Part of Restoration Roundup
Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten), a writer of pulp Westerns, arrives in a bombed-out, post-war Vienna at the invitation of his childhood friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles) only to find him dead. Martins develops the ultimate conspiracy theory after learning of a “third man” present at the time of Harry’s death, butting up against interference from British police officer Major Calloway (Trevor Howard), and falling head-over-heels for Harry’s grief-stricken lover Anna (Alida Valli).
Restored in 4K by Deluxe Restoration, on behalf of Studiocanal, from a fine grain master positive struck from the original negative.
“‘The Third Man’ was never written to be read but only to be seen…. To me it is almost impossible to write a film play without first writing a story…. ‘The Third Man’ was never intended to be more than the raw material for a picture.” —Graham Greene, 'The Third Man' as a Story and a Film, New York Times (Mar 19, 1950)
“Of all the movies I have seen, this one most completely embodies the romance of going to the movies.” —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
“A thing of true cinematic beauty…. It is a bleak, hard-nosed crime story that encompasses a ruined continent, sick and cynical from war. THE THIRD MAN finally endures because it offers a simple thing that so many modern films neglect: the power of story.” —Ian Nathan, Empire
“Mr. Reed has brilliantly packaged the whole bag of his cinematic tricks, his whole range of inventive genius for making the camera expound. His eminent gifts for compressing a wealth of suggestion in single shots, for building up agonized tension and popping surprises are fully exercised. To be sure, Mr. Greene has contributed conspicuously to the job with a script that is cleverly constructed and pungently laced with dialogue. The smoothness and ease with which the edges of the mystery plot tongue and groove…make for complete fascination.” —Bosley Crowther, New York Times (Feb 3, 1950)