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The Third Man remains a great visual feast, reeking with the dank atmosphere of post war decay in Vienna. Not to mention what a classic beauty Alida Valli was . . .

The Third Man is an excellent International Film Noir. The fact that some of the dialog is in other languages only adds to it's American fish out of water disorientation, in a similar way that Dutch angles, high and low angle shots disorientate it accentuates the films Noir-ness. If Reed would have added subtitles some cretins would be complaining about that. It is one of the greatest Film Noirs.

I'm watching UNFAITHFULLY YOURS '48 and spotted a hat on Linda Darnell that I had never seen anything like before! It was like a mink tam: Notice the hat sits on the back of her head creating a fur halo, not obscuring any of her gorgeous face? Too bad that's the only pic I could find of that scene. No designer would dare cover Darnell's beautiful face with a brim:

An "art" film? That sounds pretentious. There's nothing pretentious about The Third Man. This is a movie made for the masses (who gobbled it up on both sides of the Atlantic at the time of its release) in the same sense as Casablanca or countless other films. It's just that it has dry British humour and zither music. Is that so off setting to you? Oh, yes, a lot of the character support actors speak German to bring a touch of reality to this light suspense tale distinguished by great performances and outstanding photography.

Thanks Athos. The droll humour scattered throughout The Third Man has always appealed to me. There we have Holly Martins on the run for his life with two goons chasing him when he enters a room and gets nipped on the finger by a parrot in the dark. Or, of course, the unexpected entrance of Balloon Man, forcing Bernard Lee as the British army sergeant, hiding in the dark (along with Trevor Howard's Calloway) in a stake out for Harry Lime, to have to buy one of the damn balloons in order to get the old guy to go away. This happens just seconds before we hear the zither start to play the famous "Third Man Theme" on the soundtrack as Harry Lime suddenly makes his appearance on top of a crumbling building overlooking the scene. The film dares to mix in some of this odd ball endearing humour into a scene of suspense and I love the mixture. It works. Hitchcock could carry this stuff off and so could Carol Reed in The Third Man. Four years later Reed tried to recreate the Third Man magic with a production shot in bombed out Berlin, The Man Between, this time casting the great James Mason as a mysterious Harry Lime-type character. The results were mixed (the film has none of the humour of the Third Man) but after a meandering first half it really starts to take off in suspense as Mason tries to help naive Britisher Claire Bloom (who had been kidnapped and brought into the Russian sector) get back to West Berlin. The film has some extraordinary moody black and white photography of Berlin, such as in the pix shown below, and is definitely worth a look, if you get the opportunity. The Man Between is not in the same league as The Third Man but it will do if the 1949 classic isn't immediately available to you. The performances in the film, by the way, are very good, particularly that of Mason.

Jean Arthur had such a lovely hairstyle in THE MORE THE MERRIER, but I also love this hat she wears in the beginning of the film. I love this one, too. I believe it's from MR. SMITH GOES TO WASHINGTON.

Much has been said about John Gilbert's career ending with the advent of talkies. Some have said that his voice did not match the Great Lover image of his silent movies. Others have claimed the reason is the rather primitive sound equipment of the day. I recently watched "Downstairs", his first talkie that I have seen. I personally did not understand what all the fuss was about. I was not bothered at all by his voice. Any thoughts by you movie experts out there?

Ben Stiller: Envy (2004)/Meet the Fockers (2004) Johnny Depp: Alice in Wonderland (2010)/The Tourist (2010) (Although, in each case, I prefer the panned film.)

Except for the film's climax, in which the rear screen projection is obvious, much of The Man Between's authenticity is due to its on location shooting in Berlin. This really is a mood piece.

Some of lovely Winona Ryder's different hats from THE AGE OF INNOCENCE. No hat in this one, but just look at that gorgeous dress!

Little Boy Lost (1953)

Yes, good example. Also-- Bruce Willis in 1990: DIE HARD 2 was huge; THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES was not.

Not a box office hit vs flop but a critical hit vs flop -- Sandra Bullock won an Oscar and a Razzie the same year (in fact, the same week). The year was 2010. The Oscar was for THE BLIND SIDE. The Razzie was for ALL ABOUT STEVE.

Here's some ladies looking fantastic in "men's" hats:

They Died with Their Boots On (1941) Next: Skyscraper

when i first read this, i thought you wrote that Constance Ford was dressing up like CLAUDE AKINS, and I thought to myself, "hmmm, bet she could pass for Claude pretty easily."

That elbow hugging stance was a homage by John Ford and John Wayne to Harry Carey, who used to hold his elbow like that.

I love when people say redheads can't wear pink or red. Lucy proves it works just fine if done correctly: pink makes red hair look more "mahogany" and red makes red hair appear more "coppery". So glad gorgeous Lucille Ball expanded her repertoire to comedy....brains over beauty!

