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Tripwire Reviews Carol Reed’s The Third Man Back On The Big Screen In The UK

Published

2 years ago

September 8, 2024

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A Twist Of Lime

Tripwire’s editor-in-chief Joel Meadows reviews Carol Reed’s The Third Man, back in UK cinemas to celebrate its 75th anniversary…

The Third Man
Director: Carol Reed
Stars: Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard

2024 is the 75^th anniversary of Carol Reed’s classic British noir and StudioCanal have just released a restored version showing in UK cinemas for this cinematic milestone.

We caught it at the screening room at London’s Charlotte Street Hotel in Fitzrovia with a Q and A introduction with Angela Allen, who was script supervisor on the film as well as many other classic movies. The introduction really added a great deal to the viewing experience with Allen offering some interesting context and some wonderful stories about the making of this film.

I have seen The Third Man countless times at home but there is something about catching it on a big screen which really adds to the viewing experience. There is a dark elegance about this film and Reed in collaboration with talented cinematographer Robert Krasker really brings post-war Vienna to life with rare flair. Welles, even though he isn’t onscreen a great deal here, has a unique magnetism as Harry Lime, the black market criminal at the centre of this web of intrigue. The rest of the cast including a pre-Bond Bernard Lee and Trevor Howard as the sardonic no-nonsense British military policeman offer a touch of class here too. Cotten is very good as the slightly naïve American pulp Western writer Holly Martins. There is something uniquely British about The Third Man: it’s a dark fable about a world that is crumbling and propped up by criminal enterprises. The story is classic Graham Greene too with its themes of betrayal and men who have fallen from grace.