The Third Man (B+ or 3/4 stars)
Many critics consider 'The Third Man' (directed by Carol Reed) to be one of the best examples of film noir. Having just seen it, I can understand the praise. That said, while it's clearly a very good movie, perhaps my expectations were a tad high, because I wasn't overwhelmed by the greatness I read about. Box office star Joseph Cotten stars as Holly Martins, a naive American novelist who arrives in Vienna, Austria on the promise of a job from his longtime friend, Harry Lime. Problem is, Lime has just died in a suspicious traffic accident. At Lime's funeral, British sector authority Major Calloway (Trevor Howard) accuses Harry Lime of criminal behavior, which annoys Martins; a loyal friend who decides to stay in Vienna to investigate his good friend's death despite warnings to go home.
Martins questions Lime's associates; a cynical group of black marketeers. And he soon realizes that there are differing accounts of what happened the day of the accident, & that one of the witnesses - the "third man" to remove Harry's body from the street - is missing. With assistance from Anna Schmidt (Italian actress Alida Valli), the mysterious girlfriend of the recently deceased, Martins moves forward with his own investigation until he discovers that Harry's death ... was all an illusion. Lime (Orson Welles) is very much alive and, to the horror of Martins, the apparent mastermind of a horrifying fraud that replaced good penicillin with bad, resulting in death & disease to all; particularly children. Everything culminates in the film's climactic confrontation of Lime & Martins in the dark, dank sewers of Vienna.
'The Third Man' is just an exceedingly well directed, written, acted, shot motion picture; regardless of the genre (film noir, here). The movie's most striking moment occurs with about 38 minutes left when Orson Welles makes his grand entrance; suddenly illuminated in a darkened alcove where he is standing. It's known as one of the most dramatic entrances in movie lore and I would agree that it's up there. Another scene of note is when the shadowy figure of Lime meets Martins at the foot of the Ferris wheel in a creepy, empty amusement park. And the film's final image - a long, unbroken shot of one character passing by another - is memorable, and all the more memorable because of the way it was framed, and what it implies about America vs. Cold War Europe both literally & metaphorically.
Harry Lime is cunning, diabolical, amoral (his greed results in misery/death for countless children who needed the tampered-with penicillin), and yet, Orson Welles' depiction is also charismatic; with a self-mocking grin & a wryness to his voice. It's a great Welles performance; one of his best. Joseph Cotten also impresses as Holly Martins; a man who begins the film as an 'innocent' in Vienna, but learns a number of hard lessons about friendship, loyalty, evil, & justice. And Alida Valli brings a sadness, a hardened edge, but also a softness & a vulnerability as Anna Schmidt. Excellent performances by all.
Robert Krasker's camera captures post-war Vienna in a mood of great despair (rainy streets, grimy sewers, beautiful-but-lonely looking architecture). Krasker utilizes many strange (Dutch) angles for his shots & plays with light/shadows (I'm reminded of the scene with the elderly balloon seller whose shadow towers high against the buildings ... eerie stuff). For all of this, Krasker deservedly won the Best Black-&-White Cinematography Oscar. Another fine component of the film is Anton Karas' cheery musical score which juxtaposes the gloomy images we see throughout. There's something unsettling about that juxtaposition; which is why it works. Murder, mystery, intrigue, smugglers, spies, femme fatales, shadowy undergrounds ... 'The Third Man' has it all. I just wish I was more wowed than I am.
Martins questions Lime's associates; a cynical group of black marketeers. And he soon realizes that there are differing accounts of what happened the day of the accident, & that one of the witnesses - the "third man" to remove Harry's body from the street - is missing. With assistance from Anna Schmidt (Italian actress Alida Valli), the mysterious girlfriend of the recently deceased, Martins moves forward with his own investigation until he discovers that Harry's death ... was all an illusion. Lime (Orson Welles) is very much alive and, to the horror of Martins, the apparent mastermind of a horrifying fraud that replaced good penicillin with bad, resulting in death & disease to all; particularly children. Everything culminates in the film's climactic confrontation of Lime & Martins in the dark, dank sewers of Vienna.
'The Third Man' is just an exceedingly well directed, written, acted, shot motion picture; regardless of the genre (film noir, here). The movie's most striking moment occurs with about 38 minutes left when Orson Welles makes his grand entrance; suddenly illuminated in a darkened alcove where he is standing. It's known as one of the most dramatic entrances in movie lore and I would agree that it's up there. Another scene of note is when the shadowy figure of Lime meets Martins at the foot of the Ferris wheel in a creepy, empty amusement park. And the film's final image - a long, unbroken shot of one character passing by another - is memorable, and all the more memorable because of the way it was framed, and what it implies about America vs. Cold War Europe both literally & metaphorically.
Harry Lime is cunning, diabolical, amoral (his greed results in misery/death for countless children who needed the tampered-with penicillin), and yet, Orson Welles' depiction is also charismatic; with a self-mocking grin & a wryness to his voice. It's a great Welles performance; one of his best. Joseph Cotten also impresses as Holly Martins; a man who begins the film as an 'innocent' in Vienna, but learns a number of hard lessons about friendship, loyalty, evil, & justice. And Alida Valli brings a sadness, a hardened edge, but also a softness & a vulnerability as Anna Schmidt. Excellent performances by all.
Robert Krasker's camera captures post-war Vienna in a mood of great despair (rainy streets, grimy sewers, beautiful-but-lonely looking architecture). Krasker utilizes many strange (Dutch) angles for his shots & plays with light/shadows (I'm reminded of the scene with the elderly balloon seller whose shadow towers high against the buildings ... eerie stuff). For all of this, Krasker deservedly won the Best Black-&-White Cinematography Oscar. Another fine component of the film is Anton Karas' cheery musical score which juxtaposes the gloomy images we see throughout. There's something unsettling about that juxtaposition; which is why it works. Murder, mystery, intrigue, smugglers, spies, femme fatales, shadowy undergrounds ... 'The Third Man' has it all. I just wish I was more wowed than I am.