The Third Man (50th Anniversary Edition) - Criterion Collection

If you think the Devil is fascinating, then this is the movie for you.

Heralded as a masterpiece, the only thing masterful about this movie is it does a good job of expressing the point of view of persons who think other persons who are moral, normal and physically plain make for a dreary world, while persons who are physically attractive, street-smart, daring, and often, morally compromised, make the world interesting, and life worth living.

Jesus Christ said that if we don't hate our lives, and this world, than we can have no part with Him. People who reject Christ's words look for ways to make life worthwhile, and many of them settle for all-that-glitters, mistaking it for gold.

The "masterly" technique used here is simple - the protagonist is played by Joseph Cotton, an actor deliberately chosen for his mild manner and less than striking appearance. Errol Flynn or Humphrey Bogart he is not. Cotton cannot light up the screen because he is not supposed to. Moreover, he arrives in Vienna almost broke; a failed third-rate novelist - the guy is hapless. Cotton is supposed to represent the inoffensive but also unexciting normal American man of his day, with predictable responses and a WASP moral code. However, the viewer is not supposed to be conscious of what Cotton represents, at least not early on in the film. Almost never is the chief protagonist in any story a weak character, so even though Cotton's character, Holly, starts off weak, the audience is expecting big things from him.

He meets a woman who may have known his friend, Harry; Harry who was supposed to host him in Vienna, Austria but has been killed in an accident. The woman, though attractive, is portrayed as nothing special at first. However, as the story develops the screenwriter subtly shapes the woman into someone very attractive to male and female viewers, owing to her vulnerability, her desire to avoid repatriation to communist Russia, and other devices that make her irresistible. As she grows more striking, hapless Holly begins to look more and more the rube.

Eventually Harry, played by Orson Wells, is introduced to the audience. The audience, now panting for a male protagonist worthy of the fascinating female is refreshed with a long cool drink when Wells lights up the screen. Problem is, Harry, Well's character, is a deeply morally-compromised person. He has the blood of hundreds, perhaps even thousands of innocent people, including small children, on his hands. He is also the woman's former lover. Though the woman is in Vienna illegally, and obviously has loose sexual mores, and though Harry is, in effect, a mass murderer, the script is written in such as way that we are supposed to admire the woman and Harry. Of course, try as he might to be someone special, we come to view the straight arrow, plain-man Holly as just perennially one step behind; simply not as "with it"; not as hip, not as daring, and certainly not a potentially interesting sexual partner. Harry, on the other hand, may be responsible for the death of infants, but doggonit, he is fascinating, and wouldn't he be exciting to have sex with him...that's how were supposed to react.

In many ways this film is sick and twisted. And for you bored-with-life hip, lefties out there who are awed by this movie, I just want you to know that I am proud to be a plain-vanilla, boring, morally straight guy; the kind that responds when you need a policeman or firefighter; the kind who won't stab you in the back or steal your girl when your not looking. As I pass by outside the bar you frequent I'll see you, Mr. or Ms. Hipster, pretending you're in the fast lane as you sit on the bar seat in the smoke-filled bar, slyly trying to hook-up with a twenty-something member of the opposite sex, packing a hidden STD. Bon Voyage!

I was quite impressed with the blu-ray transfer. The last time I'd seen this film was when Criterion released it on DVD for the first time. Although the print still has some major blemishes on it, overall the image is free of most of those pesky little artifacts. I would say it is 98% clean. The grain level varies throughout, sometimes becoming quite intense, almost overpowering, but that is part of the original film's elements, not because of the transfer. Detail is quite excellent, revealing little details in people's clothing and hair, as well as all of the sets and locations. The mono sound design is clean and clear, especially the dialogue. One thing that is nice about the higher bitrate encode potential on blu-ray is that dialogue becomes far more natural sounding and more intelligible than what you get from a DVD. This is definitely the best I've ever seen The Third Man look and sound, which made the experience all the more thrilling.

In 1950, Carol Reed's "The Third Man" would gain worldwide recognition for its story, cinematography and it's soundtrack. Winning the 1949 Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, the film would win a British Academy Award for Best Film and an Academy Award for "Best Black and White Cinematography".

Directed by Carol Reed (The Running Man", "Oliver!", "Follow Me"), "The Third Man" is an adaptation of a novela by Graham Greene ("The Quiet American", "Double Take", "Strike It Rich") who also penned the original screenplay. The film would feature music by Anton Karas and cinematography by Robert Krasker ("The Criminal", "Cry Wolf" and "The Quiet American").

But the film would also receive top honors with the film being selected by the British French Institute as the best British Film of the 20th Century, 57th on the American Film Institute's list of top American films and is regard by cinema fans as one of the great films made of all time.

