Shadowing The Third Man

Description

Documentary recalling the turbulent history of the making of the 1949 classic British film The Third Man, with Orson Welles.

The Third Man is a 1949 British film noir, directed by Carol Reed and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Many critics rank it as a masterpiece, particularly remembered for its atmospheric cinematography, performances, and unique musical score.

The screenplay was written by novelist Graham Greene, who subsequently published the novella of the same name (which he had originally written as a preparation for the screenplay). Anton Karas wrote and performed the score, which used only the zither; its title cut topped the international music charts in 1950.

Plot:
American pulp Western writer Holly Martins arrives in Post-World War II Vienna seeking his childhood friend, Harry Lime, who has offered him a job.

Martins discovers that Lime was killed by a car while crossing the street; at Lime's funeral, Martins meets two British Army Police: Sergeant Paine, a fan of Martins's books, and his superior, Major Calloway.

Afterwards Martins is asked to give a lecture to a book club a few days later. He then meets a friend of Lime's, Baron Kurtz, who tells Martins that he and another friend Popescu, carried Lime to the side of the street after the accident, and before he died Lime asked them to take care of Martins, and of Lime's actress girlfriend, Anna.

Martins goes to see Anna, and becomes suspicious that Lime's death was not an accident. The porter at Lime's apartment building says Lime was killed immediately and that three men carried the body, not two.

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