Day 103: The Third Man (1949)

Movie #66 – The Third Man (1949) - 104 min, cert PG.

Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) arrives in Vienna to stay with his friend Harry Lime. On his arrival he learns that his friend has recently been killed in a road accident. His suspicions are aroused when he discovers that the driver of the car was Harry’s own driver, and that the two passers-by who carried the body to the side of the road happened to be Harry’s friend and doctor. When another witness says he saw a third man that no one else has mentioned, Holly starts to investigate, and he doesn’t like what he finds.

This is another one of those movies that are seen as classics by the film buffs, but are somewhat lost on me. I found it hard to concentrate on what was going on, because I didn’t really care about any of the characters. I also found it a little disjointed and difficult to follow. Martins spends the first half of the film looking for the third man, then after Harry Lime turns up alive and well, he forgets about this and starts looking for him instead. We are never told who the third man is. I imagine we are supposed to assume it was Lime himself, but it isn’t made clear. I also thought the chase in the sewers went on for far too long at the end. I get to the end and thought – what the hell was all that about?

Score – 2/10. I didn’t understand it, and I don’t care enough about it to watch it again.

Next up is L.A. Confidential, a really good ‘one good cop in a corrupt police force’ movie. It’s a long time since I last saw it, but I know I like it and I own the DVD.