The Red Circle

By Tom Nix // 10.28.09

We’re kicking off the first in this series with a tribute to a fallen idol. The Criterion Collection (Long the gold standard for the highest quality films, special features, and artwork – if you don’t know them, you should.) has, of today, lost the rights to distribute one of the greatest movies of the 20th Century. Carol Reed’s The Third Man is, in almost every sense, a perfect movie. And with the Blu-Ray edition, Criterion has offered a near perfect presentation. It’s a fitting first for a new column to talk about the movie that was long a collector’s item before it went out of print. Even more so that one Leonardo DiCaprio is circling a remake. One that, even with all of today’s talent compounded, would be a fool’s errand. There is no way to recreate what happened in Vienna, Austria 50 years ago.

Part I: The Film

There is little so say about The Third Man that hasn’t been said elsewhere. It follows a naive American called to Vienna to visit a childhood friend, Harry Lime. Almost immediately upon arriving, he is hit with both  his friend’s death, and the news from the Chief of Police that Lime was a ringleader in a nasty penicillin racket. Not believing in either of these occurrences, Holly Martens attempts to prove his friend’s innocence with the help of Harry’s ex- girlfriend. To say anymore would be rude.

The story is shot in a brilliant monochrome, with appropriately off-kilter camera angles and the deepest blacks. There are some stories that simply cannot be told in color. They would tell too much about the characters. The Third Man is a film who lets its stark palette reveal its characters and situations. This is a film that could be told without words, even those as fine as the ones in the Graham Greene penned script. Joseph Cotten is perfectly cast as the dogged American dime-store novelist turned gumshoe. Alida Valli is suitably radiant as Anna, and Trevor Howard’s Major Calloway provides an intense and intelligent foil to Marten’s efforts to clear his friend’s name.

And then there is Orson Welles. His performance is electric. Magnetic. He takes what is essentially the most famous “cameo” of all time and turns it into a portrayal of a man who has the depths of hell inside him. There was no one like Orson Welles in 1949. There is no one like Orson Welles now.

As much as the film owes to is cast and crew, it also owes a great deal to time and place. Shot entirely on location in Vienna in 1948, the film captures the essence of a war-torn, divided, broken city. The city belonged America, Britain, Russia, and France, and people needed a passport simply to cross the street. The people present rackets, cons, and theft as the only way to get ahead in a world that has no time for them.

One day, this website will run a full, unfettered look at a towering masterpiece of cinema. But for now, please know that it is one of the milestones of 20th Century film, and should be a staple in any collection.

Part II: The Presentation

It’s Criterion. It’s flawless. Not only do they provide an impeccable transfer onto Blu-Ray (those blacks are the real deal for the first time ever), they also stock the disc to the brim with ALL of the features found on the re-release 2-Disc DVD Special Edition.

Criterion is not happy with simply giving you some making of vignettes and a commentary. They love this film as much as I do, and their extensive supplements help you not only appreciate the film even more, but also give you insights that indelibly impact the viewing experience. How many other DVD companies include original readings of rejected script treatments along with the obligatory deleted scenes. NO ONE. This is why Criterion is legend. On to the goods

The Rundown:

• TWO Feature-length commentaries. One featuring film historian Dana Polan, who spends his time going over the history and impact of the flick. The second featuring Steven Soderbergh and Bourne writer Tony Gilroy who essentially fan wank over the film and explain how much of it they stole for their own movies.
• Shadowing The Third Man – a NINETY MINUTE documentary on the production of the film. Personally, I found the projecting of the film on landmarks of Vienna to be a little too repetitive (it probably makes up for 40% of the doc), but the information contained within is vital.
• “Graham Greene: The Hunted Man” – A SIXTY MINUTE episode of a 1968 British TV Show that features an interview with the original author and screenwriter of The Third Man.
• Who Was The Third Man? – a thirty minute documentary from Australia interviewing the crew and cast.
• TWO Radio-Plays. An episode of “The Lives of Harry Lime,” written by Welles, and the 1951 Lux Radio Theatre production of The Third Man.
• Digital Reproductions of the British Pressbook, and many behind-the-scenes photos
• An Alternate opening featuring Joseph Cotten’s in-character voice-over narration (the original features director Carol Reed as an unnamed narrator giving a history of Holly Martens and Vienna).
• Archival footage of Post-War Vienna
• A featurette on the many languages spoken in the film

The list speaks for itself. This is a regal presentation of a film. And few deserve it as much as this one does. It’s a shame that there will be people who will never be able to pull this movie off of their shelf for a perfect night in the home theater. Now is the time to count yourself among the Chosen Few who can claim a copy as their own.

Both the 2-Disc DVD edition and the new Blu-Ray edition will be gone from store shelves before the end of the year. Do yourselves and cinema a large favor and pick it up before it’s gone for good.

Part III: The Roundup

Much like every other film to be discussed in our Idolatry column, The Third Man is an essential part of a collection worth being proud of. In fact, this film may be one of the most important building blocks in any serious collection. We’ve thrown around praise for films like Re-Animator, Drag Me To Hell, and Dead Alive, but this is different. This is why cinema has endured for over 100 years. This is the art form personified in a perfect film. What’s next is something you are assured to see very little on this website.

Score: 10 out of 10

Ranking: Deity

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