One of my favorite movies of all time. So much so that I own it in Blu-ray and when I visited Vienna I took a ride on the famous ferris wheel.
The night images are amazing and they spent so much time spraying the streets every night with water to get that look.
I'm also so glad the director fought hard to avoid the typical movie score that was pushed by Hollywood producers and went for the iconic sound of the zither [0]. Which all happened by accident when Reed was having a dinner and hears Karas playing the instrument. The choice of this instrument not only made the movie but also change the fortune of Karas who was playing the instrument [1].
Along with the best improvised movie lines which I would include the Bladerunner I would also include Orson Wells' line about the Swiss and the cuckoo clock.
As a bit of a movie buff, I have to agree with Soderbergh's comment about the movie keeping the consistent tone. So many movies with great potential lose their tone and miss that quintessential part of the movie that makes them a classic. The Third Man is a classic and should be a must watch on anyone's list who likes the cinema.
Part of the tone problem is that every movie these days has to be a “four-quadrant” movie (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-quadrant_movie), with something in it to appeal to everyone, young and old, male and female. So your high-octane action movie has to stop periodically to present some weepy melodrama, and your incisive character study has to set some room aside for fart jokes.
Fun fact: My grandfather was a sound recordist on location for The Third Man. One day Reed told him to just grab his gear and come with him to the restaurant after they had finished shooting for the day. IIRC it was quite late, and it was a nightmare to record because of all the background noise from the restaurant. Probably another reason they re-recorded later.
They shot the Ferris Wheel over the course of a whole day, going around and around and around whilst there was light. The cars were quite small for filming, so Reed, the cameraman and my grandfather were pressed up against the other side as far back as they could. He would recall it as being a grueling day.
I don't know if they ended up re-shooting that later, because in the film the background out the windows looks projected. He never watched any films he worked on, so might not have known.
He had so many stories from that shoot, which was odd because he didn't like talking about work, so I got the impression it was one of his favorite location shoots.
Wiki:
> [The film] initially offended some Viennese inhabitants, as it focused on the disgrace of the destroyed city. Vienna's newspaper critics hated the film, except for its music.
I understand the sentiment of the time, but I found it really striking to see the rubble and destruction in the city.
The line about the Swiss, the Borgias and the cuckoo clock is kind-of inaccurate. The cuckoo clock comes from the Black Forest region of Germany, not Switzerland. However, the quote is true in spirit when you realise that the Swiss did not invent even the cuckoo clock.
While on the topic of Graham Greene - I recommend his novel Quiet American. Written in the mid 50s it shows amazing insight into the future of American foreign policy and regime change. And does so through a great story.
I enjoy this movie a lot, and thought I knew most of the fun tidbits - when Reed points out that the soundtrack was designed as a counterpoint to the action on the screen:
> For example, in the cat scene, I asked Karas to play a few sort of walking notes while the cat crossed the street and then, as it looked at Harry’s shoe, ascending chords, which break into “The Third Man Theme” when it finally sees Harry and we hold on the cat’s little face.
It really intrigued me, makes me want to rewatch the movie to listen for things like that!
This classic is not available for streaming by _any_ streaming service in Sweden. This is so strange. Do not the copyright holders want to make money from it still?
The night images are amazing and they spent so much time spraying the streets every night with water to get that look.
I'm also so glad the director fought hard to avoid the typical movie score that was pushed by Hollywood producers and went for the iconic sound of the zither [0]. Which all happened by accident when Reed was having a dinner and hears Karas playing the instrument. The choice of this instrument not only made the movie but also change the fortune of Karas who was playing the instrument [1].
Along with the best improvised movie lines which I would include the Bladerunner I would also include Orson Wells' line about the Swiss and the cuckoo clock.
As a bit of a movie buff, I have to agree with Soderbergh's comment about the movie keeping the consistent tone. So many movies with great potential lose their tone and miss that quintessential part of the movie that makes them a classic. The Third Man is a classic and should be a must watch on anyone's list who likes the cinema.
[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oEsWi88Qv0
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Karas