Product Details

• Actors: Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles
• Directors: Carol Reed
• Producers: David O. Selznick
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: Criterion
• Run Time: 104 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000P6QY7W
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #300,415 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Format: DVD Jan 1999 Not Rated Movie Description This classic noir mystery, from the team of Carol Reed and Graham Greene, is generally considered to be the best filmwork of both of these estimable talents. THE THIRD MAN features Joseph Cotten as Holly Martins, a pulp novelist who has come to post-WWII Vienna with the promise of work from his friend, Harry Lime (Orson Welles). Credits Cast: Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles Director: Carol Reed Producer: Alexander Korda, Carol Reed, David O. Selznick Synopsis Carol Reed reached the peak of his form with this classic noir, an elegy for American innocence and European elegance. Joseph Cotten, in fine form, stars as unemployed pulp-novelist Holly Martins. When he arrives in post-WWII Vienna on the promise of a job from his old friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles), he finds that Lime has recently died in a dubious car accident. Against the advice of British sector authority Major Calloway (Trevor Howard), who accuses Lime of criminal behavior, the indignant Martins decides to stay to investigate his friend's death. He searches this city of rubble-strewn streets and bombed-out buildings, earnestly questioning Lime's associates, a cynical, war-weary collection of black-market hustlers. At length, he realizes that the stories he's hearing are so full of contradiction, he's getting nowhere. Yet, he's entranced by Lime's beautiful girlfriend, Anna Schmidt (Alida Valli), who, unlike the others, seems to have loved Harry. Calloway finally provides evidence of Harry's treachery, and Martins, despondent, is about to return home when everything changes in a shadowed moment. THE THIRD MAN is a masterpiece of melancholia featuring extraordinary writing, acting, and directing, as well as a classic zither score by Anton Karas. Film Notes DVD Features: Region 1 Encoding Original and Re-release Theatrical Trailers Production History Audio Interview B&W Extra Info: Criterion Collection UPC: 037429141625

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fewer bells and whistles but still just fine, May 5, 2007

By 

Sam Duncan (Hillsville, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Third Man Criterion Collection (DVD)

I'm fairly certain that the reviewer who gave this older edition one star has not actually seen it. If he had he'd know that the picture and sound are just fine, and from what I can tell about 60% of the features on the two disc edition are on this one too. You'll have to decide for yourself if the bells and whistles are worth the extra money, but if you want to save yourself a few bucks then you're not missing too much with the older version.

Honestly, Criterion would have done us all more of a service if they'd finally gotten "Our Man in Havana" out on DVD instead of putting out a deluxe edition of "The Third Man." But I do have to give them a lot of credit for releasing "The Fallen Idol" on DVD.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the greatest film-noir movies of all times, August 23, 2010

By 

Michael A Neulander "Political Philosophy" (VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Third Man Criterion Collection (DVD)

Carol Reed's 1949 film-noir "The Third Man" is Reed's greatest work, and probably Orson Welle's second greatest acting role of his career! This is not an idle boast considering this movie is considered the greatest British made film of all time by the British Film institute, (#57 on AFI's top 100). By the way, Welle's has the unique distinction of also acting in the #1 movie on the American Film Institute list, "Citizen Kane"!!!

"The Third Man" is certainly on my all time fave top ten list for several reasons. The story was superbly written as a novella by Graham Greene who also wrote the screenplay for the film. The cinematography is absolutely stunning!!! It is considered to have two of the greatest cinematic shots in film. One is when Orson Welles character is first seen on film, which interestingly does not happen until half way through the film. The second is the ending scene. In addition the movie was actually shot in war torn Vienna soon after the war which gives this movie a very "edgy" look. Another interesting fact is that when Reed was scouting for interesting locations in Vienna to shoot scenes he did it at night so there was not so much traffic on the streets to obstruct his view. He noticed that trucks would periodically drive over the roads and hose them down to clean them of debris. He loved how the night light reflected off the wet sheen of the asphalt roads, a look that he duplicated in the masterful black and white film to great effect!!! It won the Oscar Award for cinematography.

