The Third Man

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Synopsis

Pulp novelist Holly Martins travels to shadowy, postwar Vienna, only to find himself investigating the mysterious death of an old friend, black-market opportunist Harry Lime—and thus begins this legendary tale of love, deception, and murder. Thanks to brilliant performances by Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, and Orson Welles; Anton Karas’s evocative zither score; Graham Greene’s razor-sharp dialogue; and Robert Krasker’s dramatic use of light and shadow, The Third Man, directed by the inimitable Carol Reed, only grows in stature as the years pass.

Picture 8/10

Criterion presents The Third Man in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1 on the first single-sided, dual-layered disc of this two disc set. The image has of course not been enhanced for widescreen televisions. While I’ve always been happy with Criterion’s previous release in the picture department, this one, despite being picture-boxed, does show a definite improvement, though not huge. The print has been cleaned up more, contrast is excellent (nice deep black levels and nicely balanced whites) and the image is sharper, with fewer artifacts. The improvements aren’t huge but are noticeable when you compare the two. Based on image alone, I don’t think the set is worth upgrading to if you have the original release, but it’s still a wonderful black and white transfer.

Audio 7/10

Criterion sticks to the film’s original mono soundtrack. Compared to the previous release it is hard to say there is a real improvement. Both releases presented a strong mono track that still has some rough edges. Dialogue in both is clear and clean. Music sounds excellent, but I think sounds a little less distorted in the re-issue. When the track gets a little louder there is some distortion but I blame this more on the materials and the age. As far as mono tracks go it’s solid and there’s little to complain about.

Extras 10/10

Previously Criterion released the film in a single-disc special edition. In all honesty I never had any issues with that edition and always thought it was pretty solid. With this release they’ve carried over most (not all) of the supplements, and added a few hours worth of goodies. The original DVD was actually one of my favourites in the my DVD collection, but Criterion has most definitely topped it with this new two-disc release.

The first disc presents a few supplements.

Carried over from the original release is the four-and-half minute intro by Peter Bogdanovich. Also carried over from the original edition is "The Third Man Treatment", an audio track with actor Richard Clarke reading Graham Greene's treatment for the film (abridged for the DVD release, as stated at the beginning.) It's interesting to listen to, most notably for a few differences. The track has also been synched up to what is going on during the film for the most part and has been abridged to accomplish this, as it mentions at the beginning. Also carried over is a text segment for Greene's preface, touching on why he ended up writing a publication (despite the fact it was only meant to be a film) and even touches on his initial disagreement with Reed on the ending.

New for the release are two commentary tracks, both recorded exclusively for this release.

The first audio commentary has director Steven Soderbergh and writer/director Tony Gilroy (director of Michael Clayton, and screen writer for the Bourne films, The Cutting Edge 1 and 2, and, yes, Armageddon, amongst others) participating. I've only listened to a few of Soderbergh's commentaries (not including the ones for his own films) but have always enjoyed them (without him the one for Point Blank would have been incredibly dry) and also liked this one. The two mostly sit back in awe of the film, expressing how the film has influenced them in writing and/or directing, and pointing out and explaining why they love certain sequences, or how the film was shot (they both express how they admire the angle shots). Soderbergh has control over the track, though, offering lots of tid bits he's picked up from books or people he has met who have worked on the film, including clashes between Selznick and Reed. Soderbergh also, on occasion, likes to point out little bits here and there that were cut from the American release. Gilroy only offers influences really, but does make an observation about Winkle and Kurtz I actually never considered (nor Soderbergh apparently.) Quite informative and actually fairly amusing in places, anybody who has enjoyed Soderbergh's other commentaries, whether for his own films or for other films, will definitely want to check this one out.

The second commentary is a solo track featuring film scholar Dana Polan. While this one does have some interesting facts about the making of the film, this track looks more at the themes brought up in the film, and he begins by mentioning the film is a "hybrid film", caught between "different values, different identites, and different moralities." He touches on the American/Old World themes in the film, and offers a few anecdotes to the production, but only to offer up as backing to the themes he presents. I don't believe I've heard a commentary by Dana Polan before, but based on this one I would most surely listen to any other ones he has done.

