Rating: 
Summary: No wonder it tops the British Best 100 list
Review: It was with great anticipation that I viewed The Third Man recently. I had last seen it nearly 25 years earlier. At the earlier viewing I was impressed with the atmospheric treatment of Vienna and the mystery surrounding Joseph Cotton's search for the truth about his friend Harry (Orson Wells). However, though I then thought of it as a very fine movie, I did not think it would rank in my top 20. Now I see what I missed as a younger person. I can also see why this film would rank as number one on a British list of greatest films of the 20th century.The film is a surreal examination of the tension between loyalty, love, and friendship on the one hand, and truth and justice on the other. The Viennese are suffused with the cynicism of a destroyed continent and damaged culture. The British know only about the truth and justice side of the equation. The American writer of simple westerns still is naïve enough to care about friendship and truth, and follows both wherever they lead. At the same time, Carol Reed scarcely shoots a scene in which there are right angles. Nearly everything is tilted. Close-ups of faces exaggerate their features. The black and white of the film emphasizes the shadowy nature of the story and its moral underpinnings. At first Holly Martins (Cotton) thinks he is helping his best friend, Harry Lime (Wells). At the same time he becomes Harry's rival for the woman, Anna. When Harry realizes that Holly has discovered his true evil scheme, Harry has a chance to murder Holly and make it look like an accident. What stops him? Friendship? And why does Harry accept Holly's invitation to meet? In the penultimate scene in the underground sewer tunnels, does Holly fire the final and fatal shot, or does Harry kill himself? This magnificently filmed and wonderfully acted masterpiece has remained in my mind for days after seeing it. If you are a lover of cinema and not merely of movies, please get this classic. It richly deserves its reputation. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A Masterpiece of Suspense
Review: Anyone who has net yet seen this cinematic masterpiece is in for a rare treat. "The Third Man" is both a brilliant achievement from the standpoint of superb black and white photography, with an Oscar being won in that category by cameraman Robert Krasker,and in dramatic storytelling with British fiction great Graham Greene delivering the premier screenplay of his notable career. The film captures the dark and suspicious Vienna underworld by night during the black market and rationing period following World War Two. American Holly Martens, played with an appropriate bumbling innocence by normally suave Joseph Cotten, leaves his middle class existence as a pulp fiction writer of westerns to fly to Vienna after an invitation from his longstanding friend, Harry Lime, played with a colorful ruthlessness by Orson Welles, to join him in a business enterprise. The film's first shock occurs at the beginning of "The Third Man," when Cotten is informed on arrival that Welles has been killed after being accidentally hit by a car. Cotten is suspicious from the beginning. His skepticism accelerates after talking to Welles' girlfriend, played with a sexy nonchalance by Alida Valli. Eventually he learns that Welles is very much alive. His anything but surefooted detective activities cause concern for British Army captain Trevor Howard, who fears that Cotten will be killed by Welles or another operative in his syndicate, which specializes in stealing penicillin, dilluting it, then selling it at enormous profits to hospitals. "The Third Man" exudes effortless suspense from the opening scene up to the film's dramatic end. British director Carol Reed was at the peak of his career when he did "The Third Man." Once your appetite has been sufficently enhanced by this film, make sure to also view two other Reed classics of the period, "Odd Man Out" and "The Fallen Idol." William Hare
Rating: 
Summary: Good but not great
Review: Joseph cotton goes to Vienna to work with his childhood Friend, Orson Welles. As he gets there he learns that his friend died hit by a car. As the story develops, he realizes that all the people on the scene of the "accident" were friends of Orson Welles. He starts wondering if the "accident" was not a murder. The story is set in downtown vienna, in post world war 2, the photography is great, the darkness of the scenes and the numerous twist in the movie make it a descent thriller. It is not great for two main reasons to my eyes. First the music. Ok the music is good but is not at all suited for the story. It's a happy music that does not fit the suspensful feeling of the movie. So whenever there's a scene with suspense, the music comes on and it actually relaxes you and takes away the suspense from the scene. Scores are very important in movies to set the mood of a scene. Usually, music adds to the suspense of a movie, and even creates suspense in scenes that would just be a little chilling sometimes. In this movie, it does the opposite. I do love the music, but it should have been used for a comedy or a lighter movie. The second disappointment of the movie was Orson Welles. I'm a big fan of his and his acting always dazzles me, it does so in the movie. However he does not appear on screen after 1 hours and 20 minutes into the movie, we barely see him for 10 minutes if that, and he barely talks. I enjoy the darkness of his character but wish that he had been on the screen more often. Based on the story it could not have been possible really, but i really expected, before watching it, that he would have a leading role. He plays the leading character since the whole story is based around him, but he is not a leading actor. I think the movie drags on a little and there are some scenes that really add nothing to the mood or the story, but overall it is good and worth watching once.
