The Third Man (1949)

The Third Man is my favorite film to recommend.  It is one of my top ten favorite movies of all time, it's highly entertaining, and nearly flawless in execution.  But the #1 reason I recommend it is because most people have never heard of it.

Directed by Carol Reed, The Third Man stars Joe Cotton as the bumbling, idealistic, and mildly witty ("I haven't got a sensible name") Holly Martins.  Martins is an American who arrives in post-war Vienna with the intention of joining a friend, Harry Lime, who has invited him to help with his medical charity.  But Martins arrives only to find Lime recently deceased, having been killed in a car accident.  The shock comes when Martins discovers that Lime was under investigation by the police as a star in the black market.  Unable to believe such things about his friend, Martins decides to stick around in Vienna and clear Lime's name.

To this point everything sounds quite normal.  Simple Hollywood trope.  But this movie plays out unlike any you've ever seen, and the journey is glorious.  The wonderful screenplay by Graham Greene moves quickly and with great wit, advancing the plot while keeping the audience alternately laughing and playing the philosopher.  The acting is great, and the direction superb.  I hate when movies simply have everyone in a foriegn nation inexplicably speak English, so the decision to include dialogue in other languages (without subtitles!!) is refreshing.  If Holly Martins doesn't understand what is said WE don't understand what is said (unless you speak German or Russion or whatever, then you do.).

However, there are three things that stand out so amazingly they must have credit.  First, the soundtrack is all zither music played by Anton Karas.  This makes the movie unlike anything you've heard before, and really helps locate the action within the culture of Vienna.  Second, the biggest setpiece of the film takes place in the sewers under Vienna.  The set created for this sequence is still among the largest and most complex sets ever constructed for a movie, and the way the action is shot in that set is remarkable.  Third, have I mentioned that The Third Man also stars Orson Welles?  Honestly, he doesn't get much screen time, but Welles dominates this picture and makes it his own.  From the moment you see only his feet, to his last scene (where you see only his fingertips, a nice touch) the Third Man becomes the Orson Welles show.  And he delivers with his usual charasmatic brilliance.  I prefer Welles in this movie to his performance in Citizen Kane!

So: If you are a movie fan, be sure to watch this one.  If you like mysteries, watch this movie!  If you like Orson Welles, watch this movie!  If you like zither music, watch this movie!

Entertainment: 10/10
Artistic value: 9/10
Technical: 10/10

Overall: 10/10