Third Man
sabadabada
5,966 Posts
I dont remember who posted in the movie thread, that this was their favorite movie, but its playing at the Modern this month.The Third Man. 1949. Great Britain. Directed by Carol Reed. Screenplay by Graham Greene. With Joseph Cotten, Orson Welles. Famous for its climactic Vienna chase sequence and its unforgettable theme music, Reed's dazzling collaboration with Greene features Cotten as a novelist trying to puzzle through what's become of his old friend, Harry Lime. 104 min. Saturday, August 4, 2007, 6:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2 Wednesday, August 8, 2007, 8:45 p.m., Theater 2, T2
Comments
Broken Blossoms. 1919. USA. Written and directed by D. W. Griffith. With Lillian Gish, Richard Barthelmess, Donald Crisp. Restored with funding from the Lillian Gish Trust for Film Preservation. Silent. Approx. 89 min.
Wednesday, July 4, 2007, 7:30 p.m., Theater 2, T2 (With piano accompaniment by Ben Model)
Sunday, July 8, 2007, 2:00 p.m., Theater 2, T2 (With piano accompaniment by Ben Model)
that was me.
absolutely the best piece of cinema these eyes have ever scene (So far)
I'm on the fence about picking up the new Criterion double disc version, I have the other one and I really don't see much difference between the two
has anyone picked it up?
Never seen Odd Man Out, is it available on DVD?
Fallen Idol is wonderful too. It's funny that after this run of brilliance he ends up winning an Oscar of the musical Oliver
According to Amazon, there was an Odd Man Out DVD that goes for $50+ now used, but I saw it on tape years ago.
I know, his career is all over the place, but does include some other good-to-great films. Other favorites besides the ones I mentioned are the early (1940) thriller Night Train to Munich and the later Alec Guiness espionage comedy Our Man in Havana, which showed at the AFI in DC-area recently.
there's a lot of shitty eurokitsch-covers ranging from panflute to zither (the lapsteel-like instrument the original is played on) from that era, since it was a big hit.
i also remember a bizarrly amusing reggae-version from an otherwise shitty 80s record by the shadows and some austrian pseudo-falco song which combined the theme with a handful of the good old funky drummer loop...
no really remarkable versions here though. anyone?
Carol Reed and Powell and Presburger are repsonsible for some of the 20th century's greatest movies.
Agreed. I love all eras P+P. I got deep into them after one year at the Toronto Film Festival when George Romero presented Tales of Hoffmann as the film that made him want to make movies.
Although they showed Peeping Tom here in Baltimore about a year ago and several of my friends didn't dig it.
Several of your friends must be severely
Peeping Tom is as brilliant a cinematic indictment of audience participating as 'voyeur' as you may see... truly chilling.. the lead (Karl something I think) was as cold and detached as could be yet still demanded understanding if not empathy...
But I thought this was about Third Man?! Or have we opened the arena to include discussion on all British films?!?!! The Archers are definetly pimps in the game for sheer longevity/consistency but even Red Shoes, Peeping Tom, Black Narcissus don't hold ish to Carol Reed's masterpiece....
Odd Man Out is IMO second to Third Man in Reed's canon... James Mason turns in a performance to rank up there with Humbert Humbert... although you can't quite top Welles magnetism on-screen in a role that teases the audience with his impending presence... it was released by Image on DVD some time ago with no extras and has since fetched prices of $50 or more (got $80 for my copy)... the distribution rights are owned by Janus Films though which would leave me to believe that Criterion with release an updated edition in the future...
Haven't seen The Fallen Idol... read the book though and it's a great story with a dash of very playful dark humour reminiscent of Third Man... Graham Greene was truly the man!! Just read Brighton Rock for further evidence... I believe Criterion released this on DVD in the past few months....
From my understanding it's the same transfer... just more extras... I smell a cash grab on one of Criterion's loftier titles... did the same with Seven Samurai and Brazil although I'm pretty sure the Kurosawa got an updated transfer...