The Third Man (Screenplay by Graham Greene. Directed by Carol Reed. Starring Orson Wells, Joseph Cotton, and Alida Valli)
The Third Man is a story of love, loyalty, and difficult choices set against the backdrop of post-world war II Vienna. The city is divided into sectors, controlled by mistrusting allies who fight to preserve their piece of the conquered city.
The protagonist, Holly Martins, a writer of pulp cowboy fiction, arrives in the British sector for a job promised by his friend, Harry Lime. But Martins learns that Lime has been killed in a mysterious auto accident, witnessed by Lime’s personal physician, a close friend, and an unidentified third man.
Martins suspects foul play and swears to investigate. This pits him against the Vienna underworld, the cowed citizenry, and the British police who are glad to know that Lime is dead. Martins meets Lime’s girlfriend, Anna Schmidt, who also suspects murder, but is hampered by her own past and the need to blend into the murky background.
Did Harry actually die in the accident, who’s in his grave? What is Harry doing now and what has he done to make him disappear? Harry contacts Martins through his black market associates, and invites him to meet at an abandoned amusement park in the Russian sector. They enter the Riesenrad Ferris wheel which takes the men high above the Vienna landscape. There Harry expresses his disdain for the ant-sized humans below. Holly admits to working with the police, forcing Harry to leave the wheel and disappear back into the landscape.
Martins discovers Lime’s criminal past with the help of Major Calloway (not Callahan, I’m British, not Irish). Harry’s been diluting penicillin, and selling it to hospitals, causing the deaths and suffering of many of the city’s children.
Anna remains loyal to Harry as Holly plots to turn him in. He’s fallen in love with her and must weigh his feelings against the need to bring Harry to justice.
Nothing is simple in the war-torn city. Love, loyalty, and right and wrong are commodities to be traded on poorly lit streets, and seedy nightclubs. Holly must decide which side he’s on, and what lengths he’ll go to for love, friendship, and his own piece of mind.
Setting
Vienna, Austria. City of music and the arts, turned into a skid row of seedy characters trading in the black market and human lives. Filmed in black and white, the harsh lighting and odd camera angles add to the surreal atmosphere.
The movie was originally scheduled to be filmed in London, but budget difficulties forced the move to Vienna, a city rebuilding after the war. Graham Greene used the backdrop of a city devastated by bombs to add to the atmosphere of hopelessness.
Character development
Greene uses his gift of pitting seemingly upright characters against those out for their own gain. Who’s a good guy, and who’s a bad guy? Not so simple to tell at first. Vienna, itself, is sometimes protagonist and sometimes antagonist, leading the characters through cabarets, dark alleys, and even the city sewer system.
Use of Description
The movie opens to a Holly Martins voiceover. He describes why he came to this devastated town, and provides backstory and humor to chronicle the city and the atmosphere brought on by the need to survive in any way possible.
Dialog by the characters throughout speaks to motivation and when set at odd camera angles, causes the viewer to understand the confusion and angst of their topsy-turvy world.
Dialog
Greene is a master of dialog, and has his characters add to the chill atmosphere and feeling of hopelessness by facial expressions more telling than the words. “I’d like to help you Mr. Martins, but there’s little I can do. After all I’m an Austrian,” says one friend of Harry. He then smiles showing an internal evil that chills the viewer. Harry’s friends are men to be reckoned with.
Style
Greene and director Carol Reed go for the dark and foreboding. The zither background music provided by Anton Karas is catchy and bright, contrasting with the darker atmosphere. It works since the viewer knows that when the music ends, things will return to chaos and uncertainty.
The Third Man is a story of love, loyalty, and difficult choices set against the backdrop of post-world war II Vienna. The city is divided into sectors, controlled by mistrusting allies who fight to preserve their piece of the conquered city.
The protagonist, Holly Martins, a writer of pulp cowboy fiction, arrives in the British sector for a job promised by his friend, Harry Lime. But Martins learns that Lime has been killed in a mysterious auto accident, witnessed by Lime’s personal physician, a close friend, and an unidentified third man.
Martins suspects foul play and swears to investigate. This pits him against the Vienna underworld, the cowed citizenry, and the British police who are glad to know that Lime is dead. Martins meets Lime’s girlfriend, Anna Schmidt, who also suspects murder, but is hampered by her own past and the need to blend into the murky background.
Did Harry actually die in the accident, who’s in his grave? What is Harry doing now and what has he done to make him disappear? Harry contacts Martins through his black market associates, and invites him to meet at an abandoned amusement park in the Russian sector. They enter the Riesenrad Ferris wheel which takes the men high above the Vienna landscape. There Harry expresses his disdain for the ant-sized humans below. Holly admits to working with the police, forcing Harry to leave the wheel and disappear back into the landscape.
Martins discovers Lime’s criminal past with the help of Major Calloway (not Callahan, I’m British, not Irish). Harry’s been diluting penicillin, and selling it to hospitals, causing the deaths and suffering of many of the city’s children.
Anna remains loyal to Harry as Holly plots to turn him in. He’s fallen in love with her and must weigh his feelings against the need to bring Harry to justice.
Nothing is simple in the war-torn city. Love, loyalty, and right and wrong are commodities to be traded on poorly lit streets, and seedy nightclubs. Holly must decide which side he’s on, and what lengths he’ll go to for love, friendship, and his own piece of mind.
Setting
Vienna, Austria. City of music and the arts, turned into a skid row of seedy characters trading in the black market and human lives. Filmed in black and white, the harsh lighting and odd camera angles add to the surreal atmosphere.
The movie was originally scheduled to be filmed in London, but budget difficulties forced the move to Vienna, a city rebuilding after the war. Graham Greene used the backdrop of a city devastated by bombs to add to the atmosphere of hopelessness.
Character development
Greene uses his gift of pitting seemingly upright characters against those out for their own gain. Who’s a good guy, and who’s a bad guy? Not so simple to tell at first. Vienna, itself, is sometimes protagonist and sometimes antagonist, leading the characters through cabarets, dark alleys, and even the city sewer system.
Use of Description
The movie opens to a Holly Martins voiceover. He describes why he came to this devastated town, and provides backstory and humor to chronicle the city and the atmosphere brought on by the need to survive in any way possible.
Dialog by the characters throughout speaks to motivation and when set at odd camera angles, causes the viewer to understand the confusion and angst of their topsy-turvy world.
Dialog
Greene is a master of dialog, and has his characters add to the chill atmosphere and feeling of hopelessness by facial expressions more telling than the words. “I’d like to help you Mr. Martins, but there’s little I can do. After all I’m an Austrian,” says one friend of Harry. He then smiles showing an internal evil that chills the viewer. Harry’s friends are men to be reckoned with.
Style
Greene and director Carol Reed go for the dark and foreboding. The zither background music provided by Anton Karas is catchy and bright, contrasting with the darker atmosphere. It works since the viewer knows that when the music ends, things will return to chaos and uncertainty.