Directed by: Carol Reed
Staring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotton, Trevor Howard, Alida Valli
This atmospheric thriller is one of the undisputed masterpieces of cinema with iconic performances from Orson Welles and Joseph Cotton. Holly Martins (Cotton) is a hack writer arriving in Vienna shortly after WW11. He plans to meet an old friend Harry Lime, but discovers he has been killed in a road accident. He is told a few home truths about his old chum by a British Army officer (Howard) and Lime’s girlfriend (Valli) and he focuses his energies on trying to discover the identity of the third man who carried Lime’s body from the street. Superb photography by Robert Krasker and the haunting zither score by Anton Karas makes this one of British cinema’s most enduring and atmospheric thrillers. A genuine and endlessly rewatchable classic not to be missed.