The Third Man (1949), directed by Carol Reed and written by Graham Greene, is set in postwar Vienna and follows an American pulp novelist who arrives to take a job with his old friend Harry Lime — only to find him dead. Then evidence suggests Lime may still be alive. Orson Welles plays Lime in limited but unforgettable screen time.
Why It Matters
- Robert Krasker's tilted, shadow-heavy cinematography on the bombed-out streets of Vienna is the most visually distinctive in all of film noir
- Anton Karas's zither score — written and performed in two weeks — is one of cinema's most instantly recognizable pieces of music
- Orson Welles's Cuckoo Clock speech, improvised on the day of filming, is one of cinema's greatest monologues
The British Film Institute voted it the greatest British film ever made. Its moral world — where every person is compromised, where survival and principle are genuinely incompatible — feels as true now as in 1949.
Reference:
TaskLoco™ — The Sticky Note GOAT
