Title: The Third Man, (1949)
URL:
http://www.imdb.com/Title?Third%20Man%2C%20The%20%281949%29
Aka Titles:
3rd Man, The (1950) (USA) (poster title)
Dritte Mann, Der (1949) (West Germany)
Terzo uomo, Il (1949) (Italy)
Tag Line:
Hunted by men...Sought by WOMEN!
HUNTED...By a thousand men! Haunted...By a lovely girl!
Production Company:
British Lion Film Corporation [uk]
Selznick Releasing Organization
London Film Productions [uk]
Distributor:
Lion International Films [uk]
Selznick Distributing Corporation
Country of Production:
UK
Certificates:
UK:PG
USA:Unrated
Finland:K-16
Germany:12
Sweden:15
Running Time:
UK:100
USA:93
Sweden:104
Filmed In:
Black and White
Sound Mix:
Mono
Technical Info:
Negative Format: 35 mm
Process: Spherical
Print Format: 35 mm
Aspect Ratio: 1.37 : 1
Release Date:
UK:3 September 1949
Denmark:19 October 1949
Sweden:26 October 1949
Finland:13 January 1950
USA:February 1950
Denmark:30 November 1959 (re-release)
Denmark:2 October 1967 (re-release)
Denmark:3 June 1968 (re-release)
USA:May 1999 (re-release)
UK:16 July 1999 (re-release)
Australia:2 December 1999 (re-release)
Denmark:25 December 1999 (re-release)
Locations:
Isleworth, Middlesex, England, UK
Vienna, Austria
Language:
English
German
Summary:
An out of work pulp fiction novelist, Holly Martins, arrives in a
post war Vienna divided into sectors by the victorious allies, and
where a shortage of supplies has lead to a flourishing black
market. He arrives at the invitation of an ex-school friend, Harry
Lime, who has offered him a job, only to discover that Lime has
recently died in a peculiar traffic accident. From talking to
Lime's friends and associates Martins soon notices that some of the
stories are inconsistent, and determines to discover what really
happened to Harry Lime.
Summary by:
Mark Thompson
Summary:
An American pulp writer arrives in post-WWII Vienna only to find
that the friend who waited for him is killed under mysterious
circumstances. The ensuing mystery entangles him in his friend's
involvement in the black market, with the multinational police, and
with his Czech girlfriend.
Summary by:
Keith Loh
Summary:
Holly Martins, scrittore canadese, si reca a Vienna alla fine della
Seconda Guerra Mondiale, chiamato dal suo amico Harry Lime, per
aiutarlo nelle sue iniziative umanitarie. Giunto a Vienna, lo
scrittore apprende che Harry è morto e che, probabilmente, le sue
iniziative non erano affatto umanitarie. Chi era realmente Harry
Lime? Quale torbidi affari svolgeva? E' realmente morto? Un giorno
Holly conosce Anna, la donna che ama Harry e quella sera...un gatto
salta verso la strada; due scarpe nascoste nella notte; la cetra di
Anton Karas; il raggio di luce di un lampione; un volto nel buio:
Orson Welles, basta una apparizione a fare la Storia del Cinema!
