The 3rd Man

This is a colossal mystery. Unless I have watched a completely different film, I can't explain why The Third Man's rating far exceeds its actual objective qualities. The story makes no sense and dully maintains the tension by listening over and over again to dialogues about one "mysterious" event. Perhaps, it was successful in its time thanks to the participation of Orson Welles, who plays a truly "mysterious" character, and also for being shot on location in a crumbling Vienna, whose narrow streets were perfect for a story full of mysteries. Today, however, the film would have a hard time fitting in, regardless of the fact that noir is sort of past its prime. I give three stars solely for the last fifteen minutes, and also out of admiration for the director, who managed to work quite skilfully with the predictable mysteries for almost 70 minutes. But this is a movie with too many mysteries for my taste. :-) 60% (07/22/2014)

Great film noir, for many people a movie that defines this genre. Orson Welles in his classic role, when he appears only for a few minutes, but completely changes the understanding of the whole plot and previous events. Great twists and absolutely unexpected music. This is something that must bring joy to film lovers. However, I can't help but feel that something is missing in order for the film to create a truly perfect impression of uniqueness. As if it were not perfectly consistent. (10/20/2013)

I've heard that British fans consider this the best film of all time. For its era, it was certainly an exceptional film, but spreading such statements among today's consumers of commercial hits would likely garner some ridicule, as time in the film industry moves quickly, and the nearly 60 years certainly show. In the late 1940s, the extensive use of exteriors and the bleak ruins of bombed-out Vienna were revolutionary and now give this thriller almost the dimension of a war documentary. Excellent performance by Orson Welles, with noteworthy cinematography and lighting, and several excellent scenes such as the wild chase across the city that surprisingly ends at a literary lecture. On the other hand, there is uneven pacing and drawn-out scenes (especially the final quarter-hour in the sewer system). Overall impression: 80%. (05/06/2007)

The Third Man has the significant disadvantage in the form of the reputation it already has. It means that the viewer approaches this with the expectation of “that best movie in British cinema history". But despite all the unarguable qualities of this picture, that isn’t what the viewer gets. You can clearly recognize Grahame Greene’s mark on this movie. Some of the best dialogs ever and a perfectly set up story with the traditional “Greenesque" disturbing second half. Too bad about the unnecessarily dragged out final chase scene. To begin with, the zither music may not seem completely appropriate for the genre, but in the end the music seems to be one of the movies biggest pluses. Immediately after the atmosphere of post-war Vienna, the skewed camera and actors. All of them, no exceptions. And then several renowned shots and one absolutely perfect scene on the Ferris wheel which I simply had to play back to myself again immediately after the movie ended. The Third Man is an excellent political thriller. I wouldn’t say it is the best of all, but it would certainly at least get into the semi-finals in any competition for first place. (02/23/2008)

For the theme of this film, I wouldn't completely dismiss it. Orson disappears and his longtime buddy accidentally appears on the scene. He falls in love with his mistress and his mistress talks for an hour ignoring about how troubled she is that Orson disappeared. But then, after an hour of the film, he suddenly appears and the biggest twist in the film happens. The essential thing about this film, however, is where and when it takes place. And that's actually the reason why I wanted to see the film. The atmosphere of post-war Vienna is incredibly strong and interesting. The camera work is excellent, some shots are even chilling. The music underscored by that Greek bouzouki is actually funny, but since it's not really mysterious, it's not a problem. (11/07/2022)