

The Third Man
Hunted by men ... Sought by WOMEN!
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.
TMDB
7.9/10
2,205 votes
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- Status
- Released
- Budget
- —
- Box office
- $1.2M
- Language
- English
- staged death
- black market
- cemetery
- investigation
- soviet military
- prater
- british army
- austria
- cover-up
- film noir
- black and white
- foot chase
Top billed cast














Behind the camera
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Release dates
United StatesUS
- TheatricalNR2 Feb 1950
- Theatricalre-release7 May 1999
United KingdomGB
- TheatricalPG1 Sept 1949
- TheatricalPGLondon2 Sept 1949
- TheatricalPGre-release18 Mar 1994
- TheatricalPGre-release16 Jul 1999
- PremierePGEdinburgh International Film Festival21 Jun 2015
- Digital / OTTPGdigitally re-mastered version26 Jun 2015
AustraliaAU
- TheatricalPG3 Mar 1950
- PhysicalPGVHS26 Oct 1984
CanadaCA
- Theatrical14A2 Feb 1950
- TheatricalPG75th Anniversary Re-Release22 Nov 2024
AustriaAT
- Theatrical10 Mar 1950
BrazilBR
- Theatrical141 Jan 1950
ChinaCN
- PremiereClassic Film Festival (4K Restoration)24 Oct 2026
DenmarkDK
- Theatrical1119 Oct 1949
FinlandFI
- TheatricalK-1613 Jan 1950
FranceFR
- PremiereCannes Film Festival2 Sept 1949
- Theatrical12 Oct 1949
GermanyDE
- Theatrical1231 Aug 1949
GreeceGR
- TheatricalK5 Feb 1950
Frequently asked questions
The Third Man was released on 31 August 1949.
Audience reviews
5- C
CharlesTheBold
2/18/2017
Holly Martens (Joseph Cotten) receives a job offer from his friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles) in postwar occupied Vienna. He arrives there only to find that Lime is dead and every witness has a different story. Being a pulp writer, Holly thinks he can solve the mystery. But this is a Graham Greene story, and the mystery is not just a whodunit but an exploration of evil. Tangling with a nihilistic band of bla…
- J
John Chard
8/2/2019
Nobody thinks in terms of human beings. Governments don't. Why should we? The Third Man is directed by Carol Reed and written by Graham Greene. It stars Joseph Cotton, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard and Orson Welles. Music is by Anton Karas and cinematography by Robert Krasker. When writer Holly Martins (Cotton) travels to Vienna to hook up with his childhood friend Harry Lime (Welles), he is distressed to find tha…
- J
John Chard
8/2/2019
Nobody thinks in terms of human beings. Governments don't. Why should we? The Third Man is directed by Carol Reed and written by Graham Greene. It stars Joseph Cotton, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard and Orson Welles. Music is by Anton Karas and cinematography by Robert Krasker. When writer Holly Martins (Cotton) travels to Vienna to hook up with his childhood friend Harry Lime (Welles), he is distressed to find th…
- C7/10
CinemaSerf
7/9/2022
Joseph Cotton ("Holly") arrives in post war Vienna to meet up with his former school friend "Harry Lime" - only to discover that he was recently killed in an automobile accident. Without his promised job, he starts to chat with the friends of the dead man and swiftly spots some inconsistencies that lead him to become suspicious. He determines to try and find out just quite what happened. It becomes harder and harder …
- F8/10
Filipe Manuel Neto
7/1/2023
**Can a good movie be spoiled by an inadequate soundtrack? It can, and this film is proof of that.** I like film noir a lot, and I saw this film with pleasure. It's one of those films that you can't miss: it has an excellent story, complex characters, a lot of suspense and a good dose of humor, very elegant, almost intertwined with the main story, where we have a young American writer trying to unravel the very po…
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