Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £4.99 a month
The Third Man
Carol Reed's timeless classic, one of the greatest British films, lavishly marries a perfect script, an unforgettable theme tune and the star power of Orson Welles.
Thriller 1949 104 mins
Director: Carol Reed
Overview
One of the greatest British films, Carol Reed's classic very consciously emphasises its time and place - post-war Vienna - yet its resonant themes around loss of innocence and a fall from grace render it timeless. Joseph Cotten plays the writer searching the Austrian capital for his missing friend, Harry Lime. He's disturbed to discover that Lime recently died, but soon begins to doubt the official version of events.
Graham Greene's peerless script borrows its pessimistic outlook from American Film Noir, but manages to balance its cynicism with wit and pathos. Containing many celebrated sequences, including its sewer-set finale and Welles' iconic onscreen entrance, the film also boasts one of the most memorable theme tunes in all cinema; the puckish zither score by the then unknown Anton Karas, whom Reed discovered in a bar. The Third Man was a big success upon its release, generating radio and TV spinoffs, but it's also risen in estimation over the years to become one of British cinema's most cherished treasures.
mild threatAccessibility
Related
Thriller
Obsession
Romance 1976 98 mins Director: Brian De Palma
High melodrama, creeping insanity and barely contained delirium abound in this dizzying tribute to the high tension thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock from director Brian De Palma.
Hyena
Crime 2014 112 mins Director: Gerard Johnson
In this stylish, dark crime thriller, a policeman’s complex web of underworld relationships is threatened by an internal affairs investigator.
The Old Dark House
Comedy 1932 72 mins Director: James Whale
A group of weary travellers arrive at a spooky mansion with a madman on the loose, in this classic horror-comedy from James Whale (Bride of Frankenstein)
Goldstone
Thriller 2016 110 mins Director: Ivan Sen
Ivan Sen follows his acclaimed Australian thriller Mystery Road with another distinctive, 'outback noir', with troubled indigenous detective Joe Swan (Aaron Pedersen) again on the trail of murder and corruption.
Suture
Thriller 1994 96 mins Director: Scott Mcgehee
David Siegel and Scott McGehee's sumptuously shot neo-noir is a moody, monochrome meditation on race and identity politics.
The Ninth Configuration
Horror 1979 118 mins Director: William Peter Blatty
From the writer of The Exorcist, one of the ultimate cult film experiences: William Peter Blatty's unclassifiable blend of unhinged psychological thriller and anarchic comedy.
Kermode introduces
Lodger: A Story of the London Fog
Crime 1926 91 mins Silent Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Ivor Novello plays a strange lodger who may be behind a number of Jack the Ripper-style killings in Alfred Hitchcock’s silent thriller.
Unrelated
Drama 2007 96 mins Director: Joanna Hogg
On a Tuscan break a fortysomething woman finds herself drawn to the company of a group of partying teens, including a young Tom Hiddleston (in one of his earliest roles).
For Those in Peril
Drama 2013 92 mins Director: Paul Wright
An intense and mysterious drama about the lone survivor of a strange fishing accident who’s outcast and persecuted by his fellow villagers.
Distant Voices, Still Lives
Biopic 1988 84 mins Director: Terence Davies
Terence Davies' debut feature is a remarkable evocation of working-class family life in the 40s and 50s and a visionary exploration of memory.
Within Our Gates
Drama 1919 74 mins Silent Director: Oscar Micheaux
Oscar Micheaux’s startling silent classic – the earliest surviving feature from an African-American director – presents a fascinating black counterpoint to Griffith’s Birth of a Nation.
My Brother the Devil
Drama 2012 107 mins Director: Sally El Hosaini
Sally El Hosaini's feature debut tells of the love and disenchantment of two British-Egyptian brothers. Gangs, drugs and sexuality come between them
Featuring Alida Valli
Eyes without a Face
Horror 1960 90 mins Director: Georges Franju
Georges Franju’s gorgeous, poetic horror film about a surgeon’s dark obsession with restoring his daughter’s disfigured face.
Suspiria
Horror 1977 101 mins Director: Dario Argento
Dario Argento’s phantasmagoric gothic nightmare blends operatic violence, disorienting dream logic and hyper-real visuals to create a horror classic.
Directed by Carol Reed
The Way Ahead
War 1944 115 mins Director: Carol Reed
A stirring wartime drama about seven ordinary men who become a formidable fighting force.
Odd Man Out
Crime 1947 116 mins Director: Carol Reed
Wounded during a robbery, a gunman attempts to escape police in Carol Reed's moody Irish thriller, starring James Mason.
New
Obsession
Romance 1976 98 mins Director: Brian De Palma
High melodrama, creeping insanity and barely contained delirium abound in this dizzying tribute to the high tension thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock from director Brian De Palma.
The Olive Tree
Drama 2016 99 mins Director: Icíar Bollaín
A spirited young woman embarks on a journey from the East coast of Spain to Germany in order to retrieve an ancient olive tree precious to her ailing grandfather.
Kiss of the Damned
Horror 2012 95 mins Director: Xan Cassavetes
A cool and contemporary take on the vampire myth, steeped in atmosphere and brooding contemplation.
My 20th Century
Drama 1989 99 mins Director: Ildikó Enyedi
Ildikó Enyedi's magical tale of twin girls born in Budapest at the very moment that Edison’s wondrous electric light-bulb is unveiled to the world.
The Cave of the Yellow Dog
Drama 2005 89 mins Director: Byambasuren Davaa
A Mongolian nomad family find themselves in disagreement when the oldest daughter, Nansal, finds a small dog and brings it home, in Davaa Byambasuren's reflective, naturalistic fable.
Faithless
Drama 2000 154 mins Director: Liv Ullmann
Ingmar Bergman scripts this semi-autobiographical drama directed by his closest collaborator, Liv Ullmann, about a theatre director facing up to the pain he inflicted upon his muse.