On the second dual-layered disc you'll find a wealth of supplements. The category "The Third Man File" presents more features carried over from the original release involving some information on the film and some publicity materials. "Insider Information" is more-or-less carried over from the original DVD. On the original it was called "Production History" which was a stills gallery with text information that you could manually navigate through. Criterion has modified it a bit. Now it's an automated slide show and the text has been replaced with a voice over by Robb Webb. The photos from the previous release appear to be here along with other photos (including advertising material), though presented in a different order than what was on the original release. The voice over pretty much replicates the text notes, not exactly, but catches all the information presented in those notes and adds more. While all the information presented by the narration is also presented elsewhere on the disc this is a good 9-minute crash course on the film.

"U.S. vs. UK Version" has also been carried over and is the same feature, presenting a text intro explaining the differences and then the option to watch intros to both versions of the film, the American one with a voice-over by Joseph Cotten, and the UK version (the version presented as the main feature on the DVD) with voice-over by Carol Reed.

"Kind to Foreigners" is a new feature. The scenes in the film spoken in languages other than English weren't translated/subtitled to add confusion to the sequences. Here Criterion presents three scenes with English subtitle translations, the scenes being the sequence where Holly questions the porter about what he saw, the sequence where the old land lady is complaining about how the police are tearing up the place, and the scene where the police come to pick up Anna. While the scenes still conveyed what they had to without the translations I have to say it's great finally knowing what the old woman and porter are saying, and they do actually offer a little more to the scenes.

Also found here is the original American theatrical trailer. And another new feature is the UK press book, which is presented like a stills gallery, allowing you to flip through the contents (though still nowhere as cool as a similar presentation on The 39 Steps DVD where you could highlight sections to zoom in on.)

The biggest supplement on the set, other than the commentaries, is the 2005 documentary "Shadowing The Third Man". This 92-minute feature is presented in a widescreen aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 and has actually been enhanced for widescreen televisions (the only feature that is presented in widescreen). Narrated by John Hurt, the film goes over not only the production history of the film, but also touches briefly on the atmosphere after the war and Vienna itself, getting present day shots of the locations used in the film. It contains some newer interviews, Guy Hamilton taking up most of these, and also includes archival footage of Graham Greene and Orson Welles (Carol Reed is heard on audio segments.) The documentary covers its subject rather well, including some amusing anecdotes (Welles initially refused to leave his hotel room until Hamilton promised a magic show for him) and bits about Selznick and Reed going heads on with one another about how the film should work. My only complaint is that the documentary uses a lot of footage from the film. I wouldn't be surprised if 30-minutes of the documentary is clips from the film, sometimes stylistically projected onto the wall of a building or another setting from the film. This is probably just a personal thing, as I've seen the movie numerous times so know the sequences inside and out, but I was more concerned about the making of the film and felt these moments brought the documentary to a stand-still. Other than that one peeve, it's an excellent doc and worth checking out.

We then get another documentary, not on the original DVD release, entitled "Who Was the Third Man?" running about 29-minutes. It was made for Austrian and German TV in 2000 and marked the 50th anniversary. In German with English subtitles it's a nice little add on to the longer documentary. While it covers some of the same material as that documentary and the commentaries it gives a more Austrian perspective, limiting the interviews to the Austrian cast and crew. It also gives some back information about what was going on in Vienna after the war, and even shows the film's affect today (there are apparently guided tours through the sewers where scenes were shot, something I wasn't aware of.) Kudos to Criterion for digging this one up.

Next is "The Third Man on the Radio", which presents two radio presentations that were also on the previous release. Presented here are "A Ticket to Tangiers" from "The Lives of Harry Lime", and the Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of "The Third Man". While the feature is the same the presentation is different. The previous release displayed a graphic of a radio on screen while the program played. Lame I guess, but creative. This release simply displays the menu with text. I didn't listen to the programs again, though recall neither being great (I recall Lime, played by Welles, in the "Ticket" episode was very different from the one in the film) but are still nice additions for historical reasons and just a general curiosity. One note, on the original release, the radio program for "The Third Man" was indexed. While this release still seems to have the same chapter stops (by clicking the "Next/Skip" button on your remote) there is no on-screen index. "Ticket..." runs about a half hour and "The Third Man" runs over an hour.

