The Third Man 1949

Susan Stark, Detroit News: The Third Man is like the exhausted aftermath of Casablanca. Read more

Bosley Crowther, New York Times: Top credit must go to Mr. Reed for molding all possible elements into a thriller of superconsequence. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: Of all the movies I have seen, this one most completely embodies the romance of going to the movies. Read more

Mark Feeney, Boston Globe: Krasker's camera reveals a dank, matte, defeated city - so dully vivid as to be a character unto itself - except that this Vienna becomes something altogether different seen at night or underground. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Like many, I have loved this thriller of conscience and betrayal most of my moviegoing life. Read more

Jeff Millar, Houston Chronicle: Welles gives Harry a mask of irony that turns all moral judgment back on itself. He turns a mass murderer into a wry rogue, and makes his villainy all the more horrifying because we rather like him. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: Wonderful entertainment. Read more

David Ansen, Newsweek: It transformed the way I looked at the world. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: For lovers of film noir, The Third Man is unquestionably a must-see -- one of the masterpieces of a genre that has contained everything from milestone motion pictures to low-budget potboilers. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: "The Third Man" is important not just because of its technique but because of its theme ... Read more

Laura Miller, Salon.com: It seemed like the creation of a sensibility terribly old and wise, and most of all very European; it was the very essence of world-weary sophistication. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Reed and screenwriter Graham Greene let the story unfold slowly and deliberately, like the cigarette smoke that floats around the characters, and keep us guessing at every step. Read more

Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out: A lot funnier than you remember it, Carol Reed's immortal 1949 film noir seems to exist in the space between two worlds: an earlier time when thrillers were mostly serious affairs, and a future one, when such supremely witty entertainments felt passe. Read more

Variety: A full-blooded, absorbing story Read more

Stephanie Zacharek, Village Voice: The Third Man is a movie of sobering pleasures. Read more

J. Hoberman, Village Voice: However hoked-up and self-regarding, The Third Man ... remains an indelible experience. Read more