The Third Man (1949)

Director:

Carol Reed

Writers:

Graham Greene (story)
Graham Greene (screenplay)
(more)

Release Date:

3 September 1949 (UK)

Genre:

Film-Noir | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Carol Reed's Classic Thriller

Plot:

Arriving in Vienna, Holly Martins learns that his friend Harry Lime, who has invited him, recently died in a car accident.

Plot Keywords:

Black Market | Car Accident | Police | Post WWII | Stage Play

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Joseph Cotten	...	Holly Martins
Alida Valli	...	Anna Schmidt (as Valli)
Orson Welles	...	Harry Lime
Trevor Howard	...	Major Calloway
Bernard Lee	...	Sergeant Paine
Paul Hörbiger	...	Karl - Harry's Porter (as Paul Hoerbiger)
Ernst Deutsch	...	'Baron' Kurtz
Siegfried Breuer	...	Popescu
Erich Ponto	...	Dr. Winkel
Wilfrid Hyde-White	...	Crabbin
Hedwig Bleibtreu	...	Anna's Old Landlady
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nelly Arno	...	Kurtz's mother (uncredited)
Jack Arrow	...	International Patrol A (uncredited)
Harold Ayer	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Harry Belcher	...	Man chasing Holly (uncredited)
Leo Bieber	...	Barman (Casanova) (uncredited)
Paul Birch	...	Military Policeman (uncredited)
Martin Boddey	...	Russian Military Policeman (uncredited)
Madge Brindley	...	Guest at Casanova Bar (uncredited)
Ray Browne	...	International Patrol B (uncredited)
Robert Brown	...	British Military Policeman in Sewer Chase (uncredited)
Paul Carpenter	...	International Patrol D (uncredited)
Alexis Chesnakov	...	Colonel Brodsky - Russian liaison officer (uncredited)
Guy De Monceau	...	International Patrol C (uncredited)
Reed De Rouen	...	American Military Policeman at Railroad Station (uncredited)
Jack Faint	...	Guest at Casanova Bar (uncredited)
Peter Fontaine	...	Minor Role (uncredited)
Thomas Gallagher	...	Taxi driver (uncredited)
Michael Godfrey	...	International Patrol C (uncredited)
Vernon Greeves	...	International Patrol D (uncredited)
Herbert Halbik	...	Little Hansl (boy with ball) (uncredited)
Paul Hardtmuth	...	Hartman - Hall Porter at Hotel Sacher (uncredited)
Walter Hertner	...	Barman at Sacher's (uncredited)
Charles Irwin	...	Colonel O'Sullivan (uncredited)
Lily Kann	...	Nurse (uncredited)
Geoffrey Keen	...	British Military Policeman (uncredited)
Brookes Kyle	...	International Patrol B (uncredited)
Martin Miller	...	Headwaiter (uncredited)
Hannah Norbert	...	Actress at Josefstadt Theater (uncredited)
Eric Pohlmann	...	Waiter at Smolka's (uncredited)
Carol Reed	...	Opening narrator (UK version) (voice) (uncredited)
Annie Rosar	...	Porter's wife (uncredited)
Frederick Schreicker	...	Hansel's father (uncredited)
Hugo Schuster	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Karel Stepanek	...	Actor at Josefstadt Theater (uncredited)
Lee Strasberg	...	MP (uncredited)
Gordon Tanner	...	International Patrol C (uncredited)
Ernst Ulman	...	Visitor at Literature Club (uncredited)
Helga Wahlrow	...	Josefstadt Theatre Actress (uncredited)
Jenny Werner	...	Hilde - Winkel's maid (uncredited)

Directed by
Carol Reed

Writing credits
Graham Greene		(story) and
Alexander Korda		(story) uncredited
Graham Greene		(screenplay)
Carol Reed		uncredited and
Orson Welles		uncredited

Produced by
Hugh Perceval	....	associate producer
Carol Reed	....	producer
Alexander Korda	....	producer (uncredited)
David O. Selznick	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Anton Karas

Cinematography by
Robert Krasker		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Oswald Hafenrichter

Set Decoration by
Dario Simoni		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
George Frost	....	makeup artist
Joe Shear	....	hairdresser (as J. Shear)
Peter Evans	....	assistant makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
T.S. Lyndon-Haynes	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Guy Hamilton	....	assistant director
Jack Causey	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Jack N. Green	....	third assistant director (uncredited)
George Pollock	....	second unit director (uncredited)
Gino Wimmer	....	assistant director: Austria (uncredited)

Art Department
Joseph Bato	....	set designer
Ferdinand Bellan	....	assistant art director
John Hawkesworth	....	set designer
Vincent Korda	....	set designer
James Sawyer	....	assistant art director

Sound Department
John Cox	....	sound supervisor
Jack Drake	....	sound editor
Red Law	....	sound recordist
Bert Ross	....	sound recordist
Jack Davies	....	boom operator (uncredited)
John Glen	....	assistant sound editor (uncredited)