Although released on DVD from THE CRITERION COLLECTION in the past, the film has now underwent through modern restoration and was released on Blu-ray in Dec. 2008.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

"The Third Man" is presented in 1080p High Definition with an aspect ratio of 1:33:1. According to Criterion, "The picture has been slightly windowboxed to ensure that the maximum image is visible on all monitors. On widescreen televisions, black bars will appear on the left and right of the image to maintain the proper screen format. This high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a restored 35 mm time-grain master positive."

As with most Criterion Blu-ray releases, the company also had thousands of instances of dirt, debris and scratches removed using the MTI Digital Restoration System.

The picture quality, although in black and white, looks incredible for a film created in 1949. Black are nice and deep but you can see a lot more detail in the surroundings.

Suffice to say, THE CRITERION COLLECTION releases films with how the director intended the film to be. There is no DNR (digital noise reduction) and no softness and the film keeps the grain and retains its film-like quality. The film just looks beautiful on Blu-ray! I didn't own the previous Criterion release on DVD, fans of the film have commented that this Blu-ray release features the definitive picture quality for the "The Third Man".

Although Robert Krasker's cinematography was criticized at the time for using an tilted/angled view, fans have shown their appreciation for Krasker's artistic style. I personally enjoyed the cinematography of the film.

As for audio, the soundtrack was mastered at 24-bit from a 35mm optical soundtrack and audio restoration tools were used to reduce clicks, pops, hiss and crackle. The audio has an uncompressed monaural soundtrack. My Onkyo receiver received a multichannel signal (via bitstream) but overall, audio dialogue is understandable and clear. And Anton Karas's music sounds absolutely beautiful.

Subtitles are featured in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"The Third Man" comes with the following special features:

* Audio commentary by filmmaker Steve Soderbergh and screenwriter Tony Gilroy - A commentary that is quite complimentary of the film and also discussing about the film and some factual tidbits.
* Audio commentary by film scholar Dana Polan - An informative and entertaining commentary by the film scholar Dana Polan. No slowdown, Polan is very good at describing each scene quite well.
* Peter Bogdanovich Introduction - (4:39) An introduction by Peter Bogdanovich about why he enjoys the film, a discussion with Orson Welles and more.
* The Third Man Treatment - (1:45:12) Novelist Graham Greene composed the first draft of "The Third Man" in story form. The treatment, abridged is read by Richard Clarke.
* Shadowing "The Third Man" - (1:33:14) Frederick Baker's 90-minute documentary shown at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival and narrated by John Hurt. Revisiting locations and interviews with assistant director Guy Hamilton and archival footage of Alexander Korda, David O. Selznick and Carol Reed.
* Who Was the Third Man? - (29:14) The 50th Anniversary of the Austrian premiere of "The Third Man" commissioned by the Vienna Sewer Department (Wien-Kanal) and was written by George Markus and directed by Beat Talberg and aired on Austrian and German television back in 2000.
* The Third Man On the Radio - Featuring "The Lives of Harry Lime: A Ticket to Tangiers" (an episode written by Orson Welles in which Harry Lime would recall an adventure from his past) which was broadcast on August 24, 1951. The second radio program included is "Lux Radio Theatre presents The Third Man" (a radio show featuring Joseph Cotton, Evelyn Keyes, Ben Wright, Edgar Barrier, David O. Selznick starlet Irene Winston and Ted De Corsia as Harry Lime). This aired back on April 9, 1951.
* Insider Information - (8:46) A production history featuring writer Charles Drazin who wrote "In Search of the Third Man" featuring a gallery of rare behind-the-scenes photos. Voice-over by Robb Webb.
* U.S. vs UK Version - Because their were a difference of opinion between the US and UK release, US producer Daniel O. Selznick had eleven minutes cut from the US version and there are slight differences. For the first time, both the US(1:23, featuring Joseph Cotton's voice-over) and UK opening (1:41, featuring Carol Reed's voice over) are featured.
* "Kind to Foreigners" - (5:24) Scenes from "The Third Man" left untranslated to show Holly Martin's confusion of the surroundings of postwar Vienna.
* Original U.S. Trailer - (2:22) The original theatrical U.S. trailer.
* Original UK Press Book - Using your remote, you can cycle through images from the UK press book of "The Third Man". From the archive of director Carol Reed's papers at the BFI Special Collections.
* From the Archives - Featuring Anton Karas at London's Empress Club (2:56 - Classic footage of Anton Karas performing "The Third Man"), In the Underworld of Vienna (1:50 - Classic footage of the command brigade who capture criminals in sewers) and The Third Man's Vienna (using your remote, you can cycle through images of post-war Vienna).
* Graham Greene: The Hunted Man - (56:25) A rare profile from 1968 of novelist and screenwriter Graham Greene which was shown on the BBC arts program "Omnibus".

