The read
Critics rate it 16 points higher than audiences do. Scores higher than 97% of the 115 1940s thriller movies in this catalog.
Synopsis
In postwar Vienna, Austria, Holly Martins, a writer of pulp Westerns, arrives penniless as a guest of his childhood chum Harry Lime, only to learn he has died. Martins develops a conspiracy theory after learning of a "third man" present at the time of Harry's death, running into interference from British officer Major Calloway, and falling head-over-heels for Harry's grief-stricken lover, Anna.
Ratings
IMDb8.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes99%
Metacritic97/100
Critics rate it 16 points higher than audiences do.
2,169 audience votes
Key crew
- Anton KarasOriginal Music Composer
- Graham GreeneScreenplay
- Carol ReedDirector
Cast
- Joseph CottenHolly Martins
- Alida ValliAnna Schmidt
- Trevor HowardMajor Calloway
- Orson WellesHarry Lime
- Paul HörbigerKarl the Porter
- Ernst Deutsch'Baron' Kurtz
- Erich PontoDr. Winkel
- Siegfried BreuerPopescu
- Hedwig BleibtreuAnna's Landlady
- Bernard LeeSergeant Paine
- Wilfrid Hyde-WhiteCrabbin
- Alexis ChesnakovCol. Brodsky the Russian Liaison Officer (uncredited)
Stills
Movies like The Third Man
Shows like The Third Man
Themes
staged deathblack marketcemeteryinvestigationsoviet militarypraterbritish armyaustriacover-upfilm noirblack and whitefoot chase
The Best British Thriller Movies
The Third Man is #1 of 60
