The Third Man

Harry Lime has invited his best friend and fellow American Holly Martins to Vienna to work. The only problem is that Harry has died and it seems under circumstances that are suspicious. When the police start questioning Holly about Harry and his activities, some very uncomfortable truths start surfacing. It transpires that Harry has been selling doctored penicillin to hospitals and people have died. This might be the most shocking truth, until he finds out Harry is alive and on the run. Now Holly is caught in a cat and mouse game of truth and dare.

Much has been said about this film. Reviews are everywhere and many millions of words have been spent of this work, its legacy, cast and crew. I could spend much of my review on these separate components or chose say the films noir aesthetics or its post war politics captured within the film. I will not deal in any of these at all in truth instead I would simply like to talk about the restoration and why it is worth your hard earned and often spent money. You see The Third Man suffered in the US due to a problem with its copyright. Versions appeared that wanted to cash in on this masterpiece and not give back to it. The sheen was taken away as many ran to enlarge the coffers. In Europe the reverse happened. The film was treated like an untouchable gem. This meant that preservation happened only later on.

I have seen this film now probably 50 times, each soaking in the delightful spaces and bombed out places. We saw the faces of Joseph Cotton, Trevor Howard and Orson Welles in luminous black and white. They reflect like gods from another age and are framed as if they were. Each time however the transition was just ever so out, on television it was all white washed and dull. On VHS it was the crackle of sound and pop of image on the VHS. Then came DVD and this was close but the blacks weren’t black and the whites were blown out slightly. We finally have a sublime image of a sublime film on this Blu ray. This new 4k restoration brings together the deep rich imagery of post war Vienna with the vital characters that was so magically captured by director Carol Reed and cinematographer Robert Krasker.
All in all this is a masterpiece and finally looks like one.

• Feature
• Audio Commentary
• Famous Fan Featurette
• Restoring the Third Man
• Interview & Zither Performance by Cornelia Mayer
• Guardian Interview Cotton (audio)
• Guardian Interview Greene (audio)
• Joseph Cotton’s Alternative Opening (Audio)
• Shadowing The Third Man
• Dangerous Edge
• Third Man on Radio (Audio)