RIFLE RANGE BOY: The Third Man

The Third Man (1949)

An enjoyable movie that I watched recently (actually for the second time) is a 1949 noir classic thriller named "The Third Man" directed by Carol Reed. It is listed as British all-time best movie, starring Joseph Cotten, Adila Valli (Italian Actress, not Indian) and the flamboyant Orson Welles in the leading roles. What makes it different in its own way are the unique musical score, the powerful dialogues and the cinematography ahead of its time. It is set in the poverty-stricken post-WW2 ravaged Vienna, which is governed by various Allied forces.

It depicts a pulp fiction writer who arrives in Vienna on an invitation of a friend who dies in an accident which raises many questions. He is sucked into the imbroglio of deceit, racketeering and fake medicine and fake death. It ends with a classic cat and mouse chase in the sewers of Vienna.

The music score, being British, is quiet at times, but the whole excitement of suspense, sadness and climax is all given by an unknown wine bar performer with a lesser-known instrument called a zither. The musician (Anton Karas) and the tool later became famous and replaced waltz music to depict Vienna and the post-war era.

Another point worth mentioning is the memorable lines. In one scene, Orson Welles, who plays the cavalier host, tries to justify his liaison with the dark side at a classic location at a Ferris wheel by uttering the following...

You know what the fellow said – in Italy, for thirty 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 five hundred years of democracy and peace – and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock

And it is followed by the crescendo play of the zither....(excellent stuff)! Pray, listen to the compelling dialogue between Cotten and Welles followed by the opening score on the zither.