schumacheranthony But once he does, a wonderful film takes place. About half of this movie takes place setting up the characters and story to come, but boy does the other half make up for what was, in my opinion, a fairly lackluster opening.

Antonius Block All is absurd. The war is over, Vienna is in ruins, and the black market reigns. The Allies have divided the city into zones, and the long reach of the Soviets is beginning to assert itself. When a pulp fiction writer (Joseph Cotten) arrives looking for his friend but finds he's died under what seem like suspicious circumstances, he doesn't know who to trust. His friend's associates are shady, and the authorities uncaring. Morality itself also seems to be in ruins.Strong direction from Carol Reed, excellent cinematography Robert Krasker, and a musical score from Anton Karas based entirely on the zither make for a unique, and very good film. Cotten, Alida Valli (the girlfriend), and Trevor Howard (the investigating major) all turn in solid performances, but it's Orson Welles who is absolutely brilliant, though his role is smaller. His acting is fantastic in the scene at the top of the Ferris wheel, where, among other things, he comments so blithely on doing harm to his fellow man by saying "Victims? Don't be melodramatic. Look down there. Tell me, would you really feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving forever? If I offered you twenty thousand pounds for every dot that stopped, would you really, old man, tell me to keep my money, or would you calculate how many dots you could afford to spare? Free of income tax, old man. Free of income tax - the only way you can save money nowadays."It's the rationalization of evil, made easier when done from a distance, which is truly horrifying. Hitler had just been defeated after almost unimaginable sacrifice and human cost, a real triumph, and yet, evil is still alive and well with humanity.The existential absurdity of it all is accentuated with frequent camera shots which are tilted at odd angles, and that zany zither music. To be honest, I'm still not sure how I feel about the music. At times it seemed to provide a nice counterpoint to the action, such as a chase scene through dark streets, highlighting how crazy this nightmare of a situation is, and at other times, it seems comically wacky, and out of place in a noir film.The film is a little methodical in the first hour, but I thought the dry dialog was stylish, and loved the shadows and street scenes. The international flavor and hearing German was nice. Even if you suspect who Welles might be when he shows up, I believe the film effectively wrong foots us, in the sense of who is evil in this story. It turns out that it may just be your old chum, the biggest nightmare of all. It also wrong foots us with that ending, which Reed had to fight for, and which is outstanding.

gottdeskinos As a film-noir fan I though to myself this might be one of the best settings: Post-war Vienna with bombed buildings, a multinational police force by the occupying countries, investigation on black market dealings, foreign languages and accents all around. The main actor: an American who doesn't speak German, who learns his friend died in a mysterious accident. But sadly they failed to use this setting and the premise to create suspense for almost the entire movie. It's not the cinematography's fault, which is excellent: Long shadows on Vienna's places while people are being chased. Hm, but something seems off about it. They thought let's put it in traditional Austrian music for the soundtrack, well, because it's Vienna. But this is the kind of cheerful music that fits when you're strolling through the streets in bright daylight with a smile on your face and a lady in your arms. It certainly is the wrong choice for a supposedly suspenseful foot chase. Or when you surprisingly see your presumed dead friend across the street. Or while you're in a children's hospital. Or when people are digging at a graveyard at night and reveal who the "third man" was. It kills all mood in a black and white thriller and becomes almost absurdly comical. I guess they felt eager to try out new things. Thank god they dropped it when Orson Welles showed up and they talked eye to eye on the Ferris wheel. Great acting. Another great scene was the chase in the sewer. This redeemed the movie a bit. But after thinking about it I noticed there are plot holes. The soundtrack achieved at least one thing: it distracted me enough to not think about the plot too much.

Anssi Vartiainen An example from the classic era of film noir. Director Carol Reed introduces us to post-war Vienna filled with harsh angles, Gothic shadows, lonely streets and gleaming streetlamps. Pulp novelist Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) arrives to the city looking for a job his good friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles) has promised him. Immediately upon arrival he finds out that Lime has been run over by a car. Police think it a simple accident, but Martins has other ideas.Reed is a known expressionist and this shows heavily in the film. Dutch angles fill almost every shot and a lot of time is given for the buildup and the atmosphere of the city. And the film is to be praised for this. Many of the shots seem eerily familiar to the viewer. Not because you've seen the film but because so many later directors and cinematographers have been influenced by it. The shot of Lime's shadow looming against a wall as he slowly approaches is a fine, fine piece of film making and the most iconic the film has.Eerily familiar also describes the story to a tee, but in this case that is not a compliment. The plot is fairly easy to predict, despite of it containing some pretty clever twists. I can only imagine how revolutionary a film such as this one must have seemed like back on its day. But now, as someone who has watched so many other similar films... Well, it honestly makes the film something of a bore. I can appreciate it visually and the actors are extremely talented, but the story didn't leave me with much.And this is honestly the problem with a lot of mid-century films. At least for yours truly. There is something to be said about being one of the first to do something. But if that thing continues to be done better and better throughout the years, is it okay, at some point, to let the first examples go. Am I doing this film and others like it a disservice by not having seen them earlier when I would have been more able to appreciate them?Perhaps. Or perhaps history and time march on, like they always do. Nevertheless, it's a fine film. Very well made, very well acted. And the story is a good one. The fact that it has been made again so many times since then is a testament to that.