Episode 120: The Third Man (1949)

Published: Oct. 8, 2018, 10 a.m.

b'"The Third Man," directed by Carol Reed, begins our "film noir" pairing! The movie premiered in 1949, written by Graham Greene and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, and Orson Welles! Filmed on-site in Vienna, Austria (and in their amazingly beautiful and spacious sewer system... we kid you not) in the years after World War II, this is a prime example of everything "film noir" is supposed to be. The story is beautifully shot, expertly lit in a way that emphasizes the use of shadow, and contains a plot that twists and turns with such style that you\'re never quite sure who to trust or what\'s going to happen next! In 1999, This film this film topped the "BFI 100", a list of 100 of "the best British films ever!"'