The Third Man

" Graham Greene wanted to make entertainment, while Carol Reed wanted to make a moving and political work. The winner is neither Greene nor Reed but...a third man named Harry Lime, a.k.a. Orson Welles, the film's veritable tragic hero, an incarnation of morality and ambiguity" (M. Ferro). "A masterpiece, without a doubt. A simple and dramatic script, it's a detective story, but in the way that Greene knew how to draw something eternal from mediocrity, abjection and squalor... The characters are admirably lively, and played with moving skill... And the strange zither accompaniment, ends up putting you on the edge of your nerves." (J.J Gautier).Director born in London in 1906. A former actor and secretary to Edgar Wallace, he directed his first film (It Happened in Paris) in 1935. His taste for psychological and political suspence was confirmed in his adaptation of Graham Greene's The Third man. An expert technician, precise story-teller and subtly efficient director of actors, Carol Reed was a substantial figure among post-War British directors. He died in 1976.