I could go back to see it again just to figure it out. In my book it is one of the greatest movies ever made! Once seen, never forgotten!!!
A detail about the cinematographer, Robert Krasker, was he was the original DP on David Lean's Great Expectations (1946). Early in the shoot, there were complaints that Krasker was not getting enough contrast onto the screen (too much gray). Lean was so disappointed by the dailies, he had Krasker fired and replaced by Guy Green (who won the Oscar for best cinematography). Bob Krasker was so upset about being fired and loss of reputation, he went to town on The Third Man and cranked up his contrast levels to eleven, proving David Lean wrong.
My favorite film from the time I first saw it in 1965. Later, the U.S. Army assigned me to Berlin, and I saw it with Berliners and German film students. It lost a bit on the dialogue dubbed in German and I realized that the original version with foreign languages untranslated was part of the mystery. It was so powerful in other ways that I don't think the Berlin audience missed anything. In December 1970 I visited Vienna, and it was as cold and damp as the film portrays. The people were warm, and the food was good.
Well dang! This is proof that RU-vid has issues with how it does it's thing! You've been around for years, and I've never heard of this channel until today, thanks to a shout out from Ordinary Things! And I have been actively looking for content like this and RU-vid just pushes the same content creators over and over! So glad I know you exist!! This video is top notch, the opening was perfect! That needs to be on shirt, haha! Your voice is perfect for this subject; I'm usually futzing about with my video games, drawing or cleaning, so when someone has a voice that is easy to listen to it makes everything else I'm doing more enjoyable. I also appreciate how this video is staged outside instead of in a house, haha! I sometimes get distracted with the background and decorations in a the house/room of other RU-vidrs. I appreciate the time you took in making this video!! I'm excited for each video you make! I'm now looking forward to watching this movie again with a whole new perspective! A million thanks!! Would you be willing to look into Laugh Clown, Laugh? 1928, Starring Lon Chaney and Loretta Young. It is still one of the most captivating and beautiful movies I've ever seen that really empathized the beauty and sorrow of unrequited love.
It's amazing the great films that Orson Welles was either in or created, and had difficulty being in or creating them. Despite budget concerns, studio interference or his ability to sometimes just finish a film, Welles left a distinguishable fingerprint on everything he came in contact with. Maybe the fact he strayed from the university trappings in favor of gaining an education roaming foreign countries and mixing with dignitaries gave him the ability to make films with the same intrigue and flavor those places brought him. We'll be lucky to find another personality with as much character and ability as Welles in this era. Personally, he's one of my favorite 3 directors along with Hitchcock and Ford.
Well done. Again you managed to cut between your own commentary, doc footage, and clips from the film, and you cut it all together while presenting us with your admiration for this classic.
I don't normally subscribe to a channel after just one viewing of one's work, but you got me. Absolutely excellent. And personally, I think that "The Third Man" is a much better film than "Casablanca".
Agreed. "Casablanca" is a fun film to watch, but really it's just Bogie (like John Wayne films are just John Wayne). "The Third Man" goes way beyond "Casablanca"; it one of the finest films I've ever seen.
Fir ne, these three films are in a tie as the best movies ever: * The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949) * Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941) * The Searchers (John Ford, 1956) I love those movies. I watch them anytime, anywhere I have the opportunity. Similarly, Wyler's 'Ben-Hur', Hitchcock's 'North by Northwest', and Kubrick's '2001: An Space Odissey' are also huge favorites. I have lost count of how many times I have seen them. Very good video!!👍👏 Subscribed!
Without doubt my favourite film, a perfect ten! In 1987 I was visiting Vienna and had a spare afternoon so went to see a matinee of The Third Man, there were only a dozen people in the cinema, it was a magical experience. My father served in the British army of occupation in 1945-46 and as a child in the 1950/60s I knew real life personalities just like Major Calloway and Sergeant Paine.
I enjoyed your "mini-lecture" on one of my favorite films. Being a very old person, I have time to see it 50 or more times; very often in theaters. I was stationed in Germany in the early 50's, so that lent a certain special tone to my viewings. I am now one of your subscribers and am looking forward to future videos.
This is often recognised as the greatest British film ever made. I’d go further and say it’s one of the greatest films ever made, never mind British. There’s an argument that it is certainly the best Film Noir ever made. Of course, Americans might not like that a non-US film might take that title, I dare say.
Thank you very much for your brilliant analysis of this film, for the catchy title to the video, and your fresh look into a movie that has been talked about for over 74 years and still manages to fascinate viewers to this day...