Summary by:
rosebud6
Genres:
Mystery Thriller
Keywords:
sewer occupation fake-death post-wwii twist-in-the-end staged-death
stakeout famous-entrance famous-score ferris-wheel cemetery author
classic chase vienna zither austria betrayal racketeering murder
man-hunt friendship post-war escape europe
Producers:
Alexander Korda
Hugh Perceval (associate)
Carol Reed
David O. Selznick
Director:
Carol Reed
Writers: (credits order)
Graham Greene (I) (story) and
Alexander Korda (story)
Graham Greene (I)
Carol Reed (uncredited) and
Orson Welles (uncredited)
Composer:
Anton Karas
Cinematographer:
Robert Krasker
Editor:
Oswald Hafenrichter
Assistant Director:
Guy Hamilton (I) (assistant director)
Production Manager:
T.S. Lyndon-Haynes (production manager)
Sound:
John Cox (I) (sound supervisor)
Jack Drake (sound editor)
Red Law (sound recordist)
Bert Ross (sound recordist)
Make-Up:
George Frost (makeup artist)
J. Shear (hair stylist)
Verified Complete Cast: (credits order)
Joseph Cotten ..................... Holly Martins
Alida Valli (as Valli) ............ Anna Schmidt
Orson Welles ...................... Harry Lime
Trevor Howard ..................... Major Calloway
Paul Hörbiger (as Paul Hoerbiger) .. Porter
Ernst Deutsch ..................... "Baron" Kurtz
Erich Ponto ....................... Dr. Winkel
Siegfried Breuer .................. Popescu
Hedwig Bleibtreu .................. Old Woman
Bernard Lee (I) ................... Sergeant Paine
Wilfrid Hyde-White ................ Crabbin
Remainder of Cast: (alphabetical order)
Nelly Arno (uncredited) ........... Kurtz' Mother
Leo Bieber (uncredited) ........... Barman (Casanova)
Alexis Chesnakov (uncredited) ..... Brodsky
Herbert Halbik (uncredited) ....... Hansel
Paul Hardtmuth (uncredited) ....... Hall porter
Geoffrey Keen (uncredited) ........ British Policeman
Carol Reed (uncredited) (voice) ... Opening narrator (UK version)
Annie Rosar (uncredited) .......... Porter's wife
Frederick Schreicker (uncredited) .. Hansel's Father
Jenny Werner (uncredited) ......... Winkel's Maid
Miscellaneous:
Ivy Baker (wardrober)
Joseph Bato (set designer)
Fernand Bellan (assistant art director) (as Ferdinand Bellan)
Denys N. Coop (camera operator) (as Denys Coop)
Esther Harris (trailer)
John Hawkesworth (set designer)
Anton Karas (musician: zither)
Vincent Korda (set designer)
Peggy McClafferty (continuity)
Elizabeth Montagu (austrian advisor)
Stanley Pavey (additional photographer) (as Stan Pavey)
James Sawyer (assistant art director)
Edward Scaife (camera operator) (as E. Scaife)
Peter Taylor (I) (assembly cutter)
John Wilcox (I) (additional photographer)
Crew verified as complete.
Movie Links:
(remade as Treca zena (1997))
(referenced in Long Goodbye, The (1973))
(referenced in Alligator (1980))
(referenced in Brazil (1985))
(referenced in Living Daylights, The (1987))
(referenced in Spoorloos (1988))
(referenced in Guilty by Suspicion (1991))
(referenced in Fugitive, The (1993))
(referenced in Pickle, The (1993))
(referenced in Close Shave, A (1995))
(referenced in Before Sunrise (1995))
(referenced in Nacht der Gaukler (1997))
(spoofed in Make Mine Mink (1960))
(featured in Man Who Fell to Earth, The (1976))
(featured in Hôtel du paradis (1986))
(featured in Heavenly Creatures (1994))
(featured in Personal History of British Cinema by Stephen Frears, A (1994) (TV))
(featured in Leaving Las Vegas (1995))
(featured in Mi nombre es sombra (1996))
(featured in Treca zena (1997))
Trivia:
- 'Welles, Orson' (qv) wrote all of his own lines in the picture and
practically directed the scenes in which he appeared. He considered using
a double for some of the sewer shots because he was asthmatic and afraid
of the cold and damp air in the corridors.
- Orson Welles starred in a radio series ("The Lives of Harry Lime,"
1951-52) based on the early adventures of his character in The Third Man.
Goofs:
- CONT: The dog and the book briefly change between Kurtz' two hands when
he is being shown where Lime was hit by a truck.
- BOOM: As Holly is taken to the lecture, the car he is in turns around a
corner (to the left on the screen) and the boom follows the car from the
shadows.
- CONT: The position of Anna's neck ribbon when she and Holly first talk.
- CONT: Anna's dark jacket under her overcoat appears and disappears as the
authorities search her apartment.
