The Third Man

Kick off November at The Frida with a 4K restoration of Carol Reed’s The Third Man, starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard, and Orson Welles! Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten), a writer of pulp Westerns, arrives in a bombed-out, post-war Vienna at the invitation of his childhood friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles) only to find him dead. Martins develops the ultimate conspiracy theory after learning of a “third man” present at the time of Harry’s death, butting up against interference from British police officer Major Calloway (Trevor Howard), and falling head-over-heels for Harry’s grief-stricken lover Anna (Alida Valli). Not just a great Film Noir, but one of the most revered films in cinema history, The Third Man is frequently discussed alongside Casablanca as one of the definitive films about postwar Europe, and its reputation rests on the rare combination of a terrific mystery, extraordinary visual style, and one of cinema’s most iconic villain performances.