The Third Man [1949]

Carol Reed’s The Third Man isn’t just famous for being a definitive example of film noir, but also for the charismatic presence of Orson Welles as the cynical and delectably amoral antagonist. Further, despite film noirs being, in essence, an American enterprise, a number of great noir movies have been made in other countries as well; case in point – the two Nouvelle Vague masterpieces, Breathless and Shoot the Piano Player. The Third Man, similarly, is a British classic, though it never aimed to be a genre-bending film like its French counterparts. The story, aided by a tremendous background score and an equally captivating cinematography, revolves around an American pulp fiction novelist, who arrives in post-War Vienna to find that his best friend Harry Lime has been accidentally killed. However, the deeper he delves into the apparently simple hit-and-run case, the murkier the situation starts getting, finally culminating into the now legendary climax in the dank and labyrinthine underground sewer. What finally emerges is a heavily atmospheric tale littered with such iconic ingredients as decrepit city, dark alleys, half-truths, black marketers, damsel in distress et al.

Note: My recent review of the film can be found here.

Director: Carol Reed
Genre: Film Noir/Psychological Thriller/Mystery
Language: English
Country: UK