The Third Man

1949

1h 45m

IMDb RATING

7.9/10

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10 Videos

99+ Images

Thriller

Mystery

In postwar Vienna, Austria, Holly Martins, a writer of pulp Westerns, arrives penniless as a guest of his childhood chum Harry Lime, only to learn he has died. Martins develops a conspiracy theory after learning of a "third man" present at the time of Harry's death, running into interference from British officer Major Calloway, and falling head-over-heels for Harry's grief-stricken lover, Anna.

Directors

Carol Reed

Writers

Graham Greene(screenplay by)

Graham Greene(book by)

Stars

Joseph Cotten

Alida Valli

Trevor Howard

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Videos10

Photos151

Top cast

Holly Martins

Anna Schmidt

Major Calloway

Harry Lime

Karl the Porter

'Baron' Kurtz

Dr. Winkel

Popescu

Anna's Landlady

Sergeant Paine

Crabbin

Col. Brodsky the Russian Liaison Officer (uncredited)

Thomas Gallagher

Taxi Driver (uncredited)

Herbert Halbik

Hänsel the Little Boy with Ball (uncredited)

Hannah Norbert

Actress at Josefstadt Theater (uncredited)

Eric Pohlmann

Waiter at Smolka's (uncredited)

Carol Reed

UK Version's Opening Narrator (uncredited)

Annie Rosar

The Porter's Wife (uncredited)

Directors

Carol Reed

Writers

Graham Greene(screenplay by)

Graham Greene(book by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Review

Featured review

Holly Martens (Joseph Cotten) receives a job offer from his friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles) in postwar occupied Vienna. He arrives there only to find that Lime is dead and every witness has a different story. Being a pulp writer, Holly thinks he can solve the mystery. But this is a Graham Greene story, and the mystery is not just a whodunit but an exploration of evil. Tangling with a nihilistic band of black marketers exploiting the corruption and ruin of a great city after the war, Holly is told that he is in way over his head. The movie has many unusual touches. Expressionist camerawork increases the feeling of dread. The traditional orchestral accompaniment is eliminated, replaced by a single folk musician playing an eerie tune on a zither. Several scenes of the movie are in un-subtitled Austrian-German, leaving the audience feeling as bewildered as Holly as he tries to communicate with the locals. Holly's amateur sleuthing is frequently comic, in a story that is deadly serious. One of the masterpieces of noir cinema.

CharlesTheBold18 Feb, 2017