As you say , it's a movie that repays digging. The profundity of the resurrected imperfect messiah figure is something that interested Greene and reverbs in some of his writing.
I can't remember where I heard this, but someone described this film as the 'anti-Casablanca'. Casablanca is about the U.S. waking up and doing the right thing by getting involved in the war. The Third Man is like a message to the Americans that they don't know what they've gotten themselves into by entering the global power struggle after the war, particularly in Europe.
Wonderful click bait title to this video. Almost perfect in it's cynicism. Channelling Harry Lime perhaps? I hope so. Otherwise I can find no other explanation.
Visit Vienna in midwinter and go to the Central Cemetery to see the settings in the film near the Soviet section. Take a Third Man tour in the dark, not a lot has changed.
I couldn't believe how much I enjoyed that movie when I finally saw it. I think of another film at the same time similar but very different, the shadow version of the 3rd Man … "One, Two, Three"
I think Anna Schmidt was the most poignant and noble character. She remained uncorrupted and uninvolved in the brutal slaughter. An artist who only performs comedy, she bravely walks off, rejecting all the corruption, pain and tragedy, but we know she's doomed. The Soviets will take her; they despise the Czechs, so her future is dark and unknown. Martins seems to me a commentary on the Europeans' view of Americans. No wars occurred there. Martins was boneheaded in his attempts to assert his "rights". He was innocence as stupidity. Anna was innocence as victim. One of the greatest films I've ever seen.
I love this movie. Always have. The atmosphere got me first, as I saw it when very young. Then the music. Later, I loved the story. It builds so slow, but so good. Subtle and mysterious.
Orson had a fantastic radio series in the 50s The Adventures of Harry Lime. It was out of England by Harry Allen Towers. Very well Witten, encompassing the spirit of the movie.
the ending is amazing, but my only criticism there is, what's up with the falling leaves? It's winter, there are no leaves on any of the trees. And they're only falling immediately in front of the camera. Maybe Reed thought that a scene like that required more motion but--and i know this is like criticizing the mona lisa or kane (who do i think I am?)--but i would've preferred no leaves. Otherwise, a 99.9 percent perfect film
11:59 I bought a postcard with the final shot of The Third Man about 15 years before I saw the movie. It did not say what it was from, just the image of him leaning on the cart, the girl, and trees to the horizon. I must have seen this movie two or three dozen times, you notice little things when you watch it over and over. The Third Man is my favorite movie. Fallen Idol is also great
My only objection: the last shot: those trees are denuded, bare, clean as a whistle from leaves and yet leaves fall. I've seen this film numerous times for decades and never noticed that until recently.
This film is definitely one of my favorites too. Just for the hell of it, here are a few random criticisms. These are mostly of the script, though, not the film. In the opening scene, the Porter says he only knows a little English, but he proceeds to lay out the events explaining Lime's absence pretty clearly. The idea of the unexpected death is a clever way to open the story, but the roles that Lime's accomplices play are those of clumsy and amateurish villains. I don't know much about the professionalism of British soldiers, when they were stationed in Vienna - following the war - but it seems unlikely Lime's little troupe could have gotten away with their plan, even if it were it not for Martins, inadvertently helping Calloway. He'd already made good progress, right? It's also a bit of bad planning on the part of Lime; wouldn't he have been better to let things settle down a bit, after his "death", before inviting Martins over to reconnect with him? At the meeting on the bridge, the doctor rolls up on his goofy-looking bicycle, and the three friends of Lime don't make an especially menacing trio. Only Popescu seems like someone you'd want to avoid in a dark alley. The remark about "you'll never be able to teach these Austrians to be good citizens" always struck me as peculiar; Do Austrians have a reputation for lawlessness I should know about? Or did the Romanians have some kind of ongoing feud with the Austrians, for some reason? I always feel slightly short-changed by Anna's reaction when she learns that Lime isn't dead. Wouldn’t that be astonishing news - and cause for incredible joy from her? She reacts as if she's found an earring she lost in the bathroom. I'd even say it's strange how unmoved she is by Lime’s disappearance in the first place; when Martins meets her backstage at the Josefstadt theater, she's practically indifferent. That’s an odd part of the story; why wouldn't Lime have told her of his plan in the first place? - he trusted his male friends, after all. It's hard to believe he would've wanted to ditch her. I've read too many narratives comparing the humble, bumbling American, embodied by Martins' out-of-place character, with the old-world cynicism and sophistication of the Europeans, captured by Anna’s stoicism and the behavior of nearly all the other characters. I just don't get that. Are we Americans really the naive simpletons everyone seems to think? I guess in this film, the answer’s yes. Come to think of it, I think Greene was British, so that might explain it. There’s one other scene that’s always bothered me; when Calloway takes Martins to the bar, when they first meet, there’s a really lousy bit of continuity, with Martins getting punched in one direction but then hitting the ground in the other. Factoid; In the final shot, they had guys up on very high fire department ladders, dropping a few leaves. P.S. These are all just nit-picky things; the story works beautifully and I wouldn’t change a thing.
