The Third Man (1949)
Average Rating: 9.1/10
Reviews Counted: 60
Fresh: 60 | Rotten: 0
This atmospheric thriller is one of the undisputed masterpieces of cinema, and boasts iconic performances from Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles.
Average Rating: 8.2/10
Critic Reviews: 14
Fresh: 14 | Rotten: 0
This atmospheric thriller is one of the undisputed masterpieces of cinema, and boasts iconic performances from Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles.
liked it
Average Rating: 4.3/5
User Ratings: 47,924
Movie Info
In this Cold War spy classic, Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten), a third-rate American pulp novelist, arrives in postwar Vienna, where he has been promised a job by his old friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles). Upon his arrival, Martins discovers that Lime has been killed in a traffic accident, and that his funeral is taking place immediately. At the graveside, Martins meets outwardly affable Major Calloway (Trevor Howard) and actress Anna Schmidt (Alida Valli), who is weeping copiously. When Calloway
Sep 3, 1949 Wide
Nov 30, 1999
Selznick
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Joseph Cotten
Holly Martins -
Alida Valli
Anna Schmidt -
Orson Welles
Harry Lime -
Trevor Howard
Maj. Calloway -
Paul Hörbiger
Porter -
Bernard Lee
Sgt. Paine -
Ernst Deutsch
Baron Kurtz -
Wilfrid Hyde-White
Crabbin -
Siegfried Breuer
Popescu -
Erich Ponto
Dr. Winkel -
Hedwig Bleibtreu
Anna's "Old Woman" -
Nelly Arno
Kurtz's Mother -
Leo Bieber
Barman at Casanova -
Martin Boddey
Man -
Alexis Chesnakov
Brodsky -
Herbeil Halbik
Hansel -
Paul Hardtmuth
Hall porter -
Geoffrey Keen
British Policeman -
-
-
Annie Rosar
Porter's wife -
Jenny Werner
Winkel's Maid -
-
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The Third Man Trailer & Photos
All Critics (63) | Top Critics (15) | Fresh (60) | Rotten (0) | DVD (28)
It transformed the way I looked at the world.
Top CriticWelles gives Harry a mask of irony that turns all moral judgment back on itself. He turns a mass murderer into a wry rogue, and makes his villainy all the more horrifying because we rather like him.
Seen today, The Third Man ... can be appreciated as a prophetic statement on the eventual moral bankruptcy of the one-world euphoria that clouded men's minds immediately after the second 'war to end all wars.'
Top credit must go to Mr. Reed for molding all possible elements into a thriller of superconsequence.
For lovers of film noir, The Third Man is unquestionably a must-see -- one of the masterpieces of a genre that has contained everything from milestone motion pictures to low-budget potboilers.
The Third Man is like the exhausted aftermath of Casablanca.
The movie's verve comes from the abstract use of a jangling zither and from squirting Orson Welles into the plot piece-meal with a tricky, facetious eyedropper.
As powerful and original now as it was in 1949.
One of British cinema's most enduring and atmospheric thrillers. A genuine and endlessly rewatchable classic.
Directors like Reed and Wilder created an environment of spatial and moral confusion in which their pulpy narratives could take on the ethical weight of a Biblical proverb.
Greene's story and screenplay, which he accurately described as "a comic thriller," is a gift that keeps on giving, with patter that's never less than brilliant. [Criterion Blu-ray]
If The Third Man is a tragedy, it isn't just the tragedy of a hobbled city, scribbled with ruins and parsed into zones of occupation that can't communicate and don't cooperate.
As you watch the film, you feel as though the screen is tilted higher, glowering over you as you wince in its devastating presence, which is probably how Martins felt scurrying through the Vienna darkness.
It's a suspense-thriller-romance steeped in Hollywood's best influences and 'gimmicks,' yet it's crafted with enough looming European 'art-house' style to topple Fritz Lang into an existential funk.
This will haunt you.
An iconic film noir that's still fresh despite being familiar.
An undisputed masterpiece, this movie captures the mood of Vienna in post-WWII like no other, and is also a testimony to film as a collaborative art, benefiting from Greene's writing, Reed's direction, and stellar cast with Orson Welles at his scariest
Do herói fragilizado e patético ao fascinante vilão, passando pela fotografia inesquecível, a trilha surpreendente e uma Viena inigualável, o filme é simplesmente perfeito.
The Third Man isn't an eager crowd-pleaser, but it's great. The film is distinctly British, with a wonderfully bizarre zither score by Anton Karas.
Is it perfect? Maybe the answer has more to do with semantics than film craft; it's at least indistinguishable from flawlessness.
A monumental arty thriller of British noir.
This handsomely shot black-and-white thriller hasn't aged one bit. Terrific writing, direction and acting never go out of style.
About as close to a perfect film as you're likely to get.
Audience Reviews for The Third Man
Super Reviewer
Movies Like The Third Man
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- Harry Lime: In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed. They producedd Michaelangelo, da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did they produce? The cuckoo clock.
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- Anna Schmidt: Honest, Sensible Holly martins. Holly. What a silly name!
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- Harry Lime: Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.
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- Harry Lime: In Switzerland, they had brotherly love, and they had 500 years of democracy and peace. And what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.
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Foreign Titles
- Der dritte Mann (DE)
- Le Troisième homme (FR)
Full review at themoviefreakblog.com on 11/28