Premise - Post war Vienna and American pulp novel writer Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) arrives in the city under the promise of a job from his good friend Harry lime (Orson Welles). Unfortunately, Martins is told that Lime recently died in a car crash, but as Martins digs deeper he finds that there may be more to Lime's death than meets the eye. I only watched The Third Man on a whim, I hadn't planned to watch it, but it was on TV and I figured I would give it a shot. A lot of people rate the film highly, calling it one of the best films ever made, so I figured it would be at least watchable even if I'm not the biggest fan of older style movies. Turns out I was in for a treat and if not one of the finest films ever made, The Third Man is indeed an excellent movie. Critical to my enjoyment of the film was the overall look. Looking nothing like older black and white films that I have seen previously, The Third Man employs some (what must have been groundbreaking at the time) amazing cinematography to generate a real air of menace and foreboding. Low angle camera shots, stunning use of shadows and lighting to create the best looking old film I have ever seen. Clearly this film has gone on to inspire many, many other filmmakers and for that alone it should be applauded. Another thing that I don't automatically associate with older films that blew me away is the use of music, it is quite inspired. The haunting acoustic track by Anton Karas is unrelenting through the film. The catchy riff is played constantly throughout changing tone and pace to suit the mood of the film. The music is so good that I now have a copy on my computer and I am listening to it constantly. The third reason for my high enjoyment of the film is the show stealing performance by Orson Welles as Harry Lime. He has little screen time, but steals every moment that he is up there. Harry lime is a despicable man who has done some bad things and probably deserves all he gets, but Welles imbues him with such a charm that you find yourself warming towards him and perhaps even rooting for him later in the film. The scene that he has with Martins on the ferris wheel is outstanding and has rightfully went down in cinema history as a great moment. Welles show stealing performance is even more impressive when you take into account the excellent performance by Joseph Cotten as Holly Martins in the lead role. It's usually the poor standard of acting that puts me off watching older films, but The Third Man is littered with excellent performances. Cotten's Martins is merely a writer of trashy novels, but upon discovering the death of his friend he is compelled to dig deeper and find out the truth. The truth, it turns out, is something that he may not want to find out. I was also impressed with Alida Valli as Anna Schmidt, Harry Lime's girlfriend. An assured performance of woman who stands by her man regardless of what he may have done. The final shot of her walking past and ignoring Martins sums up her character perfectly without the need for any dialogue. The story itself is also incredibly intriguing. Set in the backdrop of post war Vienna we get to meet the international coalition of police there and get an insight into how a city tore apart by war runs. We are also introduced to the seedier side of the city thanks to the racketeers that the coalition is trying to police. For the most part the film is a standard noir (although there was likely nothing standard about it in 1949!) with unlikable characters and a femme fatale in place. In saying that though I do like a good Noir and I found the story of The Third Man immensely enjoyable. The Third Man was a real find for me and proof that not all older films are unworthy of my precious time. I appreciate its worth in the grand scheme of movie history and this time it's actually worthy of the praise leveled onto it. The best old film that I have seen.

/10. Poster quote - Old doesn't mean bad.