Austrians were deeply impacted by WW2 and the reverberations can be felt today. There are YT videos about how WW2 changed Austrians in some negative ways. Worth a watch. I'd say that in 1949, Austria was exactly like The Third Man shows it to be, almost like PTSD, with everyone just trying to survive in any way they can. The amorality would have been characteristic like a hangover from the most devastating war of all time.
And to your question: " Are we Americans really the naive simpletons everyone seems to think?" The answer, sadly, would be in the affirmative. That a fraudster like Trump could grift and con so many gullible Americans speaks VOLUMES.
I had the advantage of being in single-digit years in the 1960's. I turned 10 years old at the end of November 1968 So many great movies were being shown on regular commercial TV that was devoid of the Cable Systems. Think of it this way... 'The Jazz Singer' appeared in 1929? (The first 'Talkie') As a child I was able to see 40 years of movies in short order. Can you imagine seeing The Third Man through the eyes of a child? That's why it's called; Movie Magic. As I used my imagination it ran away with me. Stark films of the Cold War Era as well / many in Black and White . 📽️ 📺 I want to thank you for your analysis. Still, seeing certain classic movies through the eyes of a child and comprehending it is an interesting way of viewing it. + Durasaxon + ✝️ One bit of advice? Try to find that moment to SMILE Yes, I truly appreciate your Point of View!
Welles actually spent many years on radio and tv shows of the 60s and 70s claiming that he wrote and directed parts of the film, and the influence of Welles is allover the film. Fallen Idol uses some canted angles, but it's nowhere near in the class of 3rd Man, and even Fallen Idol is a bad aping of Welles' earlier films. Welles' DNA is all over the film, whereas Reed was a solid studio director. He never before nor after the film came within a light year of as great a film. Welles made great films regularly.
Welles never claimed he helped direct The Third Man nor write any dialogue apart from the cuckoo clock speech. Peter Bogdanovich cleared this up several times.
@@TheSnowmanBKK Throughout the 60s and 70s Welles did tons of interviews on his career, on radio and tv, and he often claimed he played a greater role- I saw and heard this many times, and it was common knowledge that this was so. It was only after Welles' death that others started claiming he did not. Here and there, if on the spot, he'd waffle, but it's clear from any look at the works of Welles and reed that 3rd Man is Wellesian. In a similar way the original Planet Of The Apes has been de-Serlinged, even though the sctrpt has Serling's DNA all over it.
Can I get your feedback on pronunciation of Casablanca? it's supposed to Blahnca, but so many say Blanka. But Blahnca is the name of the place. just because some american actors couldn't properly pronounce it doesn't mean we should all fumble it too, does it?
@@macsnafu The movie contains a death. But it turns out the death was faked. So the movie contains a "fake death". Or you could say the moved faked the death that it contains. Faked it's portrayed death. Faked it's death. Yes, the logic is stretched and the phrasing is odd. But I think the video name is intended to be intriguing but not too much of a spoiler. My best guess.
Like in the movies Forbidden Plant and Deliverance, the sound track of The Third Man is inseparable from the movie. Take it away and the movie would feel flat, dull, soulless.
A rather forced, wordy little (fake) history lesson Wells came up with to underscore Lime’s callous self-justification. He actually seems to struggle a bit to keep the moment physically alive - backing away, fiddling with his glove (?) keys (?) - long enough to spit the line out. Doesn’t at all destroy the film for me. Lime is a criminal who would see the world through a distorted, lying lens. And probably no offense intended to Switzerland : )
Terrific job! Not clickbait at all (it's a spoiler if we say why the name of the video suits the movie). Or you can Google "Harry Lime"-an unforgettable, unique character in an unforgettable, unique film. For a similar postwar city location film w the opposite (much more optimistic) tone, also take a look at Roman Holiday.
