The Third Man (SPOILERS)
2.5/4
Starring: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard, Bernard Lee, Orson Welles
Not Rated (contains Some Brief Violence)
Never before has a good movie so obviously shot itself in the foot. While there are definitely movies that have contained questionable material that damages the goodwill that they have built up ("Hollow Man" comes to mind, although I have to admit that the film has grown on me to become a guilty pleasure), none are as blatant and damaging as the soundtrack for "The Third Man." Without the music, it's an easy 3/4, possibly even a 3.5/4. But with it, the film isn't worth your time.
So what is so bad about the film's soundtrack (an essential, albeit undervalued, part of a film)? It uses a zither. It's a stringed instrument that sounds like a ukelele, which would be fine for a romantic comedy set in, say, Hawai'i. But "The Third Man" is a post-World War II thriller set in Austria. If you can imagine the soundtrack of "Seven" being comprised of The Beatles in their hippie phase can imagine how badly this misfires.
Holly Martins (Cotten) has just arrived in Vienna. His friend Harry Lime has told the self-described "hack writer" that he can get him a job. But when he gets there, he finds that Harry has died after being hit by a truck. He grows suspicious when people tell him conflicting stories of what happened and begins to investigate. Everyone, including a local cop (Howard), warns him to walk away, but he will not be dissuaded.
The story is a little on the thin side, but it's relatively engaging for the first hour or so. However, once Harry does show up, the storyline collapses. It has no card left to play, which means a lack of interest on the part of the viewer.
It does feature a trio of good performances. Joseph Cotten is a natural at playing the hard-drinking cynic that's a mainstay in film noir; the only one who could do it better would be Humphrey Bogart. He has a good deal of chemistry with his co-star, Alida Valli (who also gives a good performance). Orson Welles is adequate, but he can't live up to the hype. Trevor Howard reminded me of Conrad Veidt in "Casablanca," although he's nowhere near as arresting (no pun intended).
Where the film truly shines is in it's visual sense. The film looks absolutely gorgeous. Director Carol Reed and his cinematographer Robert Krasker (who won an Oscar for his work) have created images so stunning that they belong in a museum. Reed frequently uses Dutch camera angles (tilting the camera) to increase the suspense, but only does so when necessaary.
I'm not the biggest fan of using a soundtrack to counterpoint the action on screen. It rarely works, since a good soundtrack compliments the action rather than calling attention to itself. There is definitely some good stuff here, but I can't recommend "The Third Man."
Starring: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard, Bernard Lee, Orson Welles
Not Rated (contains Some Brief Violence)
Never before has a good movie so obviously shot itself in the foot. While there are definitely movies that have contained questionable material that damages the goodwill that they have built up ("Hollow Man" comes to mind, although I have to admit that the film has grown on me to become a guilty pleasure), none are as blatant and damaging as the soundtrack for "The Third Man." Without the music, it's an easy 3/4, possibly even a 3.5/4. But with it, the film isn't worth your time.
So what is so bad about the film's soundtrack (an essential, albeit undervalued, part of a film)? It uses a zither. It's a stringed instrument that sounds like a ukelele, which would be fine for a romantic comedy set in, say, Hawai'i. But "The Third Man" is a post-World War II thriller set in Austria. If you can imagine the soundtrack of "Seven" being comprised of The Beatles in their hippie phase can imagine how badly this misfires.
Holly Martins (Cotten) has just arrived in Vienna. His friend Harry Lime has told the self-described "hack writer" that he can get him a job. But when he gets there, he finds that Harry has died after being hit by a truck. He grows suspicious when people tell him conflicting stories of what happened and begins to investigate. Everyone, including a local cop (Howard), warns him to walk away, but he will not be dissuaded.
The story is a little on the thin side, but it's relatively engaging for the first hour or so. However, once Harry does show up, the storyline collapses. It has no card left to play, which means a lack of interest on the part of the viewer.
It does feature a trio of good performances. Joseph Cotten is a natural at playing the hard-drinking cynic that's a mainstay in film noir; the only one who could do it better would be Humphrey Bogart. He has a good deal of chemistry with his co-star, Alida Valli (who also gives a good performance). Orson Welles is adequate, but he can't live up to the hype. Trevor Howard reminded me of Conrad Veidt in "Casablanca," although he's nowhere near as arresting (no pun intended).
Where the film truly shines is in it's visual sense. The film looks absolutely gorgeous. Director Carol Reed and his cinematographer Robert Krasker (who won an Oscar for his work) have created images so stunning that they belong in a museum. Reed frequently uses Dutch camera angles (tilting the camera) to increase the suspense, but only does so when necessaary.
I'm not the biggest fan of using a soundtrack to counterpoint the action on screen. It rarely works, since a good soundtrack compliments the action rather than calling attention to itself. There is definitely some good stuff here, but I can't recommend "The Third Man."
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