Amazon.com Essentials:
The fractured Europe post-World War II is perfectly captured
in Carol Reed's masterpiece thriller, set in a Vienna still
shell-shocked from battle. Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) is an
alcoholic pulp writer come to visit his old friend Harry Lime (Orson
Welles). But when Cotton first arrives in Vienna, Lime's funeral is
under way. From Lime's girlfriend and an occupying British officer,
Martins learns of allegations of Lime's involvement in racketeering,
which Martins vows to clear from his friend's reputation. As he is
drawn deeper into postwar intrigue, Martins finds layer under layer of
deception, which he desperately tries to sort out. Welles's
long-delayed entrance in the film has become one of the hallmarks of
modern cinematography, and it is just one of dozens of cockeyed camera
angles that seem to mirror the off-kilter postwar society. Cotten and
Welles give career-making performances, and the Anton Karas zither
theme will haunt you. --Anne Hurley
Amazon.com video review:
The fractured Europe post-World War II is perfectly captured
in Carol Reed's masterpiece thriller, set in a Vienna still
shell-shocked from battle. Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) is an alcoholic
pulp writer come to visit his old friend Harry Lime (Orson
Welles). But when Cotton first arrives in Vienna, Lime's funeral is
under way. From Lime's girlfriend and an occupying British officer,
Martins learns of allegations of Lime's involvement in racketeering,
which Martins vows to clear from his friend's reputation. As he is
drawn deeper into postwar intrigue, Martins finds layer under layer of
deception, which he desperately tries to sort out. Welles's
long-delayed entrance in the film has become one of the hallmarks of
modern cinematography, and it is just one of dozens of cockeyed camera
angles that seem to mirror the off-kilter postwar society. Cotten and
Welles give career-making performances, and the Anton Karas zither
theme will haunt you. --Anne Hurley
