The Third Man (1949)

Director: Carol Reed
Starring: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles

Synopsis:
An American author travels to Vienna to take up a business offer from an old friend. When he arrives, he learns that his friend is dead and comes under intense scrutiny from the police. There was more to his friend than he thought and as he tries to play amateur detective, things stand to get much worse for him.

Impressions:
It's no doubt been said time and time and time again that though Orson Welles is present in only a small portion of the overall screentime, he positively steals the show as Harry Lime. You could almost argue that he hijacks the movie. To be fair, Joseph Cotten does a good job as the hapless Holly Martins, a man who thinks he can play hero but is totally out of his depth. The atmosphere is great. There's something about Europe in the immediate aftermath of WWII with all the Allied forces stationed there with their tenuous grasp on a devastated land.

Besides the performances and atmosphere, I also want to give a nod to the score by Anton Karas. There's something dissonant about the bouncy strumming of the zither that fits. In fact, the theme is playing in my head right now.

If you like a good mystery, postwar Europe and Orson Welles' scene-stealing, I highly recommend this film.

Rating:
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