One of the greatest movies ever made!
I first saw The Third Man in college in a film class and I’ve been in love with it ever since.<br /><br />It has such a simple beginning. There’s a song being played on a zither, which will return again and again in the film. It’s funny because co-producer David O. Selznick, of Gone with the Wind fame, threatened to not release the movie if that song was used thinking it would never sell in America.<br /><br />The plot was based upon a Graham Greene book and he wrote the screen play as well. Greene was inspired by his relationship with the famous KGB spy Kim Philby who he worked with in British intelligence during WWII. The hero Holly Martins played by Joseph Cotton is naïve and well-meaning as Greene felt about himself early on in his life during the war and the villain Harry Lime played by Orson Wells is cunning and manipulative and represents Philby who betrayed Greene’s trust.<br /><br />The start of the film introduces the viewer to the setting, Vienna, Austria, just after World War II. The city would play an important role in the story, being as much a character as the actual actors with the war damage, its dark streets, and the sewers which would be in the climax. Since it was right after the war there was a black market, and there was murder. The first is important as well as nearly everyone in the movie is a schemer trying to survive in the postwar era. That actually made the movie a flop in Austria as the natives felt the Third Man was an insult to their country. In later years, some in Vienna came to embrace it as there is a Third Man museum, a tour of the sewers, and the movie is played there every day at a movie theater.<br /><br />Into this fray comes the lead character Holly Martins (Joseph Cotton). He’s a babe in the woods compared to everyone he meets. He’s looking for his friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles) who at first is declared dead. Working the case are the British military led by Major Calloway (Trevor Howard). Along the way Martins falls for Lime’s girlfriend Anna (Alida Valli). What you get is part detective movie, part love story, part grafters.<br /><br />The filming and production is incredible. Half the movie is shot in angles to portray what an upside down world the actors are in. The shadows and shade are also highlighted like a great film noir even though this isn’t part of that genre. The producers had to use huge amounts of lighting to create the contrasts on black and white film. They also watered down all the streets in the night scenes to give extra shine to the shots. Those all come together in the chase scene in the end that was filmed in Vienna’s drainage system.<br /><br />If you want to watch great film making watch The Third Man.<br />C
The movie title "The Third Man," available on Movies & TV, has received an average rating of 4.5 from 3518 reviewers. 
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This title falls under the categories of Movies & TV, Genre for Featured Categories and Mystery & Thrillers. 
The additional details include the following in key-value format :
 {"Genre": "Mystery & Thrillers", "Format": "DVD", "Contributor": "Howard, Wells, Cotton", "Is Discontinued By Manufacturer": "No", "MPAA rating": "NR (Not Rated)", "Package Dimensions": "7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches; 3.2 Ounces", "Media Format": "DVD", "Release date": "November 27, 2001", "Actors": "Wells, Cotton, Howard", "Studio": "Alpha Video Distributors"}

Here is a brief synopsis of the title : This classic noir mystery, from the team of Carol Reed and Graham Greene, is generally considered to be the best filmwork of both of these estimable talents. THE THIRD MAN features Joseph Cotten as Holly Martins, a pulp novelist who has come to post-WWII Vienna with the promise of work from his friend, Harry Lime (Orson Welles). When he finds that Lime has just been killed in a questionable car accident, he decides to remain in the city to investigate his friend's demise.Free upgrade to first class mail..