The Third Man (1949)

Written by Graham Greene

Directed by Carol Reed

1998 List Ranking: 57

2007 List Ranking: NA - Removed

I will admit that, when I first read a brief description of The Third Man, I groaned. Here was yet another noir film…why can’t these just end already? I knew that this period of film history is chock-full of noir and that that might be represented on this list, but ugh. I feel like they don’t end and most of them aren’t that great.

However, The Third Man generally surprised me, cultivating a story and characters that felt compelling and engaging, as well as using cinematic techniques that, for better or worse, plussed up what could have been a very generic story.

Jospeh Cotten as Martins

The Third Man investigates the death of Harry Lime by his friend Holly Martins (played by Joseph Cotten). Along the way he finds inconsistencies and reluctance from witnesses and investigators. Stuck in a foreign land being divided up by different Allied forces immediately after the end of World War II, Martins must uncover the identity of the third man who was present at his friend’s death in the hope that he’ll have the answer he’s looking for.

The cast here is particularly strong, with Cotten stepping into the leading man role (after his supporting role in Citizen Kane) and doing some good work. It’s the supporting roles that are very well done, however. Alida Valli rises above what could be a stock femme fatale and gives some depth to her role as a woman who is in danger of being reclaimed as a Russian citizen (what isn’t specified is exactly why that’s a bad thing. I’m sure it’s something something history, but as explored before, the American public school system is really not great at that topic). Trevor Howard as lead investigator Major Calloway is also great, seamlessly moving from Martins’ roadblock to ally.

Orson Welles as the not-very-dead Harry Lime

However, the casting (and the film as a whole) stumbles with the introduction of…Orson Welles. From a performance standpoint, its distracting: It’s like Meryl Streep showing up in an episode of a sitcom: there is such a different caliber that you become distractingly drawn to what they’re doing rather than what everyone else is doing. This is, of course, not to say that everyone else are not great actors: the cast is really really great. But there is something about Welles that makes him the focus of attention, and I think the film stumbles as a result.

An example of the excellent framing used throughout the film

There was one aspect of the film I really loved, and that was its use of angular photography. Dutch angles, or those shots with off-kilter framing, abound throughout the film, and while I didn’t see them as exactly thematically necessary, I did enjoy the creative use of them. Perhaps they’re there to help visually represent that not everything is as it should be; I could understand that metaphoric interpretation. It does help put the audience slightly ill at ease, but unlike some films that use it for no reason, its use in this film felt expertly used.

The film also uses tension to a great degree, particularly the final sequence in the Austrian sewers. While establishing the layout of the sewers is difficult (especially in black and white), the film nevertheless showcases an excellent game of cat and mouse between Welles and…well, basically everyone else. Lots of peering around dark corners and doubling back over tread ground leads to a sequence that slowly but surely cranks up its tension. Welles isn’t as emotive as perhaps he should be (it feels like he should be growing more desperate, but his facial expression never really changes), but it still mounts to an exciting, hold-your-breath conclusion.

Welles in the sewers of Austria

Finally, I want to quickly touch on the music, which is the odd duck of the film. Normally, noir films (or just crime thrillers in general) have dark, moody scores. This film contains a score that is composed entirely on a zither, an instrument that I admittedly have never heard of. Its use is pretty, but it seems out of place in this film. Luckily for me, it tended to fade into the background, but it did have the effect of making the film feel like a comedy, especially near the beginning when the plot is still being introduced.

The really strange thing about this film is actually its inclusion on this list. The Third Man, with the exception of a couple of its producers, is a British film. So why is it included on the AMERICAN Film Institute’s list? The answer is not known from what I can find, but it’s interesting to note that, while being ranked at number 57 on the original list, on the updated list ten years later, The Third Man is nowhere to be found. Whatever the reason, I’m still glad that this film was included, because despite some strange qualities, it was still a pretty fun ride.

FINAL GRADE: A-