The Third Man – StudioCanal (4k UHD)

Theatrical Release Date: UK, 1949
Director: Carol Reed
Writer: Graham Greene
Cast: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard, Paul Hörbiger, Ernst Deutsch, Erich Ponto, Siegfried Breuer, Hedwig Bleibtreu, Bernard Lee, Wilfrid Hyde-White

Release Date: June 16th, 2025
Approximate Running Time: 104 Minutes 28 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 Aspect Ratio / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265 / HDR10
Rating: PG (UK)
Sound: DTS-HD Mono English, DTS-HD Mono German, DTS-HD Mono French
Subtitles: English SDH, German, French
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: £19.99 (UK)

"Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten, Citizen Kane), a naive writer of pulp westerns, arrives in Vienna to meet his old friend Harry Lime (the incomparable Orson Welles) but finds that Lime has apparently been killed in a suspicious accident. Martins, too curious for his own good, hears contradictory stories about the circumstances of Lime's death, and as witnesses disappear, he finds himself chased by unknown assailants. Complicating matters are the sardonic Major Calloway (Trevor Howard, Brief Encounter), head of the British forces, and Lime's stage actress mistress, Anna Schmidt (Alida Valli). Will Martins' curiosity lead him to discover things about his old friend that he'd rather not know?" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

The Third Man comes on a 100 GB triple layer 4K UHD.

Disc Size: 89.9 GB

Feature: 71.9 GB

The source looks excellent; this is the best it's looked on home media to date. Image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and the image always looks organic.

Audio: 5/5 (DTS-HD Mono English)

This release comes with three audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in English, a DTS-HD mono mix in German, and a DTS-HD mono mix in French. For this review I only listened to the English language track, and it sounds outstanding. Dialog always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and range-wise things sound excellent. Included are removable English SDH, German, and French subtitles.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an anniversary trailer for The Third Man (39 seconds, LPCM mono English, no subtitles), a behind-the-scenes image gallery (31 images),  Guardian NFT audio interview with actor Joseph Cotten (47 minutes 26 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English with removable German and French subtitles), Guardian NFT audio interview with author/screenwriter Graham Greene (8 minutes 5 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English with removable German and French subtitles), an archival documentary titled Shadowing The Third Man (93 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable German and French subtitles), an interview and Zither performance by Cornelia Mayer (14 minutes 43 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable German and French subtitles), The Third Man On The Radio, an episode with Orson Welles titled A Ticket to Tangiers (28 minutes 46 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English with removable German and French subtitles), The Third Man Interactive Vienna Tour, an alternate opening voiceover narration by Joseph Cotten (1 minute 23 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English with removable German and French subtitles), an archival featurette titled Restoring The Third Man (19 minutes 38 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable German and French subtitles), an archival featurette titled titled The Third Man - A Filmmaker's Influence (16 minutes 48 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable German and French subtitles), an excerpt from BEHP audio interview with Noreen Ackland titled Saving The Third Man (5 minutes 42 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English with removable German and French subtitles), an audio commentary with Guy Hamilton, Simon Callow and Angela Allen, and a slipcover (limited to the first pressing).

Summary:

Carol Reed directed The Third Man. He’s known for Odd Man Out, The Fallen Idol, The Man Between, and Our Man in Havana. The screenplay was written by Graham Greene; he collaborated with Carol Reed on two other films, The Fallen Idol and Our Man in Havana.

When a car accident kills an old friend of the novelist, who had offered him a job in Vienna, he starts his own investigation because he is not convinced that what he's being told is the truth.

Among all the films where Orson Welles acted without directing, The Third Man most closely aligns with his unique directorial style. Visually, The Third Man is filled with Dutch and other odd angles that are synonymous with the films Orson Welles directed. That said, Carol Reed is an exemplary director in his own right, and there are many elements throughout The Third Man that are undeniably linked to his style.

The Third Man has a superb premise, which does an amazing job drawing you in and holding your attention. The idea of building a story around a character who's not seen until around the halfway mark and whose overall screen time is limited is inspired. While other characters fill in details about said character, it greatly increases the anticipation related to their entrance. That said, it is arguably one of the greatest character introductions in cinema history.

The Third Man has an outstanding cast, which is anchored by its three leads: Joseph Cotten (Shadow of a Doubt) in the role of a novelist named Holly Martins, Alida Valli (Senso) in the role of Anna Schmidt, and Orson Welles (Citizen Kane) in the role of Harry Lime. Although all three actors deliver outstanding performances, Orson Welles captivates in every scene he appears in. Besides the three leads, the rest of the cast is rounded out by an excellent supporting cast, notably Trevor Howard (Sons and Lovers) in the role of Major Calloway. His character cleverly uses Holly Martins to lure Harry Lime out into the open.

The Third Man is a film that firmly fits into the Film noir genre. The visuals do a remarkable job playing with light and shadow, notably the scene where Harry Lime is finally revealed standing in a doorway. Another area where the visuals excel is how effectively it uses its location, postwar Vienna. Nighttime sequences, which were heightened by spraying water on the streets, a scene on a Ferris wheel, and a climax that takes place in underground sewage tunnels, are among the most visually striking moments. When discussing The Third Man, one can look past the musical instrument zither and how its use in the score greatly enhances the mood. Ultimately, The Third Man is a sublime cinema experience where everything perfectly falls into place.

The Third Man gets an exceptional release from StudioCanal that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and a wealth of insightful extras. Highly recommended.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

 

Written by Michael Den Boer