The Third Man: Shadows and Secrets in Post-War Vienna

The Third Man: Shadows and Secrets in Post-War Vienna

The fog-drenched, war-scarred streets of Vienna form the perfect backdrop for Carol Reed’s 1949 masterpiece, The Third Man. This isn’t just another thriller; it’s a study of morality in a broken world, where black and white have bled into a thousand shades of gray. The story centers around Joseph Cotten as Holly Martins, a writer of pulp Westerns who arrives in Vienna at the invitation of his friend, Harry Lime. Martins soon finds that Lime is supposedly dead and his death is shrouded in questions. The circumstances surrounding Harry’s demise seem to not add up, sparking Martins’s amateur sleuthing.

The film’s atmosphere is as much a character as any of the actors. Reed uses canted camera angles and stark contrasts to create a sense of unease and paranoia. The rubble-strewn streets and bombed-out buildings are a constant reminder of the recent war and the fractured society it left behind. It is a place where anything can happen and no one can be trusted. The feeling of unease is established early on and never really lets up. This is aided by the use of lighting and shadows which gives the movie a timeless feel.

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The Third Man: Shadows and Secrets in Post-War Vienna

As Martins starts to investigate he encounters a cast of characters who are all trying to conceal something. Alida Valli plays Anna Schmidt, a woman in love with the supposedly dead Lime, whose aloofness and secretive behavior only add to the mystery surrounding her. Trevor Howard as Major Calloway, a British military policeman, acts as a kind of foil to Martins’s naivety, he appears cynical, yet he is the most grounded in the harsh realities of the situation. Then there’s Bernard Lee, who plays Sergeant Paine, a straight-laced character, who often appears at Major Calloway’s side. And of course, there is Orson Welles, who plays the charismatic and elusive Harry Lime. Welles does not appear until almost two thirds of the way through the picture, but he is the film’s central presence. Welles brings with him a magnetic charm and a sinister undertone that makes Lime one of cinema’s most memorable villains. It’s worth noting, Welles’s famous “cuckoo clock” speech isn’t actually in the original script, he wrote it himself. It’s just one example of how the actors made this film what it is.

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The screenplay by Graham Greene is sharp and morally complex, it’s a story where right and wrong are not always clear, and the line between hero and villain can become very blurred. Harry Lime is portrayed as a man who has committed terrible acts, but you can’t help but find him strangely compelling. This is a story that forces the viewer to examine their own sense of right and wrong and it questions whether the end justifies the means. The chase through the sewers is still one of the best ever filmed.

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The film’s score by Anton Karas, dominated by the sound of a zither, is as iconic as the movie itself and creates an atmosphere of suspense and unease, adding to the film’s timeless and almost dreamlike quality. It’s a score that feels like it is coming from the streets, the buildings, and the sewers of Vienna. The Third Man isn’t just a thriller; it is a work of art and a must see for any student of the cinema.

The Third Man is a British production.
Release Date: 1949
Director: Carol Reed
Cast: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard, Bernard Lee, Orson Welles

Head of film reviews at The Viewers Guide with an erudite, insightful, slightly sardonic, deep appreciation for classic cinema. Has a habit of quoting obscure lines from old films in everyday conversation. He keeps a meticulously organized film logbook. He's a bit of a tea snob.