Critic Rating
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Director
Carol Reed
Cast
Joseph Cotten,
Alida Valli,
Orson Welles,
Trevor Howard,
Bernard Lee,
Paul Hörbiger
Genre
Thriller,
Mystery
Holly Martins, a writer of pulp Westerns, arrives penniless in postwar Vienna. His childhood friend Harry Lime promised him a job—but Harry is dead. Holly grows suspicious after learning of a "third man" present at the death. His investigation is met with interference, not least from Harry’s beautiful and grief-stricken lover, Anna.
THE THIRD MAN’s reputation as a film noir masterpiece is so well-deserved. Both the striking cinematography – with some famous shots I will now never forget – and the incredible atmosphere of suspense and intrigue leave you unable to look away from the action.
One of the best of the best in all of film noir, and film in general. The twists and turns of the story are enough to keep the viewer enthralled, but the amazing ambience created by the set design, cinematography, and score brings this movie to the level of an absolute masterpiece.
Such an iconic classic, and for good reason. This film gets better every single time I watch it—the stark and shadowed cinematography gives this Reed film the perfect edge it needs. Orson Welles is wonderfully eery in this as well, and the pacing keeps you on the edge of your seat the entire time.
The Guardian
A noir classic.
The Telegraph
Throughout the film the sense of Vienna as a frazzled echo of its glorious past is underpinned by Reed's greatest trouvaille – the discovery of Anton Karas's zither melodies, used as the only musical accompaniment. Half-jaunty, half-melancholic, they epitomise, like the film itself, a world gone sadly to seed.
Salon by Andrew O'Hehir
What has perhaps been lost over the years, however, is the cultural freshness and vitality of Reed’s masterpiece...The Third Man is important not just because of its technique but because of its theme.
Empire by Ian Nathan
The Third Man finally endures because it offers a simple thing that so many modern films neglect: the power of story...Revolutionary film noir with a clutch of stunning central turns.
Variety
Supporting characters turn in excellent portrayals. Camera work on an exceptionally high plane, and in his painstaking direction Carol Reed lives up to his high reputation.
Portland Oregonian by Jeff Baker
It's an exciting experience, dazzling and entertaining and thought-provoking. I saw it at Cinema 21 last week and immediately wanted to see it again. I couldn't, so I started researching and read everything I could about it. It's truly great.
The New York Times by Bosley Crowther
Mr. Reed has brilliantly packaged the whole bad 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. His devilishly mischievous humor also runs lightly through the film, touching the darker depressions with little glints of the gay or macabre. [3 Feb 1950, p.29]
Chicago Tribune by Michael Phillips
A triumph of disparate tones, colors and intentions. Like many, I have loved this thriller of conscience and betrayal most of my moviegoing life...Its brand of romantic fatalism is particularly seductive to teenage males, I think, and those who never fully recover from that moviegoing state of being.
Empire by William Thomas
This will haunt you. The style, the plot, the character and of course ...that tune...
Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert
Of all the movies I have seen, this one most completely embodies the romance of going to the movies.
Variety by Staff (Not Credited)
Supporting characters turn in excellent portrayals. Camera work on an exceptionally high plane, and in his painstaking direction Carol Reed lives up to his high reputation.
The Guardian by Philip French
A noir classic.
The Telegraph by Alan Stanbrook
Throughout the film the sense of Vienna as a frazzled echo of its glorious past is underpinned by Reed's greatest trouvaille – the discovery of Anton Karas's zither melodies, used as the only musical accompaniment. Half-jaunty, half-melancholic, they epitomise, like the film itself, a world gone sadly to seed.
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