carol reed the third man strike all the right cord and establish itself on so many different level that it almost become untouchable . it have an underlie tone of darkness that not only thrill but chill . it grab the viewer from the start and never let go . it open with anton karas startle zither music and quickly propel the viewer into a world of evil and lie . the tale be familiar to any film lover represent a pulp western writer name holly martin ( joseph cotten ) be invite to post war vienna by an old friend of his and harry lime ( orson welles ) . the city have be divide into american and british and french and russian zone . the city exist a a shattered remnant of the past haunting and horrifying and dark and mysterious . upon his arrival and holly discovers to his horror that his old college pal be dead hit by a car in the middle of a street . but for holly and the circumstance do not add up everyone involve in the accident be relate in some way or another to harry . so holly search for clue and much to the chagrin of the british officer calloway ( trevor howard ) and whose name be misuse a callohan by holly many time throughout the film . ( it calloway and mr. martin and i be not irish . ) holly martin do begin to stumble upon some vital clue a to the real story behind lime death and find out more than he bargain for . lime old girlfriend be a stage actress . ( always comedy . ) she accompany holly throughout the film and and we expect an underlying romance to blossom and but yet in the end it do not one of the many surprise of the film . i suppose it would be a sin for me to give away how harry lime reappears and or even give away the fact that he do and for that matter ( though by now i be sure you realize orson welles be in this movie and therefore turn out to be alive ) . but for those who have see the film and we all remember that terrific scene where the cat meow and and suddenly he appear and an evil smirk on his face like a child who have get away with the cookie from the jar . and then the ferris wheel scene and and the chase through the sewer that no doubt help win the film an oscar for cinematography . these be all some of the most memorable of film scene . the director of the third man and carol reed and stumble upon the film musician and anton karas and one night in a trashy bar in vienna . it be no wonder that out of all his candidate he choose karas the film tune be literally the most perfect example of match harmony between a film and it music i have ever see ( although jaw be up there with it ) . to go into the music be pointless it must simply be hear in synchronism with the film for you to understand where i be come from . when i think of film noir and d. o. a . ( 1949 ) and the third man ( 1949 ) be the first two film that come to mind . both accomplish what they set out to do and but the third man exceed even farther than the former it be haunt and almost poetically vibrant in the way it display it story and the outcome of it character . it be a film that will be around for year and year . citizen kane be often think of a the great american motion picture of all time . but if i have to choose between the two and i would most likely choose the third man . it just my opinion and of course and and many may not agree and but as far a i see and the third man beat citizen kane for me on more level than one . well citizen kane ( 1941 ) be an artistic film that rarely use close ups . it would almost stand back from the scene and let the viewer focus on what he or she want to focus on . the third man have many close ups . i do not take this a a director try to give the audience what he want them to see and but rather a director in touch with his feeling and idea . director carol reed know just how to evoke character feeling from scene and close up shot . the camera tilt at awkward angle more often than not . the more and more paranoid and afraid our hero become the more and more intense the close ups and angle . there be some haunt material in the third man and some material the most novice of filmgoers might not expect . and the music and direction only make it all the more terrifying and haunt . this be a film that you must witness to believe . 5/5 .