The Third Man (1949)
An American writer (Joseph Cotton) in post-war Vienna investigates the death of an old friend (Orson Welles) and is confronted by the cynicism, weariness, distrust, and moral ambiguity that will become hallmarks of the Cold War era.
Carol Reed’s film noir is rightfully regarded as one of the best movies of all time.
As a former member of the British Army’s wartime documentary unit, Reed was uniquely suited to the task, as was his screenwriter Graham Greene, who wrote some magnificent spy novels and engaged in some spycraft himself.
Location shooting amid the ruins of Vienna utilizing stark black and white photography and tilted angles presents a bizarre landscape in which it is clear that the old order has fallen but not what will replace it.
The choice of a writer of popular Westerns as a protagonist juxtaposes the naive and optimistic American belief in the moral perfectibility of man and his ability to triumph over evil with a more world-weary and perhaps more realistic view of man as an opportunistic survivor in a fundamentally corrupt world.
Welles excels as the elusive Harry Lime, a character with both an entrance and a monologue (which Welles wrote himself) that rank among the best in film.
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