The Third Man Movie Review 1949

An American writer of pulp westerns (Cotten) arrives in post-war Vienna to take a job with an old friend, but discovers he has been murdered. Or has he? Based on Graham Greene's mystery, this classic film noir thriller plays on national loyalties during the Cold War. Welles is top-notch as the manipulative Harry Lime, blackmarket drugdealer extraordinare. The underground sewer sequence is not to be missed. With a haunting (sometimes irritating) theme by Anton Karas on unaccompanied zither. Special edition features trailer.

Distribution

Glenn Video Vistas Ltd., 6024 Canby Ave., Ste. 103, Reseda, CA 91335, Phone: (818)881-8110

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 104 minutes.
Originally from British.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Mystery & Suspense, Film Noir, Books to Film: Graham Greene, Spies & Espionage, Writers, Foreign Intrigue, Postwar, Amusement Parks, 4 Bones

Screenplay

Graham Greene

Cast

Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard, Bernard Lee, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Ernst Deutsch, Erich Ponto, Siegfried Breuer, Hedwig Bleibtreu, Paul Hoerbiger, Herbert Halbik, Frederick Schreicker, Jenny Werner, Nelly Arno, Alexis Chesnakov, Leo Bieber, Paul Hardtmuth, Geoffrey Keen, Annie Rosar

Cinematography

Robert Krasker

Director

Carol Reed

Music

Anton Karas

Producer

British Lion, Selznick Pictures, Alexander Korda, Carol Reed, David O. Selznick

Awards

Oscars 1950: B&W Cinematog.; AFI 1998: Top 100; British Acad. 1949: Film; Cannes 1949: Film; Directors Guild 1949: Director (Reed).