Next up, "Graham Green: The Hunted Man" is nice new addition to the set. This hour long program features an audio recorded interview with Greene that plays over footage, mixed in with a few other interviews. The segment goes over his work, his life, and does touch on The Third Man. I don't think I've ever seen or heard any footage involving Greene himself so I was quite pleased with this and it's worth a look.

Another section called "From the Archives" presents 3 supplements. "Anton Karas at London's Empress Club" is archive footage of Karas performing segments from his soundtrack from the film at the Empress Club in London (just what the title says) running shy of 3-minutes. "In the Underworld of Vienna" is a segment covering the sewer police (Canal Brigade) in Vienna as they patrol the sewers looking for smugglers and thieves. This segment lasts a minute and 45 seconds. Those two were also found on the previous Criterion release. "The Third Man's Vienna" is a new addition. This is a slide show, presenting notes and photographs covering Vienna after the war, as well as its influence on Greene and the film. There's some decent photos and some great copies of propaganda posters in here. It's a small but worthwhile bit to look at.

Lastly there is a 28-page booklet. Half of it is photos but there's three decent essays on the film and Greene by Luc Sante, Charles Drazin (who helped Criterion put together the "Production History/Insider Information" supplement on both versions of the DVD), and Philip Kerr. Surprisingly Criterion did not move over the essay by Michael Wilmington found in the insert of the original release.

And along with that essay some other things didn't make it from the original release, though some may not be too concerned. The "Production History" segment was changed as I mentioned, but probably for the better. The Restoration Demonstration on the original is missing, but since this is a whole new transfer that one was probably obsolete (though still fascinating to watch.) And the Rialto re-release trailer is missing as well. I also could not find the Easter Egg that was on the original DVD, involving the paintings influenced by the film. Though they could be on here and I just didn't come across them.

Closing

I never had complaints about the original release, but Criterion has definitely topped it with some solid supplements and an improved transfer in both the picture (though window boxed) and sound department. If you're not too concerned about the supplements and own the original I can say you're probably fine with that original release. But for fans of this film interested in the history of the film, this set is definitely worth the upgrade. It delves deeper into the making of it and gives a great amount of information on those involved, especially Greene, and also gives a decent history lesson about Vienna after the war. A very solid effort by Criterion and they have managed to outdo themselves once again.

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Directed by: Carol Reed
Year: 1949
Time: 104 min.
 
Series: The Criterion Collection
Edition #: 64
Licensor: Rialto Pictures
Release Date: May 22 2007
MSRP: $39.95
 
DVD
2 Discs | DVD-9
1.33:1 ratio
English 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono
Region 1
 
 Video introduction by writer-director Peter Bogdanovich   Audio commentary by filmmaker Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Tony Gilroy   Audio commentary by film scholar Dana Polan   Shadowing “The Third Man” (2005), a ninety-minute feature documentary on the making of the film   Abridged recording of Graham Greene   "Graham Greene: The Hunted Man," an hour-long, 1968 episode of the BBC’s Omnibus series, featuring a rare interview with the novelist   Who Was the Third Man? (2000), a thirty-minute Austrian documentary featuring interviews with cast and crew   The Third Man on the radio: the 1951 “A Ticket to Tangiers” episode of The Lives of Harry Lime series, written and performed by Orson Welles; and the 1951 Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of The Third Man   Illustrated production history with rare behind-the-scenes photos, original UK press book   U.S. trailer   Actor Joseph Cotten’s alternate opening voice-over narration for the U.S. version   Archival footage of postwar Vienna   A look at the untranslated foreign dialogue in the film   A booklet featuring new essays by Luc Sante, Charles Drazin and Philip Kerr