Visual Effects by
W. Percy Day	....	matte painter (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Denys N. Coop	....	camera operator (as Denys Coop)
Stanley Pavey	....	additional photographer (as Stan Pavey)
Edward Scaife	....	camera operator (as E. Scaife)
John Wilcox	....	additional photographer
Monty Berman	....	camera operator: "b" camera (uncredited)
J. Bicknell	....	camera loader (uncredited)
Alan McCabe	....	clapper loader (uncredited)
Geoff Meldrum	....	focus puller (uncredited)
John von Kotze	....	focus puller: second unit (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ivy Baker	....	wardrober
Gene Hornsby	....	assistant wardrobe: women (uncredited)
George Murrey	....	wardrobe master (uncredited)
Dickie Richardson	....	assistant wardrobe: men (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Peter Taylor	....	assembly cutter
Derek Armstrong	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
Ken Behrens	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
David Eady	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Irving Fields	....	composer: song "Managua, Nicaragua"
Albert Gamse	....	composer: song "Managua, Nicaragua"
Anton Karas	....	musician: zither
Fritz Löhner-Beda	....	lyrics
Henry Love	....	composer: song "Das Alte Lied"

Other crew
Alexander Korda	....	presenter
Peggy McClafferty	....	continuity
Elizabeth Montagu	....	advisor: Austria
David O. Selznick	....	presenter
Angela Allen	....	script supervisor: second unit (uncredited)
Teresa Deans	....	production secretary (uncredited)
Robert Dunbar	....	production assistant: second unit (uncredited)
Enid Jones	....	unit publicist (uncredited)

Production Companies

• London Film Productions (as London Film Production) (for)
• British Lion Film Corporation

Distributors

• British Lion Film Corporation (1949) (UK) (theatrical)
• Selznick Releasing Organization (1950) (USA) (theatrical)
• Sascha-Verleih (1950) (Austria) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1956) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Action Gitanes (????) (France) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Asociace Ceských Filmových Klubu (ACFK) (2007) (Czech Republic) (theatrical)
• Asociácia slovenských filmových klubov (ASFK) (2007) (Slovakia) (theatrical)
• Deutsche London-Film Verleih (1950) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Electric Pictures Ltd. (1994) (UK) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Optimum Releasing (1999) (UK) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Rialto Pictures (1999) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2001) (USA) (VHS)
• Alpha Video Distributors (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• BIM Distribuzione (2005) (Italy) (DVD)
• Canal+ (????) (France) (TV)
• Contender Entertainment Group (2005) (UK) (DVD) (re-release)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Continental Home Vídeo (????) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Criterion Collection, The (1999) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2008) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Home Vision Entertainment (HVE) (1995) (USA) (VHS)
• Jef Films International (2005) (USA) (VHS)
• Lion International Films
• Optimum Home Entertainment (2006) (UK) (DVD) (anniversary edition)
• Spiegel Media GmbH
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• VCI Home Video (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Vintage Video (????) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (UK) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2004) (UK) (DVD) (special edition)
• Warner Home Video (????) (UK) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Warner Home Video  package design and summary

Also Known As:

The 3rd Man (USA) (poster title)

Runtime:

104 min | USA:93 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English | German | Russian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Netherlands:6 (DVD rating) | South Korea:15 (2003) | Brazil:14 | Argentina:13 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:11 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:Approved (PCA #14125) | West Germany:12 | New Zealand:G

Filming Locations:

Isleworth, Middlesex, England, UK

Company:

London Film Productions

Trivia:

Graham Greene chose Harry Lime's surname because it "reminded him of the quicklime where murderers were buried."

Goofs:

Continuity: The position of Anna's neck ribbon when she and Holly first talk.

Quotes:

Harry Lime: Nobody thinks in terms of human beings. Governments don't. Why should we? They talk about the people and the proletariat, I talk about the suckers and the mugs - it's the same thing. They have their five-year plans, so have I.
Martins: You used to believe in God.
Harry Lime: Oh, I still do believe in God, old man. I believe in God and Mercy and all that. But the dead are happier dead. They don't miss much here, poor devils.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Top Secret (1952)

Soundtrack:

The Third Man Theme

A glorious thriller

Carol Reed's The Third Man is set in post-war Vienna- a hypnotic city, which is in consideration of the mountains of rubble and general sorrow of the are- and stars Joseph Cotten as Holly, a writer of hokey B-Western novels who's come to visit an old chum named Harry Lime. He finds out Lime is dead, but that there is more to his old friend than he knew since before the war, along with Lime's girl Anna (a sympathetic character?). Then when the revelation is shown of Lime's face on a darkened street, the film reaches an elegance rarely seen today in pictures.

Orson Welles, who plays Harry Lime, has in fact a role much like a cameo, having a speech with Cotten on a Ferris Wheel. Even before his "cuckoo clock" finale, we get the sense this is one of these classic scenes of all time, leading up to an unforgettable chase in a sewer. Along with precise, Oscar Winning cinematography, and an ever-entrancing musical score, The Third Man is one of the essentials for movie buffs. A++