- FACT: Harry Lime says Switzerland produced the cuckoo clock. In fact,
cuckoo clocks are produced in the Black Forest region of Germany.
Quotes:
Calloway: You don't know what you're mixing in. Why don't you catch
the next plane?
Martins: I'll catch the next plane as soon as I get to the bottom of
this.
Calloway: Death's at the bottom of everything, Martins. Leave death
to the professionals.
Martins: You mind if I use that line in my next Western?
Martins: Callahan!
Calloway: Calloway, not Callahan. I'm English, not Irish.
Martins: Have you ever visited the children's hospital? Have you seen
any of your victims?
Harry Lime: Victims? Don't be melodramatic, Holly. Look down there.
Would you really feel any pity if one of those dots stopped moving
- forever? If I said you could have twenty thousand pounds for
every dot that stops, would you really, old man, tell me to keep my
money - without hesitation? Or would you calculate how many dots
you could afford to spare? Free of income tax, old man. Free of
income tax. It's the only way to save nowadays.
Popescue: She ought to go careful. Everyone ought to go careful in a
city like this.
Martins: I guess nobody really knew Harry like he did...like I did.
He was the best friend I ever had.
Calloway: That sounds like a cheap novelette.
Martins: Well, I write cheap novelettes.
Calloway: Next time we'll use a foolproof coffin.
Harry Lime: In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare,
terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo,
Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had
brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and
what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.
Soundtrack:
- "The Third Man Theme"
Written by Anton Karas
Performed by Anton Karas
Alternate Versions:
- The UK version features introductory voice-over by the director
'Carol Reed' (qv); in the US version 'Joseph Cotten' (qv) provides the
voice-over. The UK version runs 104 minutes, versus the US version at
93 minutes.
Literature:
Critics:
Errigo, Angie. In: Empire (UK). August 1999. p. 26. (MG)
Ferreira, Manuel Cintra. In: Expresso, Cartaz (Portugal). 28.11.1998. (WNP)
Björkman, Carl. 'Den tredje mannen' på China. In: Dagens Nyheter (Sweden), 27 October 1949 (NP)
Business Info:
Opening Weekend Box Office:
£17,856 (UK) (18 July 1999) (4 screens)
$13,576 (USA) (9 May 1999) (1 screen) (re-issue)
Box Office Gross:
£52,824 (UK) (25 July 1999)
£17,856 (UK) (18 July 1999)
$596,349 (USA) (19 December 1999)
$589,702 (USA) (12 December 1999)
$576,671 (USA) (21 November 1999)
$564,588 (USA) (7 November 1999)
$554,956 (USA) (31 October 1999)
$541,864 (USA) (24 October 1999)
$530,134 (USA) (17 October 1999)
$524,685 (USA) (10 October 1999)
$518,600 (USA) (3 October 1999)
$509,870 (USA) (26 September 1999)
$494,610 (USA) (19 September 1999)
$481,071 (USA) (12 September 1999) (re-issue)
$451,504 (USA) (5 September 1999) (re-issue)
$425,805 (USA) (29 August 1999) (re-issue)
$402,126 (USA) (22 August 1999) (re-issue)
$364,364 (USA) (15 August 1999) (re-issue)
$292,356 (USA) (1 August 1999) (re-issue)
$266,619 (USA) (25 July 1999) (re-issue)
$258,265 (USA) (18 July 1999) (re-issue)
$247,730 (USA) (11 July 1999) (re-issue)
$230,752 (USA) (4 July 1999)
$205,771 (USA) (27 June 1999)
$169,969 (USA) (20 June 1999)
$124,652 (USA) (13 June 1999) (re-issue)
$94,526 (USA) (6 June 1999) (re-issue)
$81,615 (USA) (30 May 1999) (re-issue)
$36,001 (USA) (16 May 1999)
$13,576 (USA) (9 May 1999) (re-issue)
Weekend Box Office Gross:
£13,345 (UK) (25 July 1999) (4 screens)
£17,856 (UK) (18 July 1999) (4 screens)
Studio:
London Film Studios, Shepperton, England (UK)
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