Director: Carol Reed Writers: Graham Green (story), Alexander Korda (story), Graham Greene (screenplay), Carol Reed, Orson Welles
Release Date: 3 December 1949 (UK)
Genre: Film Noir/ Mystery/ Thriller
Producers: Hugh Perceval (associate producer), Carol Reed (producer), Alexander Korda (producer), David O. Selznick (producer)
Production Companies: London Film Productions, British Lion Film Corporation
Distributors: London Film Productions, Selznick Releasing Organization, Sascha-Verleih, Twentieth Century- Fox Film Corporation, Action Gitanes, ACFK, Deutsche London-Film Verleih, Electric Pictures Ltd, Optimum Releasing, Rialto Pictures, Alpha Video Distributors, BIM Distribuzione, Canal +, Contender Entertainment Group, Continental Home Video, The Criterion Collection, Home Vision Entertainment, Jef Films International, Lion International Films, Optimum Home Entertainment, Spiegel Media GmbH, Universal Pictures Benelux, VCI Home Video, Vintage Video, Warner Home Video
Sound Mix: Mono (western electric recording)
The Third Man is an interesting Film Noir as it includes quite ambiguous characters; there is a femme fatale who appears deviant, manipulative yet glamorous. the fact that she is an actress strengthens her danger and makes the viewer question her; she is very enigmatic also. The character Harry Lime is shown through the use of music; it is repeated throughout the film and sort of connotes him and the kind of person he is.
The establishing shot used in The Third man is of the location- very similar to the film Psycho. However, it is followed by various shot of Vienna. The director Carol Reed filmed this in post-war Vienna meaning that everything that you see in the mise en scene was already there. The film talks of a fragmented city that is divided into zones for different countries- this reflects the actual circumstances of the time.
Music, followed by a voice over starts the film, engaging the audience. Shots of a black market appear near the beginning showing illegal trading and suggesting an ominous and crime ridden city. Also shown in the mise en scene are beautiful statues and buildings- this contrasts with shot of the illegal goods being sold and suggests that corruption and danger lies under the surface of what you see. This is backed up by a shot of a body floating in the water. Close-ups are used to show the exchanging of money and a mans arm with numerous watches on it; at no point do you see the faces of the criminals, only the hands. The close-up is utilised in all thriller films and is a key feature needed to see important details of the film. For example: a facial expression, a person's hand holding a gun etc. A steam train is used at the beginning of this film, they were used a lot in contemporary thrillers.
The character Holly Martins walks under a ladder- this is bad luck according to superstition and could have been used as a premonition of future events. Use of shadow is also shown a lot in this film to suggest that there's maybe two sides to him or that maybe something or someone is watching or following him. The shadows casted are large and unmissable and are utilised in the film as a convention of thriller films. There is a high angle shot of Holly Martins, making him seem insignificant as the shadow is bigger than him and the German man talking to him from the top of the stairs is portrayed as inferior as Holly is new in town. The low angle shot of the German man makes him look bigger also, as if her is peering/towering over Holly. All of this is shot on a large staircase- a generic feature if a thriller film.
The femme fatale is an actress and Harry Lime's lover, she is a suspicious character. Her clothing is generic of a femme fatale as she is glamorous and feminine and wears a hat to cover her face when needed. Other costumes featured in The Third Man are leather coats, trilby hats, long coats etc- all of which are significant to the Film Noir sub-genre. The scene of Harry Lime's funeral is unusual- the music isn't sad and no one is crying. This raises suspicion and creates questions of the sincerity of his death. The last time Holly Martins saw Harry was 7 years previous to his death; a lot could have changed during the time that past since seeing each other.
A tilt shot focuses on the British man- the canted angle shot suggesting disorientation. The British attitude to Americans is shown when the policeman says "just a scribbler with too much to drink in him" This also shows the the British officer is the confident one. A titled shot is also used as Holly enters the door of the femme fatales dressing room after watching her perform at the theatre.
Holly and the femme fatale return to see the German man that lives in Harry Lime's building and Holly peers out of the window- a high angle shot of the street is used, it is wet and shadowy. Wet streets are conventionally used in thrillers as well as the use of chiaroscuro lighting. The viewers suspicion of the femme fatale is heightened when she answers the phone and pretends that nobody talked when in fact the audience knows that Harry Lime was on the phone. There is a child in this scene too, he is an important character as he listens in at their conversation. The shot is a low angle from the kids point of view and it is also tilted; everything looks bigger. When Holly and Anna (femme fatale) return to see the man one evening, there is a crowd around his building and they find out that he is dead. The Little boy screams at Holly and runs after him as if he murdered the German man. The kid's shadow is large and chiaroscuro lighting is used; the boy appears innocent at first glance but his behaviour is devious; he is like a little devil and his intelligence is quite terrifying.
The film doesn't include subtitles for the parts where some characters speak german; this is so the audience are meant to feel like Holly- like hey are outsiders, foreigners. Holly thinks that Harry was murdered- this is a logical notion on his part as crime flourishes in fragmented cities like Vienna so it is a likely scenario. Especially given Harry's past. Wet, shadowed cobbled streets are shown in the mise en scene throughout the film to show that the city is potentially dangerous. The rule of thirds is use as well as chiaroscuro lighting. It is a low angle shot of the femme fatale but half of her body is shadowed- all of these features make the shot more interesting and follow the conventions of the thriller genre and film noir. A tilt shot is used when Holly and Anna are running down the stairs from the young boy; in this shot they are quite vulnerable.
Holly is quite a naive character as he is trying to help out his supposedly dead friend Harry but he doesn't know that Harry watered down penicillin and sold it through the black market, killing loads of people; he was a mass murderer. As Holly walks down a cobbled street there is a shot of a dark door way with a cat sitting on the step- cats are thought to be spiritual and known to be bad luck. The shot is slightly tilted, showing the viewers that there is something suspicious about it; it then moves to a close up of a pair of feet and the cat. The feet are Harry Lime's; his body and face are shadowed and the mise en scene is mostly black until his face is lit and the camera zooms into his face, he smirks and his expression is cheeky and suspicious as if he doesn't think that what he has done is wrong. Harry's music is played to reassure the audience that it is him. Holly's facial expression looks like he has seen a ghost which is ironic as he thought Harry was dead- this also proves Holly's naivety because he was wrong about his friend.
There is a low angle tilt shot of his shadow on the wall. Harry has metaphorically been a ghost to Holly throughout the film as a large shadow like Harry's followed him during the film, starting with the one on the staircase at the beginning of the film. Harry runs away, proving that he is guilty of something; his dark clothing suggests that he is a hunted man. He tries to hide by going underground into the sewage system; a claustrophobic space- this is another convention of thriller films. He then runs through a tunnel underground with the police and Holly after him, the tunnel suggests that they are closing in on him. The sewer could be a metaphor for Harry because he's a rat, a criminal. He is then trapped. Trying to climb the staircase, he struggles and shows vulnerability and finally justice is served.
The film follows a circular narrative because it ends back at the funeral. Holly gets out of a car to see Anna but she walks straight past him and down the road into a vanishing point. This shows her detached and unreadable character as the audience would have seen her fairly close relationship with Holly and so her actions at the end are quite shocking, reminding the viewers that she is the femme fatale.
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