Ziad Shihab

Cleaners in Film and Literature

Cleaners in Film and Literature

About The Third Man, a film by Carol Reed that features a cleaner.

The Third Man is a 1949 film noir that tells the story of Holly Martins, an American writer who arrives in post-war Vienna to meet his friend Harry Lime, only to find out that he has died in a mysterious car accident. Martins decides to investigate Lime's death and discovers that he was involved in a black market scheme that involved selling diluted penicillin to hospitals, causing many deaths and deformities. Martins also learns that Lime is not really dead, but has faked his own death and is hiding in the sewers of Vienna. Martins is torn between his loyalty to his friend and his sense of justice, as he is pursued by the police and Lime's enemies.

The Third Man is considered one of the greatest films of all time, celebrated for its acting, musical score, and atmospheric cinematography. The film stars Joseph Cotten as Martins, Alida Valli as Anna, Lime's girlfriend, Orson Welles as Lime, and Trevor Howard as Major Calloway, a British officer who tries to expose Lime's crimes. The film was written by Graham Greene, based on his own novella of the same name. The film's iconic theme music was composed by Anton Karas, who played the zither, a stringed instrument. The film was shot on location in Vienna, using the ruins and shadows of the city to create a mood of suspense and mystery. The film also used the technique of the Dutch angle, tilting the camera to create a sense of disorientation and imbalance.

The Third Man was a critical and commercial success, winning the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival and the Academy Award for Best Cinematography. The film also influenced many other filmmakers and genres, such as spy thrillers, neo-noir, and political dramas. The film has been praised for its exploration of themes such as friendship, betrayal, morality, and identity, as well as its portrayal of the post-war European society and culture. The film is also famous for its memorable scenes and dialogues, such as the Ferris wheel scene, where Lime compares the lives of people to dots, and the final scene, where Martins waits for Anna at the cemetery.

If you want to watch The Third Man, you can find it on various streaming platforms, such as [Amazon Prime Video](^1^) or [YouTube](^2^). You can also read more about the film on [Wikipedia](^3^) or [IMDb](^4^). I hope you enjoy this classic film. Thank you for using Copilot. 😊.

Source: Conversation with Bing, 1/31/2024
(1) The Third Man - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Third_Man.
(2) The Third Man (1949) - IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0041959/.
(3) The Third Man | film by Reed [1949] | Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Third-Man.
(4) The Third Man : Carol Reed : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming .... https://archive.org/details/the-third-man_202104.
(5) themoviedb.org. https://www.themoviedb.org/.



31 Jan 2024 20:13 EST

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