The Third Man

1949, UK, Carol Reed, 93 min.

With Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, and Alida Valli

Introduced by war photographer Ashley Gilbertson.

Struggling pulp novelist Holly Martins (Cotten) travels to Vienna at the invitation of his friend Harry Lime (Wells), who has offered him a job. On his arrival Martins discovers that Lime has been killed under mysterious circumstances. Driven to investigate, Martins soon unravels the dark underworld of post-war Vienna.

“[Carol Reed’s] eminent gifts for compressing a wealth of suggestion in single shots, for building up agonized tension and popping surprises are fully exercised. His devilishly mischievous humor also runs lightly through the film, touching the darker depressions with little glints of the gay or macabre.” —Bosley Crowther, The New York Times, February 3, 1950

About Cabaret Cinema

For the Museum’s classic film series, renowned photographer Steve McCurry selected eight films that have influenced the way he looks at light, color, form, and narrative. Journalists and photographers will introduce each film and relate it to one of McCurry’s photographs in the new exhibition Steve McCurry: India.