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"The Third Man"

A scholar in postwar Austria takes on Carol Reed's classic thriller.

The Plot: This stylish film noir tells the story of Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten), a smart but somewhat naive American who shows up in a rubble-strewn, Allied-occupied Vienna to take a job with his friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles), who, alas, has just died. But when Martins begins to poke around, he discovers that accounts of Lime's death are inconsistent and that Lime is a more mysterious figure than his old chum thought.

Our Insider: Richard Mitten teaches history at Baruch College in Manhattan, where he runs the international study program. Formerlya member of the faculty of the University of Vienna, Mitten lived in Vienna for 15 years. He frequently used "The Third Man" as a way to acquaint students with post-World War II Austria. He estimates that he has seen the movie -- one of his favorites -- more than 50 times.

OVERVIEW "This film really holds up. There is a bemused tone throughout and terrific suspense, much of it due to the editing and Robert Krasker's Oscar-winning cinematography. Of course, some of it's due to us wondering when Orson Welles will show up. We know he's in the movie -- where is he? His 'absent presence' keeps us on the edge of our seats."

RIGHT ON "There are some mistakes in the movie. But overall, there's so much that's right: the faces, the mood. There was a problem with penicillin on the black market. Criminals were able to use the sewers to move around the occupation zones. The sewers even had their own police force, the Kanalbrigade. Its members worked as extras in the film. That's them chasing Harry through the sewers."

LAYERS OF DETAILS "The film is full of humor, but the lack of subtitles means unless you understand German, particularly the Viennese dialect, some of the jokes will be lost. The film's porter and the landlady (played by Paul Hörbiger and Hedwig Bleibtreu) continuously mutter asides that are very funny. In one moment, as the military police leave her building, the landlady laments: 'Eines ist sicher: die Befreiung habe ich mir ganz anders vorgestellt.' This translates to 'One thing is certain: I imagined liberation very differently.' "

SUBTLE CHARMS "Vienna was occupied by the four major Allied powers: the U.S., the USSR, Britain and France. The only way they could do anything was together. 'Four in a Jeep' became a slang expression for the police. But just because they did everything together doesn't mean they did everything the same. In the wonderful scene where the police arrest Anna Schmidt (Alida Valli), the much-despised Russian speaks gruffly, the distant Englishman is polite but cool, the well-liked American smiles as he holds her coat, and the ever-romantic Frenchman lights her cigarette."
-- Jamie Malanowski