1949
Carol Reed
Upon its release in 1949, Carol Reed’s atmospheric thriller The Third Man instantly became a classic, winning the Grand Prix at Cannes, a BAFTA for Best British Film, and the Oscar for Best Cinematography for Robert Krasker. Featuring some of cinema’s most memorable set pieces and quotable lines, the film’s Viennese locations quickly etch themselves in the memory – the vast sewers, the Ferris wheel, the elegant avenues of its central cemetery. The city may have been bombed out and strewn with rubble, divided into four sectors by the Allies, but it still stood tall in all its faded grandeur.
Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten), a writer of pulp Westerns, arrives in post-war Vienna on the invitation of his childhood friend Harry Lime. But on arrival he finds that Harry has recently been killed by a car whilst crossing the street, leaving a grief-stricken lover, Anna (Alida Valli). When local British investigating office Calloway (Trevor Howard) claims that Lime was an unsavoury criminal, Martins accepts an offer from a local book club to stay in Vienna in order to clear his friend’s name. As he investigates his friend’s last hours, he grows closer to the doomed Anna, and learns of an unidentified “third man” at the scene of the accident, who may hold the key to the deepening mystery surrounding Harry’s death.
The Third Man has since been acknowledged as the masterwork of many of its key players – Reed, Cotten, Welles as actor, and novelist / sometime screenwriter Graham Greene, who wrote the script holed up in the now legendary Sacher Hotel, where Martins stays in the film. Then unknown, composer Anton Karas was a musician for hire playing in the wine gardens of Vienna when Carol Reed first encountered him. He then brought Karas to London for 6 weeks to work on the soundtrack to the film and the resulting unique and melancholy zither score became a worldwide phenomenon in itself.
To celebrate the 75th Anniversary in 2024, The Third Man will be available on UHD for the first time in a special Collector’s Edition, also featuring:
Written By Graham Greene
Music by Anton Karas
Cinematography by Robert Krasker
Having identified five different potential elements of The Third Man to use, the evidence, after scrupulous comparison, suggested that the best quality one from which to work would be a fine grain master positive struck from the original negative.
Scanning at 4k resolution, the ARRI has the capability to disengage the pins for archive work that, due to some minor shrinkage on the source element, allowed us to gain a safe scan of The Third Man. The integrity of the filmed image is paramount and the intention was to produce a restoration that balances the benefits of higher resolution and film technology but is akin to a first print showing. On this project a combination of Nucoda, MTI and Diamant were used to their individual strengths. Release prints were used as a reference for the grade: these were put side by side with the digital image as a guide for a first pass, setting the contrast levels and matching the shots within each scene to get an even flow throughout the film. Deluxe Restoration are immensely honoured to have been chosen to by STUDIOCANAL to work on the The Third Man to deliver the definitive 4K scan and restoration of this classic piece of cinema.
In 2024 a new UHD was made from the 2015 restoration.
Restoration: Deluxe, UK
Senior Colourist: Stephen Bearman
The American film director, producer and editor known for Inner Space, Gremlins and The Howling picks The Man Who Fell To Earth, Peeping Tom, The Wicker
The screenwriter and director known for Get Carter, Flash Gordon and Black Rainbow picks Brighton Rock and The Third Man.
The actor from The IT Crowd and Director and Writer of Submarine and The Double picks Billy Liar and The Third Man.
The director of Dangerous Liaisons and My Beautiful Laundrette picks The Third Man.
The Screenwriter of The Aeronauts, National Treasure and Wonder picks The Third Man.
Author and screenwriter known for his thriller novels picks The Wicker Man, Kind Hearts and Coronets, The Elephant Man, Sid and Nancy, The Ladykillers, I’m