Rating:
Summary: As good as ever
Review: This movie is a personal favorite, the DVD version is better than the Laser Disk, and some 22,000 'clean ups' were done on the source material. Quality is very good, Criterion have done an excellent job, there are also many extras, all of which are very interesting. For those of you who like a mystery, this is the tops. From the begining scenes you are engrossed in this dark story. The acting is simply superb, conveying this sense of foreboding. Camera work, again, superb. Joseph Cotton plays Holly Martins, an out of work western author, who arrives in Vienna to work for his old friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles). But Lime is dead, under slightly strange conditions, conditions which get more confusing as the movie progresses. Martins follows the clues, not helped by Major Calloway (Trevor Howard), the Britsh Military Policeman for the British sector of Vienna. Martins struggles on, meets Harry Limes girl friend Anna Schmidt (Alida Valli). After a time Martins begins to trust Major Calloway, and vice-versa, and so the story continues. You may even recognise Sergeant Paine (Bernard Lee) who was later to become 'M' in the James Bond movies. Throughout this movie the music is played by Anton Karas on the Zither. The music is hypnotic and forceful. Karas had a major hit with 'The Harry Lime' theme, and there is a clip of him playing it. This movie is great, everything went well, wonderfully directed, acted, photographed. If you haven't seen it please do.
Rating:
Summary: A Genuinely Great Film
Review: Filmed in post-war Vienna, "The Third Man" is filled with an atmosphere that can probably never be captured again. Carol Read's directing (evidently much influenced by the work of Orson Welles) is superbly coupled to Robert Krasker's cinematography. The "look" of the film is perhaps as much of a leading character as those played to perfection by Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten. Intrigue, black market dealings, slippery Central European criminals ... it all comes together in an absorbing story centered around the mysterious figure of Harry Lime (played by Welles), charming and treacherous. The insistent zither background music is perhaps the most distinctive movie music soundtrack ever recorded. Of particular value in this DVD edition of the movie is an otional "commentary" track which is a reading of Graham Greene's original treatment for the film script, showing how the original vision became transformed into film.
Rating:
Summary: THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY
Review: When Orson Welles finally appears during the last third of THE THIRD MAN, Carol Reed stages the scene with such panache that you sit there grinning with pleasure. No director ever gave his star a wittier enterance. Naive, decent American Holly Martins (Joseph Cotton) arrives in post WWII Vienna broke and ready to take a job offered to him by his old friend Harry Lime. But within an hour he finds himself in a cemetery attending Harry's burial. He decides that before he leaves Vienna he'll get to the bottom of just what happened to his friend. When he does he wishes he'd gotten out of Vienna as quickly as possible. Trevor Howard plays a British Army Major who tries to teach Cotton the facts of life and Alida Valli plays Harry's girl friend. (About 10 years later when the horror movie EYES WITHOUT A FACE played here as THE HORROR CHAMBRE OF DR FAUSTUS all the critics bemoaned how low her choice of material had fallen.) Graham Greene's and Carol Reed's most fameous collaboration, as good a confection as any Vienna has to offer, has style, wit and excitement galore. It's all here: The Ferris wheel, the 'coo coo clock speech' and the Vienna sewers. Even the cockatoo from CITIZEN KANE shows up during a scene that is a tribute to early Hitchcock. The ending still thrills with its mixture of brilliance and bravado. (Watch for Cotton's final gesture.) And, of course, that zither tune that you can't get out of your head. With Wilfred Hyde-White and Bernard Lee. Anton Karas plays his own fameous score.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Disk of a Wonderful Film
Review: What movie better captures the descent of the victory over the Nazis into the suspicion, paranoia, and corruption of the Cold War? The movies strange off-angle camera shots, the way the plot twists and shifts who is covering up what and why is simply wonderful. It is one of those rare movies that absolutely convinces you it is one kind of movie and ends up being another. The always commented upon zither music does contribute mightily to the atmosphere of the film. So does the untranslated German used throughout the film. The palpable tension between the occupied Germans, the communists, and the allies is done better here than almost anywhere else. I think it helps that the film was done at the time all the post WWII occupation was actually happening and still new. Orson Welles, Jospeh Cotten, Alia Valli, Trevor Howard, and all the rest are wonderful. And the way Criterion has done the transfer is magnificent. There is also an intro by Peter Bogdanovich, trailers, info on how the restoration was done, some radio shows from the Third Man, and some reading of Graham Greene's treatment. This is a great disk.
Rating:
Summary: Do we really know the ones we love?
