grafspee
Joined Apr 2004
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Reviews26
grafspee's rating
What makes this movie remarkable and unique apart from its great screenplay and cinematic effects is the musical background performed on an unusual stringed instrument, played by Anton Karas, the zither, which adds a repetitive haunting theme of suspense and intrigue to this well made production.
In post WW11 Vienna, American writer Holly Martins (played by Joseph Cotten) arrives there to seek out work with an old friend Harry Lime only to discover that he has been killed in a motor vehicle traffic accident. Martins investigates.
The plot thickens when he finds inconsistencies in the stories of witnesses to the incident with a hushed up look of fear and non cooperation on the part of those who knew Lime. It appears from the two men who picked him up from the roadway that there was a third man involved.
Martins becomes all the more suspicious after meeting his loyal girlfriend Anna (Alida Valli) already under surveillance by the Allied military powers of the city and eventually the murky world of Lime emerges in the dimly lit streets of Vienna, with his reputation as a racketeer and black market dealer being exposed.
Lime is also pursued by Major Calloway, (played by Trevor Howard), of the British Occupational Forces, who does not at first believe that Lime is still alive after attending his funeral, but then after that was his sighting by Martins in a doorway one dark night.
Eventually, Lime, (now revealed truly, for what he is and acted superbly by Orson Welles), comes into focus with a conclusion well played out in the underground sewers of Vienna where he tries to make a dash for freedom from the authorities and his flight from justice.
Interesting drama, shot perfectly in black and white filmography, backed by good performances from Welles and Cotten.
But who was the third man?
In post WW11 Vienna, American writer Holly Martins (played by Joseph Cotten) arrives there to seek out work with an old friend Harry Lime only to discover that he has been killed in a motor vehicle traffic accident. Martins investigates.
The plot thickens when he finds inconsistencies in the stories of witnesses to the incident with a hushed up look of fear and non cooperation on the part of those who knew Lime. It appears from the two men who picked him up from the roadway that there was a third man involved.
Martins becomes all the more suspicious after meeting his loyal girlfriend Anna (Alida Valli) already under surveillance by the Allied military powers of the city and eventually the murky world of Lime emerges in the dimly lit streets of Vienna, with his reputation as a racketeer and black market dealer being exposed.
Lime is also pursued by Major Calloway, (played by Trevor Howard), of the British Occupational Forces, who does not at first believe that Lime is still alive after attending his funeral, but then after that was his sighting by Martins in a doorway one dark night.
Eventually, Lime, (now revealed truly, for what he is and acted superbly by Orson Welles), comes into focus with a conclusion well played out in the underground sewers of Vienna where he tries to make a dash for freedom from the authorities and his flight from justice.
Interesting drama, shot perfectly in black and white filmography, backed by good performances from Welles and Cotten.
But who was the third man?