JUDGMENT CALL:

After watching "The Third Man", I must admit that so many things were going through my mind. For one, the talents were well-cast, the cinematography and the amount of cuts and smooth editing was fantastic, the music was memorable and most of all the storyline was well-planned.

Because the film took place right after World War II, the destruction of Vienna and what was going on at the time with people having to sell their jewelry and belongings just to get bread and butter due to the heavy rationing at the time is captured. The penicillin stolen from American medical areas and were meant to take care of the wounded and sick but being sold in the black market and that story of racketeering is captured in the film. Also, how Vienna was separated into four zones is integrated into the storyline of the film through the various shots of key locations was well-planned.

So, in some sense, this film is also a snapshot of a time in history and why it remains so popular in the minds of many cinema fans but also a sign of pain for some who live in Austria and seeing how things were at the time the film was being shot. Even many historians on Vienna's history are impressed of how much the film captures that difficult time in Vienna history and also has actual footage from that time.

But there are just so many memorable scenes that stick in my head. From the music (which was #1 in the charts and started a zither craze) to certain shots where shadows were effectively used, Vienna was well integrated into the film and who can forget the child screaming after his father is killed and trying to place the blame on the wrong person. Or even the final shot of the film. There are so many moments in this film that stay strong in your head.

But what I found so fantastic about this release from THE CRITERION COLLECTION was the amount of bonus content. It's one thing to get audio commentaries but two documentaries, radio shows and many more. That's awesome to receive so much content for an older film such as "The Third Man". Bonus content that actually is quite entertaining, especially when you find out how volatile things were behind-the-scenes. Surprising to say the least.

Overall, "The Third Man" is a film and a Blu-ray release worth having in your HD collection. It's also important to note that because THE CRITERION COLLECTION has recently lost the rights to this film, if you want to own the definitive version of this film, you better get it now before the prices skyrocket for the Blu-ray or DVD release.

"The Third Man - THE CRITERION COLLECTION" is highly recommended!

The Third Man must be ranked with Double Indemnity as the finest film noir ever made. It is an astonishing movie. The music is the first thing that catches and holds the attention of the viewer. Anton Karas's zither supports the action of the film from first to last. At times the music dominates and controls the mood and enhances suspense as the story unfolds. Otherwise the music plays quietly in the background supporting the dialogue of the eclectic cast of characters. The movie stars Orson Welles, but we don't see him until late in the film in what must be the most astonishing entrance by an actor in the history of cinema. I won't spoil this surprise for the first-time viewer, but only say again that Welles' long awaited entrance was worth the wait.

The underrated Joseph Cotten (Holly Martins) has more screen time than any other actor and he does a creditable job anchoring the story line. Cotten is confronted with a criminal dossier compiled on his friend Welles (Harry Lime) that he refuses to believe until the dogged policeman (Trevor Howard) provides indisputable evidence of Welles' evil doings. The beautiful and mysterious Alida Valli loves Welles and to the end stays true to him. In one of the most creative and effective endings in the history of the movies, we watch and wonder what Valli will do as she leaves the cemetery that begins and ends the film. Like Cotton, we watch her as she approaches us. We are not disappointed with the perfect ending to a great film.

The Third Man was shot on location in Vienna - mostly at night - and the ruins of the city play an important part in the development of the story line. This is a "noir"; the shadows cast on the walls of the ruined buildings and in the underground sewer where a great a final chase scene takes place support the mystery and suspense director Carol Reed takes great pains to create from opening frame until closing credits. Welles slips in and out of the shadows; he is seen only once in daylight at the justly famous Ferris Wheel confrontation with Cotten where Welles talks about the expendable dots (people) on the ground far bellow that he is willing to sacrifice for personal profit.

I had seen The Third Man once before and thought I knew the story line. I was unprepared for the revelation this film provided on second viewing. Perhaps because I had some remembrance of what was going to happen next, I was able to focus my attention on the skill of Carol Reed in telling his story. Lighting, camera angles, music, dialogue all come together perfectly in The Third Man, which, like a great novel, deserves a third and even fourth viewing. Perfection is the operative word for this magnificent film.

The Third Man is a work of art. The black and white cinematography by Robert Krasker makes for beautiful, impressive and memorable images. The music composed and played on zither by Anton Karas is even more impressive and memorable giving the movie an enchanting and even haunting effect.
Also memorable and impressive are performances by Joseph cotten, Alida Valli, and Orson Welles. This movie is a true classic. Once you see it, you can't forget it. You will want to watch it again and again.