The Third Man (1949)

The Third Man (1949)

"Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, black-market opportunist Harry Lime." - IMDb

"The Third Man" is a British production which was released in 1949. Directed and produced by Carol Reed. It's a classic example of a black and white noir-film thriller because of the use of chiaroscuro lighting, unique silhouette arrangements and lastly by the use of very bold tilt shots throughout the film. The target audience of this film is likely to be middle aged males rather then females. The film's appeal to males is that of the mystery in the story as well as the main characters being males having anti-hero characteristics.

The opening to "The Third Man" consists of titles with an extreme close up of a musical interment. This musical instrument is called a Zither. The camera shows the Zither playing the official soundtrack/theme tune of the film. This scene lasts for around 2 minutes. These 2 minutes is for the audience to settle down and to get engaged with the film. The titles also show the actresses' and actor's roles. Nowadays, these titles/credits are usually shown at the end of the film. By having this very repetitive soundtrack, it builds up suspense for the audience.

The use of the Zither can be seen as a cultural signifier. It also represents the characteristic archetype of "Harry Lime" - one of the main characters. The use of the strings represents how Harry 'plays' with people, especially his friends. The soundtrack also creates an evoking feeling of dangerous intention and mystery, another characteristic of Harry Lime.  - If you have seen the film before, then this should make sense, if not, It'll be explained later on in this post

Close up of a pair of hands smuggling watches. The watches can represent the film's location as being corrupted and dangerous. This is because the shot shows the illegal acts of a black market within the mice-en-scene. This is then backed up by an appearance of a mysterious body floating in a river bank in the next scene. The body also represents corruption and the genre of the film. The ship is tilted which can suggest distress because the ship is not levelled properly in the water - it is sinking, much like the moral of the people. Lastly, the glass can represent Vienna as being fractured into broken sections - this is explained later in more detail about the film's historical setting.

The body is in complete darkness with no way of identifying who he or she is. This adds mystery and suspense to the scene. The body and ship are 'abandoned' and have been 'dumped' into the river. This tells the audience that the area is a dangerous place to be around and sets the atmosphere of the film's genre. 






The whole river bank looks very marshland-like because of the use of natural ambient lighting. I see this as an intertextual reference to "Essex Boys" (2000) when a male character beats up a man and leaves him beside the marshland to possibly die and 'float' away. The bodies are also both solid black silhouettes within the mise-en-scene.


The camera cuts to a handful of establishing shots of the film's historical setting and location - Vienna. These shots each differentiate between close ups and medium shots. One in particular is very important to establish the film's historical period and setting. This is the scene which the camera shows the flags and soldiers from the British, Russian, America (U.S) and French armies. This then tells the audience that there is tension within the city because of the battle between ownership, and that the film is historically set just before the beginning of The Cold War (approx. 1945-1991).

The film introduces a character called Holly Martins, who is looking for his friend Harry Lime, only to find out that Harry Lime has been killed. Holly's costume is like a detective-like suit/outfit, for example, the children's T.V. show Inspector Gadget. The long dark tweed coat and trilby hat has influenced many films, for example "Once Upon A Time In America" (1984). Because of this type of costume, it is seen as a generic convention within the thriller genre.
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Holly walks under a ladder that is located outside Harry's apartment. Walking under a ladder is an old superstition of getting bad luck. The director Carol Reed uses this superstition of bad luck to tell the audience about possible events and possible future events. Another example of this representation of an object is the reflection of lights on a car window in "Essex Boys" that look like jail bars. This is to portray a future event which the characters could be going to jail.

Holly arrives at Harry's apartment only to find an old German man who speaks very little English. Carol Reed uses this technique of language to make the audience feel uncomfortable. This is done by using no sub-titles when the pair exchange dialogue to make the audience be in the same 'boat' as Holly. The camera angles between the character's dialogue are mostly tilted close ups which create a feel of disorientation and confusion - much like the pair's conversation. The high angle shots of looking down at Holly shows his vulnerability. Because of this, it then adds suspense and tension to wherever or not if Holly understands the old German man for the audience.

During the film, Holly becomes friends a character called Anna. Anna is represented as being very intriguing and subtle, much like the Mona Lisa portrait. Anna is also shown as being mysterious, puzzling and having clam body language towards the audience, again, much like the  Mona Lisa portrait.

Holly has been searching for his friend Harry Lime, suspecting that Harry wasn't killed at all. Holly's expectations then become very clear to him - Harry was playing a trick on everyone, just as if hes 'playing' with them. Much like the murder mystery "Cludo" board game. The appearance of Harry Lime is very cinematically famous. The tilted shot of the archway is very haunting, mysterious and very Gothic due to the use of chiaroscuro lighting and the diegectic sound of a cat's "meow" - Cats are often associated with witches, hence the Gothic appeal. 

Holly taunts the doorway, suspecting someone is there. The tone and words used in the dialogue: 

"Cat got your tongue?...C'mon out..........Come out, come out, whoever you are!" 

Reminds me very much of:

"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" (1:04)

From the film "Cape Fear" (1991). This can be see as an intertextual reference between the two films as both characters use similar dialogue in a similar situation - a man looking for another man.

Another intertextual reference was used in the BBC 1 production "Sherlock" (2010+) (series 2 ending). This is by the use of a vehicle. The car in The Third Man stops Holly Martins reaching Harry Lime. By the time Holly reaches the position where Harry was standing, Harry has mysteriously disappeared into the dark noir doorway as if by magic. The intertextual reference is by the use of a vehicle (or a 'mode of transport') that obscures a character's view and reaching their goal to aid and help the other character.