
How Orson Welles Stole ”The Third Man” - blegh
https://cinephiliabeyond.org/the-third-man/
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salimmadjd
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.

[0]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oEsWi88Qv0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oEsWi88Qv0)

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Karas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Karas)

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smacktoward
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](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.

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sn41
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.

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jweir
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.

~~~
emmelaich
Made into a good movie. Brendan Fraser (surprisingly?) very good. His best
role.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Quiet_American_(2002_film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Quiet_American_\(2002_film\))

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radamadah
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!

~~~
a3n
My favorite movie. Nothing else comes close.

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mongol
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?

~~~
dmix
A lot of older films aren't on streaming. Nearly everything is available on
Torrents fortunately.

