Linklater’s Other Orson Welles Tribute
November 25, 2009
Film Info
- United Kingdom
- 1949
- 104 minutes
- Black and White
- 1.33:1
- English
- Spine #64
Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, black-market opportunist Harry Lime—and thus begins this legendary tale of love, deception, and murder. Thanks to brilliant performances by Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, and Orson Welles; Anton Karas’s evocative zither score; Graham Greene’s razor-sharp dialogue; and Robert Krasker’s dramatic use of light and shadow, The Third Man, directed by the inimitable Carol Reed, only grows in stature as the years pass.
Cast
| Harry Lime | Orson Welles |
| Anna Schmidt | Alida Valli |
| Major Calloway | Trevor Howard |
| Kurtz | Ernst Deutsch |
| Holly Martins | Joseph Cotten |
| Porter | Paul Hoerbiger |
| Dr. Winkel | Erich Ponto |
Credits
| Director | Carol Reed |
| Producer | Carol Reed |
| Screenplay | Graham Greene |
| Cinematography | Robert Krasker |
| Presented by | Alexander Korda and David O. Selznick |
| Assistant director | Guy Hamilton |
| Editing | Oswald Hafenrichter |
| Associate producer | Hugh Perceval |
| Music | Anton Karas |
| Sets | Vincent Korda |
Disc Features
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed mono soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- Video introduction by writer-director Peter Bogdanovich
- Two audio commentaries: one by filmmaker Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Tony Gilroy, and one by film scholar Dana Polan
- Shadowing “The Third Man” (2005), a ninety-minute feature documentary on the making of the film
- Abridged recording of Graham Greene’s treatment, read by actor Richard Clarke
- “Graham Greene: The Hunted Man,” an hour-long, 1968 episode of the BBC’s Omnibus series, featuring a rare interview with the novelist
- Who Was the Third Man? (2000), a thirty-minute Austrian documentary featuring interviews with cast and crew
- 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
- Illustrated production history with rare behind-the-scenes photos, original UK press book, and U.S. trailer
- Actor Joseph Cotten’s alternate opening voice-over narration for the U.S. version
- Archival footage of postwar Vienna
- A look at the untranslated foreign dialogue in the film
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: A booklet featuring new essays by Luc Sante (DVD and Blu-ray), Charles Drazin (DVD only) and Philip Kerr (DVD only)
New cover by Lucien S. Y. Yang
Current Posts
Video
Film Essays
The Third Man: The One and Only . . .
By December 16, 2008
The Third Man (1949) is one of that handful of motion pictures (Rashomon, Casablanca, The . . . Read more »
Film Essays
Behind The Third Man
By May 21, 2007
In January 1948, British film producer Sir Alexander Korda, head of British-Lion and London . . . Read more »
Film Essays
The Third Man: Seeing Greene
By May 21, 2007
In The Third Man, Holly Martins, an alcoholic American writer of “cheap novelettes” (Oklahoma . . . Read more »
Film Essays
The Third Man
By November 08, 1999
In The Third Man—probably the greatest British thriller of the postwar era—director Carol . . . Read more »
Film Essays
The Third Man: The One and Only . . .
By December 16, 2008
The Third Man (1949) is one of that handful of motion pictures (Rashomon, Casablanca, The . . . Read more »
Film Essays
Behind The Third Man
By May 21, 2007
In January 1948, British film producer Sir Alexander Korda, head of British-Lion and London . . . Read more »
Film Essays
The Third Man: Seeing Greene
By May 21, 2007
In The Third Man, Holly Martins, an alcoholic American writer of “cheap novelettes” (Oklahoma . . . Read more »
Film Essays
The Third Man
By November 08, 1999
In The Third Man—probably the greatest British thriller of the postwar era—director Carol . . . Read more »
Clippings
Greene On-screen
January 31, 2011
On the occasion of this week’s U.K. release of a new film adaptation of Graham Greene’s . . . Read more »
Video
Clippings
Citizen and Father
November 11, 2009
When one thinks of Orson Welles, one can’t help but imagine a genius alone, monolithic—an . . . Read more »
Greene’s Critical Moment
September 03, 2009
Around these parts, Graham Greene is best known as the brilliant British novelist who also . . . Read more »
Film Essays
The Third Man: The One and Only . . .
By December 16, 2008
The Third Man (1949) is one of that handful of motion pictures (Rashomon, Casablanca, The . . . Read more »
Announcements
The Criterion Collection Goes High Definition!
December 15, 2008
Critics have had our debut Blu-ray releases for weeks, and the word is out, coast to coast: “ . . . Read more »
Press Notes
PRESS NOTES: SEEING BLU
December 11, 2008
Criterion Blu-ray editions debut next week—with Chungking Express, The Man Who Fell to Earth, . . . Read more »
Film Essays
Behind The Third Man
By May 21, 2007
In January 1948, British film producer Sir Alexander Korda, head of British-Lion and London . . . Read more »
Film Essays
The Third Man: Seeing Greene
By May 21, 2007
In The Third Man, Holly Martins, an alcoholic American writer of “cheap novelettes” (Oklahoma . . . Read more »
Web Exclusives
Listening to The Third Man
By May 21, 2007
As The Third Man’s opening credits roll, the vibrating strings of Anton Karas’s zither slide . . . Read more »
Film Essays
The Third Man
By November 08, 1999
In The Third Man—probably the greatest British thriller of the postwar era—director Carol . . . Read more »
