Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #607 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-09-25
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, PAL, Special Edition
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 2
• Running time: 104 minutes

Synopsis
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). When he finds that Lime has just been killed in a questionable car accident, he decides to remain in the city to investigate his friend's demise.

Customer Reviews

A slice of Lime.
The DVD cover sums this film up brilliantly (even giving away the twist!) with the angled black and white image. The wonky camera work was dismissed by many at the time, but in retrospect it reflects the feel of disorientation Holly Martins must feel when in an unfamiliar place, with no money, and discovering varying accounts of his friends death - a friend he was due be staying with. The slanted shots also mirror the broken feel of Vienna, a beautiful city ravaged by the Second World War and now home to jagged piles of broken bricks.

The strong lighting (typical of black and white films) is used to emphasise the shadows in the dark. The beautiful cinematography of Viennese streets capture a unique period in history. Most scenes have no music to accompany them, but when it does kick in, you instantly recognise it - either from watching this film in the past, or for the numerous films since which have borrowed the iconic Harry Lime theme. The natural performances mean the characters seem flawed, real, believable. And Harry Lime has a constant presence despite barely appearing on screen.

All the above make this an absolute corker of a film - but the most impressive thing is, it all feels so effortless. The film never looks as though it's *trying* to be something that bit special, it's almost as if it *knows* it has a unique chemistry which will ensure a status of `classic' for years to come.

In a nutshell: If you've never seen this film then this might seem like you've seen it all before - but this was the first to do it with style. Often imitated, never bettered.

What can you say?
Call me a heathen (or whatever), but I have never quite got Citizen Kane. Yes it 's a landmark film, but is it really that good?

The Third Man is that good. Tight direction, an omnipotent Wells as Harry Lime, a haunted post-WWII city in ruins and the repetitive melody of the zither, all combine to create a superb masterpiece.

For me, the real star was Trevor Howard as Major Calloway. Wells was of course enigmatic and Vienna was the perfect backdrop to a bankrupt Germanic landscape. Cotten as Holly Martins was a little pedestrian, yet his character was never meant to be a sophisticated moral crusader.

The film taps into the psychi of the lowest form of humanity, i.e. those that prey on the sick and inflicted.

Memorable, and yes a true classic.

The Perfect Movie
This is the best British movie ever made, and is sheer enjoyment to watch. Based on a story by Graham Greene we are taken into the occupation of Vienna after the second world war. A story of black-marketeering, mistaken identity and a man wanting to solve what is happening around him. Orson Welles is on top form as Harry Lime, the main protagonist in one of his best roles. The scenes of a post-war Vienna are fantastic and everything in this movies jells together. All the acting is excellant and the cat and mouse story is more than enough to keep you gripped to your seat.

Carol Reed's masterpiece shows us what true drama is all about. Unfortunately Hollywood have never really learned from what is a masterclass in film-making, in what makes perfection.