This is a classic film noir thriller from the pen of Graham Greene, which has been likened to Hitchcock by many critics. The film, made in 1949, is superbly cast, filmed and directed by Carol Reed (the director of such films as The Stars Look Down, Night train to Munich, The Way Ahead and Odd Man Out). It follows a storyline that leaves one guessing to the very end, and the ending scene is one of classic anticlimax - the filming of the scene itself is quite groundbreaking as well! As a matter of interest, The Third Man was the only original story Graham Greene wrote specifically for the screen; though with the involvement of Welles and Alexander Korda in the project, one can expect some influence from them on the screenplay!

A moderately successful American crime writer, Holly Martins (Joseph Cotton) arrives in post-war Vienna on the invitation of an old friend, Harry Lime (Orson Welles). However, upon his arrival, he finds that Harry is already dead. But after attending his funeral, Holly ?smells a rat? - is Harry dead or not? Not being able to get any straight answers from Lime?s former colleagues, enemies (many!) nor authorities, he decides to carry out his own investigation. And what he is going to find out is not necessarily pretty!

The last thing I am going to do is expand on what is a rather thin, but gripping, storyline - it would be a pity to spoil the plot! What I can let you know is that towards the end of what is quite a seedy-looking storyline is a gripping chase through the streets and sewers of Vienna, with some spectacular black and white photography that is awe-inspiring.

The casting is nothing short of brilliant - with old favourites Cotton and Welles ?made? for their roles (though they weren?t necessarily the first considered!); Alida Valli is beautiful, and gives a beautifully understated performance as the mystery woman, with other excellent performances by Trevor Howard and Bernard Miles rounding out the picture perfectly. The cinematography is great, and the direction and editing superb.

THE EXTRAS

This particular package is lavishly decked out with a large array of special features ? some of which I will expand upon:

? Original theatrical trailer - two minutes or so

? Re-release trailer - one and a half minutes

? Alternative US opening sequence - around two and a half minutes including opening credits - quite scratchy with faults. It is around a minute shorter than the original with significant changes to the introductory narrative and a couple less visuals

? Two radio plays - ?The Lives of Harry Lime: A Ticket to Tangiers? (29 minutes) and ?Lux Radio Theatre Presents The Third Man? (60 minutes, including advertisements for Lux soap!). No more than a single graphic to each featurette, these are an interesting pair of plays - the first an aberration of Welles? imagination; the second a fairly faithful reproduction of the screenplay to radio. An interesting side feature

? Photo Gallery - not a particularly popular feature to me at any time, especially when it has to be manually navigated! This one has a gallery of 40 photos, mainly on-set

? Sewer footage - a one minute Austrian newsreel type featurette highlighting the use of Vienna?s sewers as a main feature of the film (with English subtitles)

? Anton Karas - a two minute featurette picturing firstly a young Karas, then Anton playing two short pieces on the zither in his restaurant. A strange little snippet that starts nowhere and ends in the same place?

CONCLUSION

A classic film noir piece in which nothing quite seems as it should be - is Holly Martins? old friend, Harry Lime, dead or alive; why are the authorities so keen to find Lime; why can?t Holly get straight answers from anyone? The story is full of intrigue and dilemmas that in most case are resolved - bot not all? The closing scene is but one highlight of this old gem.