Martin Scorsese on The Third Man

http://fridaynightboys300.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/martin-scorsese-on-third-man.html

 

I know a lot of people here who live and breath movies have other favorites, but for me Noir defined is The Third Man. The shadows, angles.......it's a world out of balance. And the big scene with Cotton and Welles should take place at night, right? Shadowy place, whispers, dark corners. Wrong! Broad daylight, but the carousel and the machinery of the park keep the mood uneasy.

 

I love this and Reed's Odd Man Out. Watched his Flap the other day - such a long way from either of these!

 

He's absolutely right about the LP. I have the original import on the London label and while not complete it destroys everything else I've found. This seriously needs a definitive release.

I'm beyond glad the film has finally been restored. It belongs with the true greats of the medium and affected me so profoundly as a child on the old Goodtimes VHS from a dupe of the U.S. Cut.

As I wrote on fb this morning;
If the cinema must have a window back out into the world we live in, it is THE THIRD MAN.
Reed working through the eyes of Greene created what is the medium's great poetic statement on our own futility and incalculable ability to live with what we have created.

Additionally, Reed adds the eloquent coda to Greene's world view and in doing so perfectly completes it.

The cuckoo clock speech is probably the greatest thing I've ever heard said by anyone.

 

Great great film. Great soundtrack

 

Is there a full list of cities where the restoration will be playing? I've only seen an initial press release that says NYC, LA, PHL, DC, SF, Seattle "and other major markets".

 

I'm going to see it during the week...

 

This is Orson Welles (1993) quotes Welles: "When the picture came out, the Swiss very nicely pointed out to me that they've never made any cuckoo clocks", as the clocks are native to the German Black Forest. Writer John McPhee pointed out that when the Borgias flourished in Italy, Switzerland had "the most powerful and feared military force in Europe" and was not the peacefully neutral country it would later become.

It's still a great line, though.

 

It's playing Sundance Seattle 7/3-7/10 - we go

 

Harry Lime will come too.

 

We should bring Harry Rag as well

 

Sounds good to me!

 

Didn't Welles adlib that line?

 

He wrote the speech.

 

I've said it before but the Third Man is my all time favorite film. The Hitchcock style twists grabbed me the first time I saw it, plus the zither and the camera shots. But what makes it even better each time I see t is graham greene's writing. Yes Welles ad libbed his big speech. But so many subtle things going on which is all due to Greene. I love how crabbin seems to keep his wife/mistress from talking, how every compliment of Holly's writing is really an insult "such a good cover", how Anna calls Holly 'Harry' a few times, how they don't subtitle the German so that we English speakers are as lost as holly... The big reveal with Harry is great but drunken holly and Anna just before that is great too.
And what seals it is that final scene. Absolute perfection and stunningly beautiful.

 

I own it on disc and still watch every time it's on TCM.