DVDs in Review

The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949)

Title: The Third Man (Carol Reed, 1949)

Release date: September 13 2010

Certificate: PG

Format: Blu-ray

RRP: £24.99

Rating: 5/5

Reviewed by Dave Lancaster

Simply one of the greatest film noirs of all time, Carol Reed's 'The Third Man' has been given a stellar Blu-ray release thanks to the Studio Canal Collection.

Beginning with Anton Karas' inspiring zither score, the tone is set for a playful chase around war time Vienna as American pulp author Holly Martins (Joseph Cotton) goes searching for his 'diseased' old pal Harry Lime (Orson Welles) who has been spotted. 

An elusive chase through the harshly lit crumbled streets of the divided city begins as the true intentions of Lime becomes apparent and Martins finds himself in over his head torn between his affection for a friend and acknowledging the harsh truth. The pacing by which this realisation of suspicions comes to light is truly engaging.

Here Welles steals every brief scene he's in. After racking up the mystery, his eventual appearance is unforgettably. It takes your breath away, and when we finally get to meet Lime, Welles' interpretation of him doesn't dissapoint.

This is a man who is essentially a war criminal, guilty of killing countless innocents but a man who can win over our affection by taking Martins for a ride in a ferris wheel and making analogies about a cuckoo clock.

Director Carol Reed switches from smirking playfulness to desperate instinctual actions for the coda, which centres around a stylised, yet frantic, chase through the sewers. Based loosely on a story by Graham Greene (who preferred the film over his own writing), the international intrigue and doublecrossings of his political thrillers is evident as is his knack for creating relationships that just don't seem to lock.

In terms of both style and substance, 'The Third Man' is a masterpiece that reveals more about itself with every watch. Fans of Welles as a director will also appreciate this film's use of cinematography and editing - Reed's work here is suspiciously like the great director's own, coming off like 'Citizen Kane' meets 'The Trial'. Not that that's anything to be concerned about...