Perhaps the best film Orson Welles appeared in that he didn't also direct, The Third Man (1949) has all the makings of a classic. Shot in post-WWII Vienna, the crisp black and white cinematography is superb and dramatic. The script is airtight, written by the great literary author Graham Greene. The cast and acting are all top notch. And the harsh, zither music soundtrack is cutting and unforgettable.
American dime store novelist Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) has just arrived in post-war Vienna, having been offered a job by his old friend, Harry Lime (Orson Welles). He soon discovers that Harry had died the previous week, having been accidentally hit by a truck. After the accident, two friends carried Lime to the sidewalk, where he died...
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| The Third Man. 1949: Joseph Cotten |
Martins, dissatisfied with the jumbled police work of the opposing forces in the city, conducts his own investigation...
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| The Third Man. 1949: Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten |
He learns some horrible truths...
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| The Third Man. 1949: Orson Welles |
that Harry Lime was involved in some pretty despicable business rackets, that there were three men, not two, at the accident site, and that it might not have been an accident after all...
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| The Third Man. 1949: Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten |
Who was the third man?
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| The Third Man. 1949: Orson Welles |
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| The Third Man. 1949: Orson Welles and Joseph Cotten |
