Harry Lime from THE THIRD MAN (1949)

Film noir and its losers...

Image from www.the-cinematograph.com

Rita Hayworth’s hair flip in Gilda (1946). Barbara Stanwyck on top of the stairs in Double Indemnity (1944). Charles McGraw’s half-lit face in T-Men (1947). Orson Welles’ well-lit face in The Third Man (1949). If you are going to make a film noir entrance, make a film noir entrance!

Written by Graham Greene, based on his own treatment for a novella of the same name, The Third Man (dir. Carol Reed) follows novelist Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) as he arrives in Vienna, Austria, searching for Harry Lime, his lifelong friend who has promised him a job there. As it turns out, however, Harry Lime is dead; he was hit by a car while crossing the street. Right away, his death seems suspicions and Martins decides to investigate. What happened?

‘Is that what you say to people after death? ‘Goodness, that’s awkward’.’ Holly Martins

The people of Vienna all have things to say about Harry Lime. Things they are only too careful not to say outright. Anna Schmidt (Alida Valli) is still in love with him, Major Calloway (Trevor Howard) knows too much about him to let Martins get involved, and everybody in between is just on edge about him. More and more questions keep popping up while Martins tries to piece it all together… Until one night, when Harry Lime shows up.

One of the most famous scenes in movie history does exactly what it needs to do: it delivers. Harry Lime’s introduction delivers what it promised for about an hour. Harry is here. Harry will probably be gone before you know it. Orson Welles’ note-perfect performance gives us Harry Lime in all his questionable glory. Not once does he make a wrong move. Not with a look, expression, movement or line. This is no more apparent than in Harry and Holly’s next encounter, when Harry’s character is in full view and we understand why everybody had something to say about him. He seduces people, he can talk his way out of any situation, he’s smart, manipulative, witty and dangerous. The rumours were true.

‘But the dead are happier dead. They don’t miss much here, poor devils.’ Harry Lime

Harry Lime’s villainy both precedes him and remains long after it’s all said and done. His actions, his choices, his decisions… they all have consequences. He has destroyed the lives of many people and his deeds went unpunished for too long, because he always managed to get away with everything. The streets of film noir, or indeed the streets of Vienna in this case, are filled with bad decisions and their fallout. They linger. Harry Lime’s actions live on in the streets of The Third Man, perfectly enveloped by those cool camera angles and Anton Karas’ iconic music.

We bid farewell to Harry Lime and The Third Man. Our next loser is, well, a psychopathic hitch-hiker. The film is The Hitch-Hiker (1953), the actor is William Talman and the loser… is Emmett Myers.

See you on the sunny side of the street.