Review: A beautiful, atmospheric movie shot in post-war Vienna amidst the ruins of WWII. Orson Welles stars with his Mecury Theatre comrade, Joseph Cotten, in this film directed by Carol Reed. It's obvious that Reed is incorporating some of Welles' own directorial innovations into The Third Man. Your heart will go out to confused Holly Martins (Cotten) the hack writer of popular Western novels as he falls hopelessly in love with the beautiful Anna Schmidt (Valli), who still loves Harry Lime, the amoral purveyor of bogus pencillian. The film is graced with beautiful black and white cinenatography and with a haunting music score. Welles is excellant as Harry Lime and Trevor Howard is apt as the British Military policeman, Major Calloway, who is in pursuit of him. The long shot at the film's end of Valli walking toward the camera is breathtaking... The Third Man is one of my favorite films of all time.
Rating:
Summary: Masterpiece
Review: I must have seen this film before, but it felt like the first time watching it on DVD. Certainly, the haunting theme played on a zither is never to be forgotten (played and composed by an unknown musician at the time, Anton Karos). Criterion has done a fantastic job in refurbishing the old print and making it like new. The quality of the picture is remarkable, and the sound track is crisp and clean - bravo! This is a black and white film, Orson Welles is said to have remarked that b/w is the actors best medium, and when you watch this movie you'll understand why? The stars are uniformly excellent (with minor reservations noted below) - Orson Welles, Trevor Howard, Joseph Cotton and Alida Valli. But, I doubt this film would be half of what it is without the extraordinary location of post war Vienna, 1947. As well, the contribution of the Austrian cast is crucial to the authentic feel of the narrative. This was the inspired idea of Sir Alexander Korda (Producer), who wanted a movie shot in Vienna and written by Graham Greene the master mystery writer. Director Carol Reed had asked for Jimmy Stewart and was given Joseph Cotton instead (by co-producer Selznick) for the role of Holly Martins. Martins is a character who writes paperback westerns for a living, although in his case it hasn't been paying too well, so he's in Vienna to meet his old pal Harry Lime who has offered him some work. He arrives in time to watch Lime get buried. Carol introduces the narrative at the beginning (UK version), but if you want to hear a better introduction listen to Cotton's version (for US audiences) found in the additional material included on the DVD . In hindsight Carol's instinct for Jimmy Stewart is uncanny. The Third Man is more than a mystery story, it's an epiphany. For it may seem the black-market is a legitimate way of life in a bombed out, occupied and divided city, but there are limits, even between friends. This is the experience the protagonist has and is shared by the audience. It's an experience not capable of being articulated only felt, and Jimmy Stewart would have manifested this feeling better than Cotton's role. It's a trivial point, and certainly does not alter my opinion that The Third Man is one of the best movies ever made. As an end note however, had Selznick gotten his way and nixed Orson Welles as Harry Lime, then this would have been an also ran movie!
Rating:
Summary: Superior Black & White
Review: Orson Wells got top billing in this Vienna thriller from 1949... but make no mistake, this is Joseph Cotton's movie. Cotton plays Holly Martins, the long time American friend of Orson Wells' character, Harry Lime. Martins shows up in Vienna and ends up attending Lime's so-called funeral. Quickly, everyone in the cast seems suspicious. Martins starts asking questions to several people who witnessed the truck accident that supposedly took Lime's life. When the stories don't match, Martins decides to spend a little more time in Vienna to investigate. Along the way he meets the beautiful Anna Schmidt (played by Alida Valli) and falls for her. As the police and neighbors try to get Martins out of town... Martins sees Harry Lime alive and well in the shadowy streets. As quick as he can blink, Harry disappears and the chase is off thru the beautiful streets of Vienna. The climax comes when the chase goes down into the sewers underground with Martins and a whole squad of police chasing Harry down. This is a film Hitchcock would have loved to have his name on. This black & white film is beautifully shot... lighting, intense shadows, old classic European architecture in the background, a larger than life ferris wheel, great cast, great acting... and a movie filled with suspense, love, and a whole lot of deception. Cotton is superb throughout. Wells doesn't show up until you're well into the 2nd half of the movie. The 1941 classic "Citizen Kane", or "A Touch Of Evil", or maybe "The Stanger" are better films featuring Orson Wells... but, Wells has such a huge presence on the screen that he steals the show almost every time. As good as Wells is here, I still believe Cotton's performance is equally on par with Wells. Look for Cotton in other classics like "Deul In The Sun" (with Jennifer Jones), "Niagara" (with Marilyn Monroe), "Othello" (with Wells), "Soylent Green" (with Charlton Heston), and as one of the main characters with Wells in "Citizen Kane". The extras include original trailers, old footage of the real "sewer police" in action, "Third Man" radio broadcast, and the treatment of the film being remastered showing before and after examples of photos and movie footage. Great movie... yet still puzzled as to the expensive price.
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