Ann Sothern wore some fun hats as Maisie, and other times (there was 1 Maisie outfit with polkadot dress, matching parasol, hat and gloves, all polka dots, but i forgot what movie it was in so I couldn't find it)

Ladies in Retirement

SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS -- barn raising ends in barn falling THREE LITTLE PIGS -- "I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in!" Two MONK episodes-- MR MONK AND THE ACTOR - the killer knocks down the wall to cover up evidence MR MONK BUYS A HOUSE -- the killer destroys every wall in Monk's new house looking for hidden money

Maxwell, Marilyn

An Unmarried Woman Next: Alan Bates, James Mason, Lynn Redgrave

DOUBLE INDEMNITY (1944) Next: lots of screen time for Marlene Dietrich

Fawlty Towers Next: Tom Selleck, John Hillerman and Roger E. Mosley

How can anyone be a fan of noir and not enjoy this film's photography? Heck, you don't even have to be a noir fan to enjoy it.

Take the Money and Run (1969)

SECONDS 1966

Hillerman, John

Garrett, Betty

Flanders, Ed

Chico and the Man Next: Lucille Ball, Lucie Arnaz and Desi Arnaz Jr.

Desperate Housewives Next: Scatman Crothers, Jack Albertson, Freddie Prinze

Davenport, Harry

Chandler, Jeff

I found nothing wrong with his voice. There have been many reasons stated thru the years for his downfall. It sounds like he was bipolar with all his mood swings. I always thought that he would have made a great Nick Charles (no offense to William Powell). I could imagine him in sophisticated comedy with a martini in hand. I would also love to see "His Glorious Night" on TCM. It's been restored.

PRETTY BABY (1950)

Golightly, Holly, played by Audrey Hepburn in "Breakfast at Tiffany's"

Thompson, going out of your way to be obnoxious? It's working.

June Havoc, sister of Gypsy Rose Lee, wrote Early Havoc and published it in 1959 recalling her experience with dance marathons when she was a has-been and broke in 1933. The book became the Broadway play Marathon '33, in 1963 starring Julie Harris. Whether this had any influence on the Horses novel by Horace McCoy and the film is anyone's guess.

Yes, Lime is an absolute rotter. However, at the end, do you not feel a little sympathy for the fox in the sewer system as he is being pursued by all those hounds? I suspect many viewers do, despite themselves. That's the wonderful thing about an ending like this. The conflict of emotions. Lime's a cold blooded rat, no doubt about it, but I think there's something, well, human about feeling for a man trapped and desperately seeking escape despite the tremendous odds against him. I think there's a small part of us (well me, anyway) hoping he'll fool all those authorities closing in on him and get away. And that's despite the fact that, morally, the man is a monster. I must admit I feel much the same way about Cody Jarrett at the end of White Heat, a film made the same year as this one. Lime's fingers sticking through the grating at the end, by the way, are those of director Reed.

Director Carol Reed and author Grahame Greene only had one serious disagreement during the making of The Third Man. Greene wanted a conventional happy ending and was afraid that audiences wouldn't remain in their seats in the theatre for that long walk of Valli's down that fall lane way. He later called Reed's chosen ending of the film "triumphantly right." It certainly is unusual to have a realistic ending on a light entertainment. But just like Chaplin's unexpected ending with City Lights, it works, adding to the unique flavour of this atmospheric suspense tale full of droll humour. Along with the moody, striking black and white photography of Robert Krasker, with its memorable Dutch angles, this production further benefits from the perfect performances of the entire cast, in my opinion. The "cuckoo clock" speech by Harry Lime, by the way, was an Orson Welles contribution to the film.

I like watching "The Third Man". It's a wonderfully shot film in terms of lighting and capturing the mysterious/seedy essence of a city emerging from the chaos of WW2 while dealing with problems that threaten the chance to achieve a better quality of life. The zither music is unusual as a soundtrack, and I love hearing it because it is so different. Alida Valli was quite a looker, and her acting was top-notch, as were the performances by Howard, Cotten, and Welles. And how could you not love 'balllooooooon' man?

Love means never having to watch it... 🙂

Yes, it's worth watching. One of those trashy melodramas WB specialized in, in the early 60s. Susan Slade; Parrish; A Summer Place, etc. Can never get enough!

The Dick Van Dyke Show Next: William Shatner, Adrian Zmed and Heather Locklear

THE UGLY DACHSUND (1966)

No, I did’t like it. It wasn’t that good. The nit picking is just an aside. The character actors were spot on, no problems there, but this “one of the greatest films ever” is a complete reach. It reeked of phony scenes and dialogue ( if you could hear it), the false shot of Welles with the profile pic that’s so famous, I don’t see how anybody could view that and not spell PHONY.

I agree. Both are topnotch Stevie.