Another great "back story" to this film is how Reed settled on the film score for the movie. It has one of the most unusual, enticing and whimsical sound scores of any movie. Originally Reed was going to use a typical symphonic sound score. However, while on location, Reed went to a Viennese wine bar to relax and heard the lyrical zither sounds of Anton Karas who was a mere entertainer in the bar. Reed was captivated by the sound and selected Karas as the musical director of the movie. He was invited to London and lived with Reed. Reed treated him very well, but Karas was in a slump - then suddenly Reed rushed into Karas' room, and lay at full length on the floor. "Now I'm dead! Only your zither can bring me back to life! Karas, play such a song as to raise me from the dead." Instantly Karas realized his intention, and tried to play a song that would satisfy him. But Reed wasn't easily satisfied, Karas exerted himself for hours - the moment he almost gave it up, he played that familiar melody. The success of "The Third Man" changed Karas' life totally. He played all over the world, and won applause from the British Royal family and the Pope. He earned a lot of money from this soundtrack since its title cut topped the international music charts in 1950.

Plot Summary:

An out of work pulp fiction novelist, Holly Martins, (Joseph Cotton a life long friend of Orson's from his Mercury theatre days, "Citizen Kane", and "The Magnificent Ambersons"), arrives in a post war Vienna divided into sectors by the victorious allies, and where a shortage of supplies has lead to a flourishing black market. He arrives at the invitation of an ex-school friend, Harry Lime, (Orson Welles) who has offered him a job, only to discover that Lime has recently died in a peculiar traffic accident. From talking to Lime's friends and associates Martins soon notices that some of the stories are inconsistent, and determines to discover what really happened to Harry Lime. The ensuing mystery entangles him in his friend's involvement in the black market, with the multinational police, and with his Czech girlfriend.
Soon after he is introduced in the movie with one of the all time greatest cinematic scenes cleverly using a "chiaroscuro" effect reminiscent of Caravaggio's Renaissance era paintings, Wells delivers one of his greatest film soliloquies that he wrote for his character to deliver in the film. Looking down on the people below from his vantage point of being on a Ferris wheel, Harry Lime (Welles) compares them to dots. Back on the ground, he notes:

"You know what the fellow said - in Italy, for thirty 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 five hundred years of democracy and peace - and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

As I mentioned earlier in this review Welles doesn't even appear until half way through the movie; however, his screen presence is captivating, he steals the show!!!

5.0 out of 5 stars Still One of The Greatest, June 4, 2009

By 

John F. Rooney - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Third Man Criterion Collection (DVD)

Viewing "The Third Man" again brings back pleasant memories not only because it is a masterful movie, but because it helps to relive my personal experience in the Austrian capital. In 1954 I was stationed in Vienna with the U.S. military police company that included the International Patrol featured in the movie. Seeing the streets I knew so well was a treat. I saw the movie in 1949 and like many others was captivated by the Anton Karas's zither title theme and music from the movie.
What makes this a classic motion picture?--the superb acting (particularly Joseph Cotton, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard, and Alida Valli), the flashes of humor (witness the Wilfred Hyde-White scenes), the gripping black and white photography, the suspense, the chase sequences (especially the one with the little boy chasing and accusing the couple through the dark streets), the use of ominous shadows, the build-up of the mystery of the third person at the death scene, the use of Vienna as a major player, and the innovative zither sound track.
Also: the great direction by Carol Reed surpassing Hitchcock's similar work, the love interest, the enormity of Harry Lime's crime in human terms, the little insights into characters (Baron Kurtz and Dr. Winkel were probably lovers), the police procedural component (the British military police), and Graham Greene's great script based upon his novel. Like other golden movies, it is able to draw you into its being so you get completely enveloped in it like a Venus fly trap. Great movies transport you into their world.
Some footnotes: The movie has some eccentric characters as side effects. Reed focuses on little details that catch the viewer's attention like Lime's cat. The sleazy Casanova Club is part of the Viennese backdrop. Lime is a boy who "never grew up." Popescu says, "Everybody ought to be careful in a city like this." Lime hides in the shadows, and Cotton is unaware of it as he says, "Come out, come out, whoever you are." The giant ferris wheel in the Prader was a sight I had to see and ride for myself after having seen it in the movie. The chase in the sewers stays with you long after you have seen the movie.
It's a movie I never tire of.