The Third Man (Film 1949)

The Third Man is a 1949 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene, and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles and Trevor Howard. Click on CC for English subtitles.

Set in post-World War II Allied-occupied Vienna, the film centres on American writer Holly Martins (Cotten), who arrives in the city to accept a job with his friend Harry Lime (Welles), only to learn that he has died. Martins stays in Vienna to investigate Lime's death, becoming infatuated with Lime's girlfriend Anna Schmidt (Valli).

The use of black-and-white German expressionist-influenced cinematography by Robert Krasker, with its harsh lighting and Dutch angles, is a major feature of The Third Man. Combined with the use of ruined locations in Vienna, the style evokes exhaustion and cynicism at the start of the Cold War.

Greene wrote a novella as a treatment for the screenplay. Composer Anton Karas' title composition "The Third Man Theme" topped the international music charts in 1950, bringing international fame to the previously unknown performer. The Third Man was the most popular film at the British box office in 1949, and it is considered one of the greatest films of all time, celebrated for its acting, musical score, and atmospheric cinematography.

Cast & Characters:
Orson Welles as Harry Lime
Joseph Cotten as Holly Martins
Alida Valli as Anna Schmidt
Trevor Howard as Major Calloway
Paul Hörbiger as Karl, Lime's porter
Ernst Deutsch as "Baron" Kurtz
Erich Ponto as Dr. Winkel
Siegfried Breuer as Popescu
Hedwig Bleibtreu as Anna's landlady
Bernard Lee as Sergeant Paine
Wilfrid Hyde-White as Crabbin

Uncredited Cast:
Annie Rosar as the porter's wife
Alexis Chesnakov as Brodsky, Russian official
Herbert Halbik as Little Hansel, the boy with a ball
Robert Brown as British Military Policeman in the sewer chase scene
Paul Hardtmuth as the hall porter at Hotel Sacher
Geoffrey Keen as British Military Policeman
Eric Pohlmann as waiter at Smolka's
Reed De Rouen as American Military Policeman at Railway Station
Brother Theodore as Man on street
Nelly Arno as Kurtz's mother[8]
Karel Štěpánek as actor at Josefstadt Theatre
Joseph Cotten as the narrator (pre-1999 US version)
Carol Reed as the narrator (pre-1999 UK, and all post-'99 versions)