#75: THE THIRD MAN (1949)

THRILL SCALE 1-10

8

HAVE I SEEN IT BEFORE?

Yes, once, within the last few years

BEST SEQUENCE

The Ferris wheel scene

BEST LINE

"In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE

99%

ROTTEN TOMATOES CRITICS CONSENSUS

"This atmospheric thriller is one of the undisputed masterpieces of cinema, and boasts iconic performances from Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles."

IMDB SYNOPSIS

"Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, Harry Lime."

THOUGHTS

• The first time I saw it, it didn't do much for me. I heard it recommended on the Judge John Hodgman podcast, and I watched it on a train, and I thought it was just fine. Maybe it needed a rewatch though, or maybe the viewing conditions just weren't ideal the first time; upon rewatch, this is a really excellent movie. I considered giving it an 8.5 on the Thrill Scale, but I think I'll leave it at 8
• I'm going to avoid spoilers, so by necessity I'll need to avoid talking about some of the more iconic aspects of the movie, but just know that they're iconic for a reason
• Great cinematography. I loved all the skewed camera angles (called Dutch Angles if we want to be pedantic about it)
• I also thought it was very clever to have so much German dialogue with no subtitles - the main character, Holly, is an American who struggles to understand what people are telling him at times, so we're right there with him
• So many great secondary characters, all of them fun to watch. I especially liked Calloway, the British Military police officer
• There's a climactic foot chase through the Vienna sewer system, and while it was very effectively shot, it seemed to run on a little long for me
• I loved the downbeat, pessimistic final scene - a perfect ending for the movie
• Finally, one last iconic piece of the movie is the score, performed on zither by Anton Karas. The music is certainly unique, and while I didn't always feel like the music matched the action on screen, perhaps that was entirely the point

Up next: Ridley Scott's back, and it's a big one. Blade Runner from 1982