Vienna Vacation: Review of The Third Man

Classic from the Vault

The Third Man (1949)

Director: Carol Reed

By Alex Watson

British cinema has brought some real cornerstones of the movie world in years gone by and has produced some legendary directors such as David Lean, Alfred Hitchcock, Michael Powell and John Boorman- but one director who often appears on this list in Carol Reed, who won an Oscar for his adaptation of Oliver in 1968- but it was his adaptation of Graham Greene’s Vienna based mystery The Third Man that many consider his greatest work and more than 60 years on, it still haunts audiences seeing it for the first time. In 1999 The British Film Institute ranked this as the greatest British movie of the 20^th Century- but how does the film stand up today?

Downtrodden western novel writer Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) arrives in Allied occupied Vienna after being offered a job by his old friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles) upon arriving he discovers that his friend past away and is informed by sardonic British policeman Major Callaway (Trevor Howard) of his black market dabbling! Martins however, refuses to believe the story and becomes desparate to clear Harrys name. For this he goes digging deeper into his old friend’s affairs and comes into contact with Lime’s mistress Anna (Alida Valli). But very soon a massive is reveal to Martins and his world is transformed forever!

The Third Man is quite rightly considered a classic of British cinema and through Reeds stunning direction and a legendary suspenseful score by Anton Karras, we are given a mystery which is absorbing and continually shocks us throughout! From the moment Martins hops off the train in Vienna it is apparent that there is a big secret lurking in the dark shows of the city and it seems whenever he confronts one of Harry’s old ‘acquaintances’ another inconsistency is found in their stories! From the half truths being spun it appears his friends do not wish him to find out what really happened and who the ‘Third Man’ at the scene of the accident really was!

Martins is a character who is diving head first into a world of trouble and his characterization from a naive nobody to a reluctant detective provides the movie with a real strength and as Harry’s crime filled world including such dastardly deeds as selling diluted Penicillin is revealed to him, his desire to clear Lime’s name becomes progressively less fierce and he becomes obsessed with finding out the identity of the mystery person involved with Harry’s death- even though he is repeatedly warned by Callaway and others not to press the matter, Martins will continue and then a startling revelation is found!

But the main talking point of The Third Man comes from its well noted and still celebrated twist mid way through the movie- for first time viewers I will withhold what this moment includes, but the scene is one that will provide many jaw dropping in shock as the infamous third man is finally revealed to the audience. When his face is shown to us from the light of an upstairs window, a true classic is born!

Joseph Cotten turns probably the finest performance of his career as the suspicious Martins and all throughout this movie we both fear for his safety and urge him towards finding the truth! Cotten was an actor who is probably one of the most underrated if the 40s and 50s and his presence on screen here is excellent. But it’s Orson Welles that dominates the movie, despite only appearing three times throughout, Welles provides a haunting yet charming vibe to Harry and this adds to the movie’s gloomy feel.

The Third Man should rank as compulsory viewing for all lovers of British cinema and Carol Reed takes us on a thrilling ride throughout its 104 minute running time. The zither theme tune by Karras will send a shiver down your spine whenever it appears and today this effect is still as fresh as before. Its placing as the greatest British movie of all time is well deserved and even today it has yet to find an equal!

The Man with the Love-Hate Tattoo: Review of The Night of the Hunter

Classic from the Vault

The Night of the Hunter (1955)

Director: Charles Laughton

By Alex Watson

The Film noir category was a glorious time of film making and continually brought us films that simply shone with class. Its principle strength was making stories that made great use of the Classical Hollywood narrative, but on occasion some films went against this strategy and as a result some compelling thrillers were born- one such example was British actor, Charles Laughton’s film The Night of the Hunter, which gave a story of man who will stop at nothing to get his hands on the ultimate prize!

It depicts the story of a man called Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum), a preacher who has spend his time murdering across Americas mid west. When in jail he learns from his cell mate Ben Harper (Peter Graves), who is imprisoned for killing two policemen during a bank robbery, that there is a considerable sum of money hidden somewhere in his home, upon learning this Powell travels to the man’s home town and quickly wins over Harpers family including the widow Willa (Shelley Winters), well all except his young son John (Billy Chaplin) who has been entrusted with the secret, and sets out on claiming the money. As his influence grows, the Harper child soon become involved in a deadly game of cat and mouse to survive

Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter is fits firmly into the film noir category and was at first ignored by critics on its first release but now days it is rightly regarded as a classic and its wonderful expressionist style has influenced many directors such as David Lynch, Martin Scorsese and Terence Malick. It is a shame that the failure of this movie disheartened Laughton and as a result- it would remain his sole directorial effort.

The interesting point of the plot is the simplicity of it; we are presented with a story of a father who has a robbed a bank and stashed the money, leaving only his son with the secret. Then along comes the false prophet who knows of the money but not it’s hiding place, in the early stages John’s attempts to keep it secret are very chest tightening and with Powell skulking in the background they are never safe. So when the children finally escape his dangerous clutches, the chase begins and so do the thrills!

It is worth noting that the main character of Harry Powell is very much an anti-hero; this was strange for its time because the classical Hollywood narrative always had strong heroic characters who would find a way out of the most tricky of situations. The character of Powell is portrayed as a harsh, brutal man with Love and Hate tattooed on his hands, who has never known love, but yet oozes sexual prowess from every core. But his biggest strength is his ability to manipulate people into believing his lies, this is shown by the way he easily charms his way into the lives of Harper family with his story of ‘right hand V left hand’.

The Night of the Hunter has an almost dream like beginning to it, because the story opens with Rachel (Lillian Gish) the old woman reading a biblical story to the children saying “Beware the false prophet in sheep’s clothing” which an indicator for the things to come.  But from the words read out the dream is presented as more like a nightmare, here Rachel’s job as narrator comes into view because her role is to render the nightmare to be at least partially safe and she is closest the children have to an adult role model in this film. Her final showdown with Powell as she fights to protect the children is particularly chilling as the two sing Biblical hymns against each other.

Robert Mitchum gives the finest performance of his career as self appointed preacher Harry Powell and his elegant mix of charm and danger gives him a glorious menace on screen. But his best quality is his ability to make Harry near likeable and it is easy to see why the naive townsfolk readily accept him into society! Mitchum is one of the under-rated actors of the classical Hollywood era and The Night of the Hunter serves as reminder of why he is considered one of the great film noir actors.

We can only wonder what Laughton’s directorial career could have produced if The Night of the Hunter hadn’t tanked at the box office, but nonetheless it is still one of the great noir films and alongside its captivating story it give us an iconic character. Be careful of the next charming man you let in your life- especially if he has tattoos like Harry Powell!