The Third Man (1949) - Movie Review 

The Third Man is one of many films that should be required viewing for everyone growing up these days. Most folks now have no idea what a good script, good cinematography and a brilliant soundtrack can do when they all come together with great acting.

Everything you point out about its greatness is right to the point. And the last five minutes is my all time favorite cinema moment. Reed was a brilliant director.

This bids fair to be the greatest of all noirs (if not, it's right up there)! So deliberately odd without being awkward in any way, it builds a world which convinces you of the devastation which is any postwar society. Devastation at every level: economic, moral, physical, everything. The relentless determination to survive at all odds, & the ingenuity which implements that, is uncompromisingly portrayed by every performer. So grateful that Reed allowed Welles to write the cuckoo-clock speech for himself! It's a gut-wrencher that delineates Lime's corruption to the bone! 💉

This happens to be my favourite film. My mom was from Vienna so it has a special meaning.

For a dissenting view here's my review from a few years back. " Saw THE THIRD MAN yesterday for only the second time. Last viewing was maybe 35 years ago. For those of you who have not seen the film here is Wiki's synopsis--" The Third Man is a 1949 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene, and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. The film is set in post-World War II Vienna. It centers on Holly Martins (Cotten) an American who is given a job in Vienna by his friend Harry Lime (Welles) but when Holly arrives in Vienna he gets the news that Lime is dead. Martins then meets with Lime's acquaintances in an attempt to investigate what he considers a suspicious death. This is quite a famous film and has received many accolades, including in 1999, the British Film Institute voting The Third Man the greatest British film of all time. In 2017 a poll of 150 actors, directors, writers, producers and critics for Time Out magazine saw it ranked the second best British movie ever. On this film noir site it is almost universally praised. There's no denying the film takes you on an unforgettable trip. The Green story is complex, really making one think about the three main characters. Where do our sympathies lay--with any of them, or none? The acting is uniformly excellent and the dialog is very well written. High contrast cinematography by Robert Krasker on location in post war Vienna is outstanding, with of close-ups, mysterious glistening streets, ubiquitous shadows and intricate sewer labyrinths. This brings me to the two problematic issues. The direction and the soundtrack. IMO the distorted dutch angle compositions are overdone. I realize they give emphasis to a cynical, uneasy post war Vienna, but when there's so many they lose their potency. IMO Welles handled these off kilter camera angles to better advantage than Reed, whom I think was obviously influenced by Orson. And yet there's no denying that The Third Man is a visual treat. The music. Aaah....the famous zither soundtrack by Anton Karas which eventually became a best seller in both England and America. It is certainly an attention grabber in the film, too much so. It is disconcerting at times and way too protruding in two instances when the volume is jacked up. And yet, when the music returns in the truly wonderful last scene, it sounds just about perfect. (And thank heaven Greene relented to Reed and didn't use his preferred happy ending) Don't get me wrong. There is an unmistakable director's stamp on this movie and that I'm always in favor of. Visually it is striking, but is it everything and the kitchen sink striking? Here is a quote from the legendary American critic Manny Farber. "But it bears the usual foreign trademarks (pretentious camera, motorless design, self-conscious involvement with balloon hawker, prostitute, porter, belly dancer, tramp) over-elaborated to the point of being a monsterpiece. It uses such tiresome symbol-images as a door which swings with an irritating rhythm as though if had a will of its own; a tilted camera that leaves you feeling you have seen the film from a fetal position; fiendish composing in Vuillard’s spotty style, so that the screen crawls with patterns, textures, hulking shapes, a figure becoming less important than the moving ladder of shadow passing over it." All this I agree with to some extent, yet the film still stays in my mind. But will it resonate with me a week, a month or a year from now. That I don't know. It reminds me of when I was a kid playing in arcades. There was a game where you rolled a ball and tried to land it in holes that had different scores. If you got a good score you got coupons that you could redeem for gifts. I remember spending a lot of money to get a lot of coupons and excitedly going to redeem them. I would usually get a lighter or a key chain or something like that. I was very excited. Only later, when I got home I realized that I had probably spent $20 to get something worth $2. It was all the intoxicating excitement of the game as it went down. So for now, a few hours after seeing The Third Man, I've got very mixed feelings"

My favourite movie ever. It's superb.

Yes, "The Third Man" is film noir, but its Viennese's background gives it a totally different "feel" from the typical American film noir. I saw it during a summer when I was 12 years old and I needed to go back the next day because I was so intrigued by it. The music, the setting, and the actors and actresses make it one of the greatest movies ever made. There is an odd-ness to the way it was constructed: the music, the setting, the acting. This oddness makes it totally unpredictable! You cannot take your eyes away from this movie as it unfolds itself "in unbelievability." Carol Reed is a complete original!

Such a great movie. I guessed who the third man was going to be immediatly but the movie goes on a while and I forgot all about Welles being in this so it was a nice reveal when the light reveals his face

I think the balloon scene gets a nod in the Bond movie 'The Living Daylights', where the villain holds a fistful of balloons near the ferris wheel.

Your review is spot on. The Third Man film is perfection is black and white.

Great review!

orsons reveal in the doorway is my favourite moment in cinema

It's worth pointing out that, one other great [neo] noir movie - Altman's "The Long Goodbye" (1973) - mirrors the ending of "The Third Man" with its own twist.

It would have to be amongst the best movies ever made. I wonder whether Carol Reed and Orson Welles talked together about film direction when making this. I’m thinking of some films Orson Welles directed especially A Touch of Evil. I can’t think of any other Carol Reed movies that even approach The Third Man although Odd Man Out has some hints that Reed would use in The Third Man. My first time watching The Third Man at about age 12, I remember vividly and now over sixty years later and many viewings, as well as owning a vinyl recording of Karas’ music from the film, a copy of the script with the shooting changes and Greene’s original story it still impresses me.😊

Just watched this for my first time last week. Your review hit the nail on its head. It reminded me of the 1931 Fritz Lang German film, M. The subject matter, the setting, the brilliant use of black and white and shadows, the acting and there is even a balloon salesman! Both films are masterworks of cinema. I watched an interview with Orson Welles by Dick Cavett, and he talked about how he wrote his own character for this film, so his lines came from his own hands rather then given to him. If interested this is a link to the interview, and it's from the beginning that he talks about this role briefly. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-V_yvb8GMfZA.html

Since you obviously have an appreciation of older noir style movies and also for Joseph Cotton, you are probably aware that he was in an earlier and equally engrossing film. I'm referring to 1944's "Gaslight", also starring Charles Boyer and Ingrid Bergman. If, by chance you've not seen it, give it a try. I'm sure you'd love it.

Very straight, careful and informative reviews! I just found out your channel yesterday and subbed. I haven't seen much old classics, but I am thrilled to get into those movies thanks to your wonderful guidance and introductions. I find your voice soothing, too.

The ending is fantastic when you think about it!