The Third Man (1949) is a British film noir classic directed by Carol Reed and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles and Trevor Howard.
What is The Third Man all about?
Written by Graham Greene, celebrated for works such as Brighton Rock (1947), The Fallen Idol (1948), and Our Man in Havana (1959), The Third Man tells the story of Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten), an American author of Western pulp novels. Holly arrives in Allied-occupied Vienna, a city divided and crumbling after World War II. He seeks out his childhood friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles), who has recently offered him a job.
However, Holly learns that Harry was killed in a car accident, leaving him devastated. At Harry’s funeral, Holly meets one of Lime’s friends, “Baron” Kurtz, who claims that he and another friend, Popescu, carried Harry to the roadside after the accident. Kurtz also tells Holly that Harry’s dying wish was for him to look after both Holly and Lime’s girlfriend, actress Anna Schmidt (Alida Valli).
As Martins and Anna begin to investigate the incident leading to Harry’s demise, they uncover discrepancies in the accounts of the accident, including the mysterious presence of a “third man” at the scene. The porter at Lime’s apartment building offers to provide Martins with more information, but someone kills him before Holly can meet him again. Suspected by a mob of being involved, Martins narrowly escapes and begins to grasp the dangerous stakes involved in uncovering the truth.
Martins’ search leads him to Major Calloway, who reveals that Lime was a black-market profiteer, stealing and diluting penicillin, which caused untold suffering. Shattered, Martins agrees to leave Vienna, but a chance sighting of Lime near Anna’s apartment forces him to confront the impossible: his friend is alive, having faked his death to evade capture.
Martins faces a moral dilemma as the authorities close in. Should he stay loyal to his friend or expose the man responsible for so much harm? What follows is a gripping exploration of betrayal, love, and justice in a morally fractured city.
Why The Third Man (1949) is a Film Noir Classic
The Third Man is a noir masterpiece that captures the disillusionment of post-war Europe. Graham Greene’s sharp screenplay and Carol Reed’s assured direction bring this world to life with morally complex characters that linger in the mind. Welles’s portrayal of Harry Lime is iconic, his charm masking a chilling amorality. His infamous monologue atop the ferris wheel, where he compares human lives to insignificant dots, epitomizes his detachment and is a devastating critique of wartime opportunism.
What the cinematography of The Third Man (1949) achieves
Robert Krasker’s Oscar-winning cinematography brilliantly captures Vienna’s decaying grandeur using shadow, light, and, most significantly, skewed “Dutch” camera angles. These warped perspectives portray a disorientation and critique of the supposed heroism of its characters.
Inspired by German Expressionist films such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920), the tilted frames visually embody the city’s moral and physical collapse, emphasizing that no one, not even Holly, remains unsullied by its corruption.
Anton Karas’s haunting zither score is equally notable, with the iconic “Harry Lime Theme” setting the tone from the very beginning. This unusual musical choice captures Vienna’s charm and unease, its playful melodies underscoring the darker themes lurking beneath the surface.
Why is The Third Man (1949) still so good all these years later?
At its heart, The Third Man is a tale of betrayal, greed, and the compromises made in times of crisis. It critiques the devastation wrought by unchecked ambition while delving into human frailty. Holly Martins’s naive loyalty and unreciprocated love for Anna add layers of tragedy to a story that is as emotionally evocative as it is thrilling.
Timeless and profoundly influential, The Third Man transcends the genre of film noir. Its razor-sharp dialogue, striking visuals, and unsettling narrative make it, in my opinion, a cornerstone of classic cinema. The movie’s exploration of loyalty and corruption remains just as relevant today as it did in the post-war landscape, solidifying its place as a must-watch for all film lovers.
That concludes our review of The Third Man.
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