No spoilers ahead.
The movie opens with a narrator explaining, “I never knew Vienna before the war. With its Strauss music, its glamor and easy charm.” The Vienna he does know is the “classic time of the black market,” a city trying to rebuild after WWII. It’s broken into five zones, with each one occupied separately. Four spokes, one for each occupying country, the British, Americans, French, and Russians. The center of the city is overseen by the military police of a coalition of the four countries.
The narrator says of Vienna, it “doesn’t really look any worse than a lot of other European cities. Bombed about a bit.” Images of statues, demolished buildings, and piles of blackened bricks covered with a dusting of snow play across the background.
This is the city that writer Holly Martins arrives in, post-war Vienna. His friend Harry Limes has sent for him, with an offer of a job. Disembarking from a train into the center of the city he heads to his friend’s residence, surprised that Harry was not at the station to greet him. Holly is “Happy as a lark and without a cent.”
A surprise awaits him: As he arrives at his friend’s apartment, the building’s porter informs him that his friend is dead, killed in an accident after being struck by a car.
And that’s all I can tell you without spoiling the story. But an important aspect to this film, a character in itself, is the city and the amazing cinematography made even more beautiful by the lack of color.
Cinematographer Robert Krasker and director Carol Reed made plentiful use of “Dutch angles” which help create an atmosphere of apprehensiveness in the viewer, pulling you into the story. As I watched this movie I found myself often lost in the scenery, from the cobblestone streets to the sewers below.
Bouncy and bright zither music contrasts starkly with the thrilling suspense and darkness of a film noir. “The Third Man Theme” AKA “Harry Lime’s Theme” frequently pops up in the movie to keep the film from being swallowed by its own darkness.
Here’s a wonderful version played on six different zithers.
The Third Man stars Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Directed by Carol Reed.
The Third Man is available with subscription on Prime. Free with ads on Tubi and Crackle. $3.99 in the usual places. On the Internet Archive for free.
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Our cartoon is Nutty News with Elmer Fudd narrating a variety of stories. A Warner Bros. Looney Tunes short film from 1942.