The Third Man

Carol Reed, 1949.

On Wikipedia: The Third Man

Joseph Cotten (as a pulp novel writer, Holly Martins) arrives in post-war Vienna and tries to figure out why everyone seems to have a different story about his dear, departed friend, Harry Lime.

To fully explain why I love this film so much, I'd have to give away too much of the plot. Just watch it! -- and then talk to me . . . .

Favorite part:

CALLOWAY: What happened to your finger?

MARTINS: A parrot bit me.

CALLOWAY: Oh, stop being a fool, Martins!

(JTS3, 2/28/2020)

Some fun facts:

When I visited Vienna about 30 years ago, I insisted on visiting all the identifiable locations from the film, starting with the bar where Martins and Calloway talk near the beginning. The highlight was having a zither player the Wiener Rathauskeller play "The Theme from The Third Man" for us.

About ten years ago, a group of us attended an outdoor screening of The Third Man in Evanston. I ordered a rich, chocolatey Sacher torte from Bennison's Bakery, decorated with the words "R.I.P. Harry Lime" in dark red icing.

Later, I took inspiration from a Harry Lime speech for one of my blog posts about drones: Drone Victims: Just Dots? Just Dirt?

(JTS3, 3/27/2020)