Saturday, November 3, 2012

221. The Third Man

The Third Man
1949
Directed by Carol Reed










I watched this film quite awhile ago when I was still trying to figure out why everyone made such a fuss about Orson Welles.  He actually does not direct this movie and only briefly shows up for about five minutes.  Of course, he still steals the show.

A man discovers his friend is dead and begins investigating.  He gets much more than he bargains for!

This movie actually feels really modern; you get a hot broad, political intrigue, heroes, and villains.  In fact, if it wasn't for the film being in black and white, I am pretty sure I could convince people my age that this came out last year.  I doubt they know who Orson Welles or Joseph Cotten are.  Hmmmmm….

My superiority complex aside, this is a fantastic movie.  Hats off to Carol Reed, who is particularly good at keeping you in suspense depending on what he does or doesn't show.  In fact, look out for the cat scene because that is one of Roger Ebert's favorite camera shots of all time.  Great twists and entertaining to the last minute.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Orson Welles was two weeks late for filming.  What a diva.

Carol Reed operated on around two hours of sleep every day while filming.

#57 in AFI's top 100.



7 comments:

  1. Awesome movie. I have watched this several times and always enjoy it. The filming is just magnificent. Orson Welles may actually be the least reason to watch this movie. If you did present this movie to somebody today they might tell you that the music is strangely familiar.

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  2. I find it hard to accept that I've been following your blog for so long and never made a reply to this one, one of my all time favourites.
    I'm not so sure I'd class our lead female (Anna is it?) as "a hot broad", but yes, it's full of all the other stuff.
    One of those films you dread that some idiot will think of remaking one day. I mean .. Nicholas cage or Mel Gibson as Holly Martin. The thing nightmares are made of...

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  3. I was told once that the three greatest cinema entrances ever were Omar Sharif in Lawrence of Arabia, Ursula Andress in Dr. No and Orson Welles in this

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  4. Dessie .. well, that's certainly a good threesome... Although Dr. No's .. what was it? .. a voice out of eyeshot simply says '£1,000,000' was purely Ian Fleming's, not the film makers .. so only half points for that ...

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  5. So, what we're saying is, that poor Ursula wasn't even the best entrance in that film, let alone the entirety of cinema history? Ouch!

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    1. Sorry, my error, I misread.. I was thinking we were on about Dr No's entrance.

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  6. What about the Searchers? That was pretty awesome.

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