Notes on The Third Man (1949)

Director: Carol Reed
Release Date:3 September 1949 (UK)
Genre:Film-Noir Mystery Thriller
Tagline:Carol Reed's Classic Thriller
Plot:Arriving in Vienna, Holly Martins learns that his friend Harry Lime, who has invited him, recently died in a car accident.
Awards:Won Oscar. Another 2 wins & 4 nominations
User Comments: A great deal has been said about "The Third Man" by contributors to this forum. Having seen the restored copy that was shown at the Film Forum, recently, I could not resist watching this masterpiece once more when it was shown by TCM, the other night.

Cast:

Joseph Cotten
Alida Valli
Orson Welles
Trevor Howard
Bernard Lee
Paul Hörbiger
Ernst Deutsch
Siegfried Breuer
Erich Ponto
Wilfrid Hyde-White
Hedwig Bleibtreu

Notes:

To focus on camera angles, conventions of the thriller and lighting.

The film uses a lot of close-ups, this is done to focus on the emotion of the characters.

A Low angle shot is used at the beginning of the film of the femme fatal. This shows she's superior. The rule of thirds is also used, this makes the femme fatal central to the screen and therefore indicates she's significant in this scene.

Noir lighting and wet streets are used throughout the film to add interest and to make the audience aware of the genre of the film.

The mise-en-scene of the boy running down the street makes him look superior and monstrous. This is created by using lighting to create a large shadow of the boy.

Harry Lime's character isn't shown until half way through the film, this builds up the suspense and keeps the audience on the edge of their seat. Harry Lime is a mass murderer- he watered down penicillin and sold it on the black market.

A tilt shot of a doorway and a cat is used, this is used to create a sense of disorientation. The cat represents Harry Lime- playful but unpredictable. In Egypt cats are seen as Gods.

Cats are associated with witchcraft, which connotes that Harry Lime has had in the black market dealings in post war Vienna. Lime is also invovled with the death of young children in the film, due to the fact that he tempered with penicillian.
The establishing shot of Harry Lime makes his face look like a scull . He has a cheeky smile on his face which suggests he's a devious character. The first shot of Harry Lime is just of his feet, this builds up suspense and makes the audience anticipate what he's going to look like.

Harry walks through a tunnel, which is a thriller convention, as it represents claustrophobia. Harry walking through the tunnel metaphorically Harry is a rat trying to escape and scurrying through the streets.

Anna, the femme fatale, is inscrutible and at the end of the film she completely blanks out Holly Martins, this shows the audience that Anna has got away without punishment. However, her future is bleak and audiences are left to speculate about the bleak life that lies ahead (because of her misguided love for Lime).

The final sequences in the film, the shot in the Viennese sewers is an apt place for Lime to hide, because of the location's association with excrement, rats and odious smells. The sewer is used as a metaphor for Lime's corruption and lack of morality.