The Third Man
In postwar Vienna, Austria, Holly Martins, a writer of pulp Westerns, arrives penniless as a guest of his childhood chum Harry Lime, only to learn he has died. Martins develops a conspiracy theory after learning of a "third man" present at the time of Harry's death, running into interference from British officer Major Calloway, and falling head-over-heels for Harry's grief-stricken lover, Anna.
From the archive
The Third Man is a 1949 film noir directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene, and starring Joseph Cotten as Holly Martins, Alida Valli as Anna Schmidt, Orson Welles as Harry Lime and Trevor Howard as Major Calloway. The story follows Holly Martins, an American writer who travels to post-World War II Vienna to visit his friend Harry Lime, only to find out that Lime has died in a suspicious accident. As Martins investigates the circumstances of Lime's death, he uncovers a web of deceit involving a mysterious "third man" and Lime's involvement in a black market penicillin operation, leading to moral dilemmas and a shocking revelation about Lime's true fate.
Why this is free to watch
The Third Man (1949) is hosted by the Internet Archive as a public-domain or openly licensed work, which means its copyright has expired, lapsed, or was released by the rights holder. The uploader declared an explicit licence, linked in the source panel. Nitrate streams the file directly from the Internet Archive and hosts no video itself.
- Director
- Carol Reed
- Starring
- Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard, Orson Welles, Paul Hörbiger, Ernst Deutsch, Erich Ponto, Siegfried Breuer
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