The Third Man (1949)

Since I don't really have time to reach the cinema these days, I said to catch back a bit on my older "to watch" list... and the oldest entry was "The Third Man", considered actually a "classic" from the glory days of the noir movie.

Somewhere in post-war Vienna, divided under the control of the Allied troops, we have Holly Martins arriving. An American writer of cheap novels, without a dime, responding to an offer made by a friend for a possible job. Surprise, apparently his buddy Harry Lime is at the cemetery, deceased in an accident just in front of his home. Unhappy with the official version of the events, Mr. Martins starts an investigation on his own in parallel with the one led by a British officer. It doesn't take long to find out that at the moment of the accident there were three men taking care of the body, contrary to the police report that mentions only two - that's where the title comes from. Unfortunately the answer to the question of who's "the third man" becomes predictable quite fast...

The movie includes also a romance, which on one hand fills a bit the gaps, but on the other creates a bit too many unnecessary lengths... After it becomes clear what's "the main twist", all the story gets a bit boring. Besides that, the score, which initially is interesting and catchy, it slowly starts to have more of a lullaby effect. Opposite to that, the camera work is quite ok, and keeps surprising you. Probably one of the best parts in the whole movie is the unexpected documentary value - you actually get to see the Vienna of that time. Unfortunately, my expectations of watching a hitchcockian thriller were quite far from what I saw. And having a subject more simple than it looks to be, I think it also harms the aging factor. Verdict: acceptable, but I think too overrated...

Rating: 3 out of 5