Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master ListOscar · 1Cannes · 1
Spoiler-free premise
Set in postwar Vienna, Austria, "The Third Man" stars Joseph Cotten as Holly Martins.
Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free+
American writer Holly Martins arrives in Allied-occupied Vienna for work promised by his friend Harry Lime, only to learn Lime has died. Conflicting accounts of the accident, Lime's grieving lover Anna, and an unidentified third man draw Holly into inquiry.
Why it belongs
The Third Man renders divided Vienna in crooked noir geometry, with zither music, shadow, wit, and betrayal sharpening every revelation.
Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case+
Reed defines bomb-damaged Vienna as a maze of canted streets, wet cobblestones, deep shadows, and divided zones, while Anton Karas's bright zither and Orson Welles's amused opacity keep charm and corruption uneasily intertwined.
