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The Third Man - Criterion Collection (2-Disc Edition)
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
Brand: Image Entertainment
EAN: 0715515023429
Format: Black & White, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC
Item Dimensions: 100
Label: Criterion Collection
Languages: English (Original Language), German (Original Language), Russian (Original Language),
Manufacturer: Criterion Collection
MPN: CC1690DDVD
Number Of Items: 2
Publisher: Criterion Collection
Region Code: 1
Release Date: May 22, 2007
Running Time: 104 minutes
Studio: Criterion Collection
Theatrical Release Date: 1949
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Editorial Review:
There have been few better movies in the history of the planet than The Third Man, and fewer still as brilliantly directed from second to second. Orson Welles played the title role, and his legend has tended to engulf the film. But it was directed by Carol Reed and written--except for a Wellesian riff on the Borgias--by Graham Greene, and the credit for this masterpiece is properly theirs. Theirs and Joseph Cotten's; for awesome as Welles is, his Citizen Kane second banana is onscreen about six times as much, and Cotten uses every minute to create one of the most distinctive--if also forlorn--of modern heroes.
You know the story. Holly Martins (Cotten), a writer of pulp Westerns and one of life's congenital third-raters, arrives in post-WWII Vienna only to learn that his old pal Harry Lime, the guy who sent him his plane ticket, is being buried. Everybody, from a cynical British cop named Calloway (Trevor Howard) to Harry's Continental knockout of a girlfriend (Alida Valli) and his sundry absurd/Euro-sinister business associates, feels that Holly should get on another plane and go home. He doesn't. Things come to light. Other deaths follow. The world lies in utter ruin.
The Third Man completed a sublime hat trick--an international critical and popular smash following upon the success of Reed's Odd Man Out ('47) and The Fallen Idol ('48). Although other filmmakers had begun to use war-ravaged Europe as a great movie set, The Third Man is so vivid in its canny mix of gray semidocumentary and insanely angular, Expressionist/Surrealist chiaroscuro that it seems to have imagined not only the postwar thriller but also postwar Europe itself singlehandedly.
What great movie moments: The throwaway details like a mourner who forgets to drop his wreath on a newly dug grave. The sly editing whereby thick-headed Sergeant Paine (Bernard Lee, once and future "M" to 007) goes on leafing through a magazine, knowing just the moment he must rise and subdue the nervy Yank who would take a punch at his boss. The way Anton Karas's legendary zither score seems to jangle in the very guy-lines of a bridge where, far below Robert Krasker's Oscar-winning camera, the Third Man calls a war council. The shadow of a dead man towering, big as Europe, over the nighttime streets of Vienna. --Richard T. Jameson
The fractured Europe post-World War II is perfectly captured in Carol Reed's masterpiece thriller, set in a Vienna still shell-shocked from battle. Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) is an alcoholic pulp writer come to visit his old friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles). But when Cotton first arrives in Vienna, Lime's funeral is under way. From Lime's girlfriend and an occupying British officer, Martins learns of allegations of Lime's involvement in racketeering, which Martins vows to clear from his friend's reputation. As he is drawn deeper into postwar intrigue, Martins finds layer under layer of deception, which he desperately tries to sort out. Welles's long-delayed entrance in the film has become one of the hallmarks of modern cinematography, and it is just one of dozens of cockeyed camera angles that seem to mirror the off-kilter postwar society. Cotten and Welles give career-making performances, and the Anton Karas zither theme will haunt you. --Anne Hurley
Cynical pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy postwar Vienna only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend black-market opportunist Harry Lime and thus begins this legendary tale of love deception and murder. Thanks to brilliant performances by Joseph Cotten Alida Valli and Orson Welles; Anton Karas's evocative zither score; Graham Greene's razor-sharp dialogue; and Robert Krasker's haunting deep focus shots off-kilter angles and dramatic use of light and shadow The Third Man directed by the inimitable Carol Reed only grows in stature as the years pass. System Requirements:Running Time: 104 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 715515023429 Manufacturer No: CC1690DDVD
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - A moody trip through postwar Europe.
Graham Greene is one of the most acclaimed authors of the 20th century, and, unlike many such literary talents, he recognized the merits of film, and took work as a screenwriter for the British film industry, including several collaborations with producer/director Carol Reed, of which "The Third Man" is the most famous. Greene's works tend to be divided into two main genres: his meditations on Catholicism in the modern world ("The Power and the Glory", for example) and his work in the spy and crime ... Read More
Rating: - CAROL REED'S MASTERPIECE, and One of the Great Films of Cinema
Carol Reed's The Third Man is his best known film, it was ground-breaking for many reasons, and it is one of the finest and most influential of all Film Noir classics. One of its hallmarks is the exceptional camera work by cinematographer Robert Krasker, for which he won an Oscar. The lighting and angles he used cannot be forgotten. But equally memorable is the music by zither artist Anton Karas, for which he was nominated. It is one of the very few films in which a single instrument carries the entire ... Read More
Rating: - A Great Film, But Demands the Viewer's Patience
There are moments of absolute brilliance in this extraordinary morality play that explores the tension between loyalty to friends, self interest, and loyalty to the overarching moral code imposed by the social contract. The dialogue between Wells and Cotten in the ferris wheel poses the moral dilemma quite vividly (do you really care about those little dots moving along the ground below?). Also there is a great deal of suspense during this scene as to what Wells will do. One of the great scenes in the ... Read More
Rating: - Behind the shadows lies a magical cinematic experience...
When I first saw `Citizen Kane' I was completely smitten with Orson Welles and his brilliant performance. I had always heard wonderful things about Welles, but I had never really gotten around to delving into his filmography. The other night I picked up this classic film for the mere fact that Welles was in it, and what I found was one of the tightest film noirs I've ever seen; a film that I'm sure will steadily climb my favorites list for it is seriously one of a kind.
The film follows author ... Read More
Rating:  - Great Classic Movie for one Who Is not Into Old Movies
I'm not a huge fan of classical movies, but this is a great script and was shot well. I definately need to watch more classic movies and this is one reason to do so. On top of that a great addition to a book lover is the book version of this movie in audio form to go with the movie. Genius. I would buy it just for that alone.
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