Resolutions 2014: The Third Man

TGIF, friends! Hope your day has been wonderful so far! And if not, hey, it’s almost the weekend! Anyway, so Resolutions 2014 is still rolling along, and this particular guest blogger has certainly done a good portion of the work to keep it going. Why’s that? Well, this just so happens to be his FOURTH film resolution. That’s right–not a typo. Fourth. The amazing MovieRob has completely dedicated himself to this series, reviewing Gone With the Wind, A Clockwork Orange, and Double Indemnity. Now, he’s coming at us with another great review. Here’s his take on The Third Man!

“A person doesn’t change just because you find out more” – Anna Schmidt

Number of Times Seen – 1  (26 Jan 2014)

Brief Synopsis – A writer travels to Vienna to meet up with a friend and when he finds out that his friend has died in a mysterious manner, he starts an investigation of his own that leads him places he never expected to go.

My Take on it – This is another movie that I have avoided watching for years out of fear that I wouldn’t enjoy it.

Once again, I’m happy to admit that I was very wrong!!

This movie was captivating from the very start until the credits roll.  We follow the mystery along with Holly Martins (Joseph Cotton) with similar feelings of surprise as the mystery unravels before his (and our) eyes.

The simple story of a mysterious death leads to questions of morality, the black market, more death, chases beneath the streets of Vienna, love at first sight, a great and worthy antagonist, a balloon and even a Ferris wheel.

This story was written perfectly by Graham Greene and directed by Carol Reed with interesting characters and great performances by Cotton, Trevor Howard, Alida Valli, Bernard Lee and Orson Wells.

Without giving away too much of the plot, Martins spends much of the movie searching for a third man who helped carry away the body of his friend along with two other men.

Much of the action takes place at night, and the shadows cast on the crumbled walls of war-torn Vienna are also an important character in the story.

The chase through the sewers is truly done expertly, as is the final scene.

This movie has been hailed as being the best noir movie to come out of England following WWII and I’d be curious to see what other noir movie one could claim is better.

There was much controversy behind the scenes between Wells, Reed and producer David Selznick with each winning a battle or two, but there is no question that the finished product works the best.

This movie is slightly unconventional in many ways and that helps make this stand out as a great (or perhaps the greatest) film noir movie.

Bottom Line – Excellent film noir. Great acting and a great story keep us captivated until the very end. Highly recommended!

Rating – Oscar Worthy

Rob, words cannot express how wonderful you are for participating in this series four times! I’m so, so grateful for your enthusiasm, and you are more than welcome to participate in future series. In fact, I insist. 😉 Also, just a reminder that if anyone would still like to send something for this, I recently decided to extend the series into next week. But if at all possible please send me your reviews by next Wednesday (Feb. 5). See you tomorrow, kiddos! 😀