The documentary on the making of "The Third Man" includes footage of Orson Welles saying that he did not direct any of it (the documentary also shows that most of it was filmed before Welles arrived in Vienna and that he refused to venture far into the sewers where the climax of the movie was filmed. An earlier, less revered movie in which Welles appeared, the 1942 version of Eric Ambler's spy thriller Journey into Fear certainly has an Orson Welles look — or perhaps the noirish look of "The Lady from Shanghai" and the much later "Touch of Evil" had roots in "Journey into Fear." Credited director Norman Foster had directed a series of Charlie Chan and Mr. Moto movies and also directed the superb (and subperbly titled!) "Kiss the Blood Off My Hands" (with Burt Lancaster's hands and Joan Fontaine doing the kissing). Still, I suspect that, although he received neither directing nor writing credit (credit went to Norman Foster and Joseph Cotten, respectively), some — probably much — of what is up on the screen is Welles's. However, the problem is not whodunit (directed scenes) but that there is not enough there there.

The film is too short to develop the plot (about an expert the Nazis want who is trying to flee from agents who turn up on the same boat the authorities in Turkey have put him on to safeguard him) or the international set of characters. The on-board relationships should have been developed more. All of them seem perfunctorily sketched, and the plot must be confusing to those not familiar with Eric Ambler's (best) novel. Still, I'd say that the shooting by a good marksman who misses his target and stalking him in the nightclub are combined into an altogether more satisfying single event than in the original novel. out of     

Excerpt from Steven O. Murray's Eopinions website located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: February 12th, 1943

Reviews    More Reviews    DVD Reviews

Recommended Reading in Film Noir (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)

The Third Man by Graham Greene	The Dark Side of the Screen: Film Noir by Foster Hirsch	Somewhere in the Night: Film Noir and the American City by Nicholas Christopher	Shades of Noir: A Reader by Joan Copjec	The Art of Noir: The Posters and Graphics from the Classic Era of Film Noir by Eddie Muller	The Little Black and White Book of Film Noir: Quotations from Films of the 40's and 50's by Peg Thompson, Saeko Usukawa	Film Noir by Alain Silver	Film Noir Guide: 745 Films of the Classic Era, 1940-1959 by Michael F. Keaney	Detours and Lost Highways: A Map of Neo-Noir by Foster Hirsch

DVD Review: Éditions Montparnasse - Region 2 - PAL

Screen captures courtesy of Herb Kane