Old Dude, Old Movies - "The Third Man"

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041959/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Zither music. How many times do you hear a zither in a movie soundtrack? Anton Karas composed a soundtrack that provided great atmosphere for this film. A great match of music and visual aspects.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Karas

Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton and Alida Valli were the leads in this moody 1949 release. Part murder mystery, part film noir, this post-war classic is a must-see film.

Cotton portrays "Holly Martins", a down-on-his-luck writer of pulp Western novels. An old friend, "Harry Lime" (played by Welles), finds out about Martins' situation and offers a solution: "join me in Vienna & work for me". The duties aren't clear, but Martins doesn't have any better options. In addition, Lime offers to pay for Martins' transport to Europe.

Soon, Martins is in Vienna, a city recovering from the ravages of Nazi oppression during World War II. The scenes shot in Vienna are striking, amazing architecture juxtaposed against bombed-out buildings. One can almost feel the mist that hangs in the air.

No sooner than Martins gets his bearings, he finds out his benefactor was recently killed in a hit-and-run accident. Troubling thing is, several people saw the accident but none of the witnesses' stories match. Martins gets suspicious, and wants to find out more. He seeks out Lime's girlfriend "Anna Schmidt" (Valli), a sultry lady with her own mysterious past. She loved Lime, but is attracted to Martins. She too wants to find the truth behind Lime's fate.

Trevor Howard is stellar as "Major Calloway", a British soldier in charge of the quadrant of Vienna where the story takes place. Calloway is "the law" in his jurisdiction, his sardonic sense of humor fitting for a man who had seen death and destruction up close. He is yet another seeking answers about Lime, but for his own reasons.

The camera work is amazing. In fact, Robert Krasker won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Black-and-White), for his work. The angles, perspective and tracking were decidedly different from what was being done in that era. Some of the shots (like Lime's first appearance) were unique but highly effective.

I love this movie, and will watch it again. For those fascinated by the craft of movie-making, this film has so much to observe and critique. You'll not see many movies from any era like this one.