THE THIRD MAN

    Sir Carol Reed's classic spy thriller THE THIRD MAN owes a couple of stylistic nods to Hitchcock as well as the film's costar, Orson Welles.  Joseph Cotten plays Holly Martins, a somewhat obtuse but honest American pulp novelist, who searches war-torn Vienna for clues regarding his old friend Harry Lime (Welles), who may or may not be dead, and who may or may not be a murderous drug dealer.  With its shadowy mise-en-scène, tilted camera angles, and Anton Karas's eccentric zither score (that often seems perversely unrelated to the action), THE THIRD MAN is a film remembered for its unique hyper-expressionism as much as its content.  Welles's first appearance and the film's final shot are among the cinema's most indelible images.  Somebody slap me if I ever use the term "mise-en-scène" again.  - JL

Drama     The Stuff You Gotta Watch

Email us at stuff (at) laurelandhardycentral (dot) com