Third Man, The

Third Man, The

1949

Who was Harry Lime? And who killed him? And is he really dead? These are just a few of the questions writer-turned-sleuth Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) tries to answer as he trolls the shadowy streets of postwar Vienna. Director Carol Reed turns Graham Greene's classic mystery into a film noir without equal. You'll be humming the zither theme for weeks!

Carol Reed's Classic Thriller

JBscale
95
Superior

Film Detail

Genre
Thriller - Mystery
Length
1 hr. 44 mins.
US Theatrical Release
February 2, 1950
US Box Office
$596,349 (#6239 of 7378)
Global Office
No Data Available
Rating
NR
Not Rated

Collection Detail

Edition
3-Disc StudioCanal Collection & Special Edition Criterion Collection #64 DVD & Digital
Resolution | Digital Platform
Aspect Ratio
FS 1.33:1
Audio
English: DTS-HD Master Mono
English: DD 1.0
Studio
Lions Gate Films
Released
September 21, 2010
Acquired Date
June 27, 2014
Times Seen
1 Time
Last Watched
August 19, 2007

Actors

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

Directors

Carol Reed
Carol Reed

Producers

Carol Reed
Carol Reed
Alexander Korda
Alexander Korda
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick

Writers

Graham Greene (II)
Graham Greene (II)

Awards & Accolades

  • 1950 Oscar : Cinematography
  • 1997 AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Movies - Rank: #57
  • 2008 IMDB Top 250: Film - Rank: #46
  • 2009 IMDB Top 250: Film - Rank: #55
  • 2010 IMDB Top 250: Film - Rank: #65
  • 2011 IMDB Top 250: Film - Rank: #68
  • 2012 IMDB Top 250: Film - Rank: #68
  • 2013 IMDB Top 250: Film - Rank: #91
  • 2018 IMDB Top 250: Film - Rank: #133
  • 2019 IMDB Top 250: Film - Rank: #170
  • 2022 IMDB Top 250: Film - Rank: #185

Special Features

Commentaries
  • film scholar Dana Polan
  • filmmaker Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Tony Gilroy
Documentaries
  • Shadowing "The Third Man" - a ninety-minute feature documentary on the making of the film
  • Who Was the Third Man? - a thirty-minute Austrian documentary featuring interviews with cast and crew
Other
  • Illustrated production history with rare behind-the-scenes photos, original UK press book, and U.S. trailer
  • A look at the untranslated foreign dialogue in the film
  • Abridged recording of Graham Greene?s treatment, read by actor Richard Clarke
  • Actor Joseph Cotten?s alternate opening voice-over narration for the U.S. version
  • Archival footage of postwar Vienna
  • Booklet featuring essays by Luc Sante, Charles Drazin, and Philip Kerr
  • English Subtitles
  • Graham Greene: The Hunted Man - an hour-long, 1968 episode of the BBC's Omnibus series
  • The Third Man on the radio - the 1951 ?A Ticket to Tangiers? episode of The Lives of Harry Lime series, written and performed by Orson Welles; and the 1951 Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of The Third Man
  • Video introduction by writer-director Peter Bogdanovich
  • Audio Commentary
  • Featurettes

Other Recommendations

User Reviews

Ratings

JB Users
90
Superior
RT Fresh Certified
99%
Tomatometer
95 votes
RT Fresh Certified
93%
Popcornmeter
3,387 votes
METASCORE
97
30 votes
IMDb RATING
8.1/10
187,531 votes