Friday, September 26th 2025

The Third Man

Carol Reed’s THE THIRD MAN is an exquisitely written and deftly directed thriller about friendship, loyalty, and betrayal. Amidst the rubble of post-World War II Allied-occupied Vienna, Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) arrives from America at the promise of a job from his friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles), unaware that Lime was recently killed. Unsatisfied with the explanation he receives, Martins stays in Vienna to investigate Lime's death, risking his life in uncovering a truly evil conspiracy, while also becoming infatuated with Lime's girlfriend, Anna Schmidt (Alida Valli). THE THIRD MAN is famous for its striking, German-Expressionist cinematography, its liberal use of dutch-angled compositions, its humour, its imaginative use of Vienna’s post-War ruins, and its jaw-dropping twists and turns, which come fast and furious. Voted the greatest British film of all time by the British Film Institute, THE THIRD MAN is enthralling cinema.