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Film The Third Man (1949)

  • Third_man_event_full

Whether or not it's a "true noir" is a debate we'll leave to the online message boards — but good luck finding a better marriage of thick atmosphere and crooked-smile detachment than Carol Reed's The Third Man. In the ruins of post-War Vienna, Joseph Cotten plays the naïve do-gooder to Orson Welles' charming profiteer; the black market seems even seedier set against Anton Karas' mocking zither theme and Welles' classic "cuckoo clock" speech. Later films, such as Miller's Crossing and The Good German have referenced The Third Man's final shot, but nothing touches the original.

– Stephen Gossett