06/01/10 - The Third Man

The Third Man (1949, 104 min)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041959/

Following Double Indemnity I check out The Third Man. I had actually watched the trailer for this movie and it didn't look all that good so I was actually expecting Double Indemnity to be the better film, especially after the 9/10 showing.

This film follows Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) as he goes to Vienna to meet his friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles). He is surprised to find out that Lime is dead when he arrives. However, fishy circumstances lead him to investigate the death. Along the way he also meets: Anna Schmidt (Alida Valli), Lime's lover; Major Calloway (Trevor Howard) and Sergeant Paine (Bernard Lee); and Lime's friends "Baron" Kurtz (Ernst Deutsch), Popescu (Siegfried Breuer), and Dr. Winkel (Erich Ponto).

This movie is absolutely amazing. A masterpiece. You can probably already tell what the ranking is but I'll mention at least some of the things I liked about the movie. First of all, it tells a great mystery. Martins is a fairly likable fellow and plays his role really well in my opinion. He's clueless to everything and figures stuff along with us. He has a very "everyman quality" about him which works well for the movie. The other actors are also perfect for their roles. Valli as Anna is great and is, like Stanwyck in Double Indemnity, absolutely beautiful in her role. I was spoiled with these actresses in back-to-back features. Next, Major Calloway and Sergeant Paine perfectly balance each other in their roles. They realistically go from disliking Martins to being helpful towards him which is great. All of Lime's friends are also well played with none of them coming off as trusting. And finally, Welles delivers amazingly in his role as Lime. He's cunning and smart and there just long enough to leave a lasting impression of his awesomeness.

But besides the top-notch acting that permeates throughout the whole film, what I will most remember The Third Man for is, without question, the cinematography. I can say with no hesitation that this movie has the best cinematography of any movie I've ever seen. Yes, even more than The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The casual shots from this movie are standard and well done so where the film really shines is in the darkness. Being in black and white, it relies on shadows to frame the sets. I have never seen this done more perfectly. The underground sewer scenes are some of the most tense scenes I've ever seen in cinema. The camera is slightly tilted occasionally, further adding to this uneasy feeling. Lime is completely trapped here in the sewers so we know it's only a matter of time until he's caught. But then he finds a grate and is ever so close to escape. But the grate doesn't open and there is a simply stunning shot of his fingers desperately reaching towards the freedom he will never obtain. This flash of hope that we are treated to from the moment he sees the grate to the moment he realizes he cannot escape is probably only a few seconds but the movie, via this incredibly tense scene, manages to make it last forever as we hang on every move of everybody in the film. This final "action" scene is such a great ending.

But then we are treated to the closing action of the movie where everyone is at the actual grave of Lime (who is now really dead). Martins has to leave quickly to catch his flight but he orders Major Calloway to wait so that he can talk to Anna one last time. He's leaning up against an old wagon waiting for Anna who is walking towards him. Expertly framed, we get a long shot as Martins waits and Anna walks towards the camera. In the long shot of about a minute, Anna walks completely towards us and without looking at Martins continue on her way. It reminded me of the ending to Roman Holiday. This complete denial was the only perfect way to end the film. Anything else would have been a let down. Still, as a viewer, I was hanging on to that slim sliver of hope that there would be a happy ending (as much as possible). Of course it wasn't meant to be. When a movie does everything right, it doesn't falter at the goal line.

Overall, I gave this film a 10/10. This is one of my Top 10 movies ever. It's perfect from a cinematography point of view and excellent on the acting front as well. Really, there isn't a single aspect of this film that isn't just stunning.