The Third Man - Criterion Collection (2-Disc Edition)
by Carol Reed
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Alida Valli, Ernst Deutsch, Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles, Trevor HowardDirector: Carol Reed
Brand: Image Entertainment
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 104 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-05-22
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Criterion Collection
Movie Reviews of The Third Man - Criterion Collection (2-Disc Edition)
Movie Review: The second coming of The Third Man
Summary: 5 Stars
The folks at Criterion never give up short of perfection. They've been reissuing some of their own material lately in newer, better versions, and while I *won't* get another Brazil just because they neglected anamorphic the first time (and I have an up-converting player/TV combo that helps somewhat anyway) I will gladly shell out more cash for improved prints of Seven Samurai, M and now this, The Third Man.
But this is more than just a new transfer. Here you get a second disc of wonderful features. Well, one of the features could have been wonderful: it's a 90-minute documentary made a couple years ago that played at Cannes in 2006. While the information is fascinating, and will shed much light on this noir, the filmmaker's style is pretentious, and distracts from the content.
Other extras are the original U.S. trailer (grossly inappropriate for this movie, but probably closer to the type of film Selznick wanted to make), vintage footage of Vienna and Zitherist Anton Karas, and a photo album of the production--all also included in the prior Criterion release. There's also a mini-doc on the film--much more straightforward and to me more interesting--with all still photos. Even though it's all stills I found this short 10 minute presentation very riveting. Then there's a featurette that shows many of the scenes of German-speaking players with their lines translated (they were deliberately left untranslated in the film so that the audience would feel as confused as Holly), a UK vs. US comparison of the openings, several of the radio shows that used the Harry Lime character, and a profile of writer Graham Greene from a 1968 British television program. Oh, and did I mention there are two commentaries, one from filmmaker Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Tony Gilroy and one from film distorian Dana Polan. Oh, and there's a very stylish 26-page booklet insert. And you know what? There's probably other stuff I've forgotten. These discs are cram-packed.
In short, this is a whole college-level course on The Third Man in a little box. It'll keep you watching for weeks.
In case Amazon ever deletes the first Criterion edition of this DVD from their site, here's a cut-and-paste of my original review of the film itself:
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Reportedly Orson Welles replied to people who asked if he'd "really" directed The Third Man that Carol Reed was a great director who didn't need his advice. Yet this feels very much like Welles in many ways. First of all there's the subject matter--like Citizen Kane, this film deals with money and power, shattered idealism, and an elusive figure everyone knows *of* yet few people know. Like Kane, the cinematography is striking (though in a different way) and an integral part of the plot. Like Kane, the music is memorable and tells much of the story, yet again in a different way. Like Kane, the film was greeted coldly by many critics on its initial release and had to be shelved for many years before people realized it was a masterpiece. And last but not least, like Kane, it stars the great Joseph Cotten.
The Third Man benefits enormously from being shot in post-war Vienna (in record time by using three crews simultaneously). You can taste the atmosphere. The locations are a "star" as much as any of the human players. Selznick wanted Reed to film on Hollywood back lots, and he wanted Jimmy Stewart to star. He objected to the zither music. He objected to the canted shots. (William Wyler reportedly gave Reed a level to put on his camera after seeing The Third Man!) Most of all, Selznick wanted a happy ending, where Holly gets the girl. But without Reed's vision, the film would have been a typical glossy Hollywood film now seen at 2 am on local UHF channels if at all.
Reed gave Welles one of the great entrances in screen history. Welles gave Reed a hard time by refusing to work in a sewer and returning to England, forcing Reed to build a sewer set there just for Welles' part. Welles says he only wrote the "Cuckcoo clock speech," but leave it to Orson to give us the most memorable dialogue in a movie filled with memorable dialogue.
Then there is the issue of The Woman. Often she will make or break a film like this, and here Alida Valli (or "Valli" as she preferred to be billed in the film...maybe it's an Italian thing that started long before Madonna) is the perfect choice, brooding and un-glamorous and yet all the more alluring because she's un-glamorous. It's easy to see how impressionable Holly would fall for her. It's harder to see why she would still defend Harry, but love is not always logical. Or is this just selfishness? There doesn't seem to be room for love in Reed and Greene's postwar Vienna...
Criterion has done a loving restoration of The Third Man. While not up to the standard of the Citizen Kane DVD (which is not done by Criterion, incidentally) it is superb considering how poorly prints of this film have been handled over the years. Criterion performed many computer-repairs of tears and splices that make once-damaged scenes play perfectly. The gray scale is finally restored! (So many prints of this film are stark and grainy black and white and nearly unwatchable.) There are some extras, such as footage of Anton Karas performing on his unique instrument, documentary footage of the real Vienna sewers, the original trailer, the re-release trailer*, the alternate American opening, and fascinating production photos and commentary. Once again Criterion hits a home run.
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Make that a grand slam.
*Not included in this version.
Summary of The Third Man - Criterion Collection (2-Disc Edition)
Cynical pulp novelist Holly Martins arrives in shadowy Vienna to investigate the mysterious death of his old friend, black-market opportunist Harry Lime, and thus begins an ever-thickening web of love, deception, and murder that adds up to one of cinema?s most immortal treats, as well as one of its trickiest. Thanks to brilliant performances by Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, and Orson Welles; Anton Karas?s timeless, evocative zither score; Graham Greene?s razor-sharp dialogue; and Robert Krasker?s haunting deep focus shots, off-kilter angles, and dramatic use of light and shadow, The Third Man, directed by the inimitable Carol Reed, only grows in stature as the years pass.Similar DVD Movies
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