60th Anniversary: The Third Man

This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of zither-mania. While that might be a slight overstatement, Anton Karas’s zither theme became an unlikely international hit after the release of Carol Reed’s The Third Man (trailer here), which is currently enjoying a special anniversary revival run at Film Forum with a new 35m print.

Indeed, Karas’s unaccompanied zither music is perfectly suited to Third Man’s post-war Vienna, where the city’s faded old world glory can still be seen beneath the wreckage and rubble left in the wake of WWII. As Reed’s introductory narration shrewdly explains, the Austrian capitol is now an occupied city, whose administration is divided between the Allied forces. By necessity, nearly everyone is involved with the black market, but some are better at working the rackets than others.

Into this noir world enters Holly Martins, a down on his luck dime novelist expecting to find work with his childhood chum, Harry Lime. Unfortunately, when he arrives in Vienna, he discovers Lime is dead, the apparent victim of an auto accident. To make matters worse, Major Calloway, the top British MP for the zone, is not interested in pursuing the case. He claims Lime was just another racketeer, whose death probably leaves the world a better place. Still, Martins finds at least one potential ally in the inhospitable city: Lime’s lover, Anna Schmidt.

Schmidt is really Czechoslovakian, but fearing repatriation under the Soviets, she presents herself as an Austrian with forged papers Lime acquired. Indeed, Third Man compelling evokes the environment of occupied Austria, where the Soviet authorities are obviously more interested in rounding up nationals of their subjugated states than cracking down on the racketeering ring openly operating in their zone.

Adapted by Graham Greene from his own novella, Third Man is one of three true masterpieces of British Film Noir directed by Reed (along with Fallen Idol and Odd Man Out, which Film Forum also revived earlier in the year). With cinematographer Robert Krasker, he presents viewers with one strikingly off-kilter visual after another. Ironically, many presumed Third Man to be the work of Reed’s co-star Orson Welles, especially given the presence of the Mercury Theatre’s Joseph Cotton in the lead. Yet, Welles steadfastly maintained his contributions were limited to acting, as well as a few memorable improvised lines.

Welles is absolutely perfect as the title character, exploiting his larger-than-life screen presence to make a role relatively small in terms of actual camera time seem much larger. As Martins, Cotton masterfully expresses that earnest Middle American naiveté and resourcefulness in the face of jaded cynicism and corruption. Though Trevor Howard’s Major Calloway is a bit of a stock figure, it is an excellent example of how a great actor can infuse character into a stereotypical role.

A masterwork of light and shadow, Third Man is a film that always deserves a big screen revival. From the Ferris wheel to the underground sewers, it takes viewers on a brilliantly expressionistic tour of a formerly grand city that had become physically scarred and morally compromised. It runs at Film Forum through Tuesday, December 29th.

Brit Noir: Odd Man Out

In 1953, Carol Reed became only the second British film director to be knighted for his artistic accomplishments. Fifteen years later he would win an Academy Award for Oliver!, the kind of safe, middlebrow film Oscar voters love, but film buffs despise. However, Reed can easily be forgiven his musical foray, having directed three true masterpieces of British Film Noir: The Third Man (1949), The Fallen Idol (1948), and Odd Man Out (1947), the first and perhaps moodiest of the trio. Despite its largely sympathetic portrayal of an IRA protagonist, it helped cement James Mason’s status as one of the United Kingdom’s biggest stars. Now in honor of Mason’s centennial, Film Forum presents Reed’s Odd in a new 35mm print, as part of its Brit Noir and Mason Most Noir repertory film series, beginning this Friday.

Johnny McQueen believes fervently in the IRA cause. Unfortunately, his time in prison took a toll on him, physically and mentally. However, he is still determined to go on their next heist job as planned, rather than send another man in his place. Everyone fears for the worst, most of all Kathleen Sullivan, whose affections McQueen is too much the martyr to recognize.

Of course, things go terribly wrong. During their getaway, McQueen kills a man and is gravely wounded himself. Separated from his comrades, he desperately seeks shelter, while a massive dragnet proceeds to scoop up the crew, one by one.

Somehow Reed and screenwriters F.L. Green and R.C. Sherriff were able to produce a film based on Green’s novel about the Troubles of Northern Ireland that never mentions Catholics, Protestants, or the British. Instead, they create a noir world, where many people profess to support McQueen and his cause, but nobody wants to get involved. Essentially, Odd chronicles McQueen’s death rattle, as he teeters through the streets of what is presumably Belfast, while the police and Sullivan scramble to find him first.

Noir is definitely the right word to describe Robert Krasker’s beautiful black-and-white cinematography. He also strikingly captures McQueen’s feverish waking dreams as his consciousness starts to slip. Though gritty and realistic, Odd eventually takes on a nightmarish cast, particularly during scenes involving a dubious artist intent on capturing McQueen’s anguished expressions.

Mason is indeed compelling as the tragic anti-hero, who seems doomed from the first frame, yet does his best to meet his fate with stoic resolve. While most of the cast are relatively unknown to American audiences, William Hartnell, the first Doctor Who, appears as Fencie the barkeeper. Still, the entire cast is quite convincing, having been largely recruited from the Abbey Theatre of Dublin, including co-founder W.G. Wray, as the well-meaning but pragmatic Father Tom.

Odd is one of Reed’s three great films and certainly a highpoint in Mason’s filmography as well. While American audiences might identify Mason more with British prestige pictures, the Film Forum retrospective lovingly presents him in a more nefarious light. Odd runs for two weeks, beginning this Friday (9/4-9/17).