2024 the best man film 1964 review
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A window is thrown open and sudden light illuminates the face of Orson Welles. Harry Lime's return from the dead in 'The Third Man' (1949), Carol Reed's unique thriller set in occupied Vienna, is one of the most famous scenes in all cinema. But there is more besides: the zither score, the tilted shots, the cuckoo-clock speech, the desperate manhunt in the city sewers. A British-American co-production overseen by Alexander Korda and David O. Selznick, 'The Third Man' was written by Graham Greene, photographed by Robert Krasker and featured, along with Welles, Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli and Trevor Howard. All of the did superb work under Reed's subtle direction. After 'The Third Man', Carol Reed was hailed as one of the world's great directors. This title sets out to understand what kind of artist Reed was and whether he deserved such accolades. Rob White explores how the film came to be made and seeks to explain its fascination.
ASIN : B08HRPPS6B
Publisher : British Film Institute; 1st edition (July 25, 2019)
Publication date : July 25, 2019
Language : English
File size : 4527 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 88 pages
Reviewer: E. Dennis Bashaw
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Start the Zither music!
Review: The whole concept of small, pithy books of film criticism is top notch. Here you have a very knowledgeable author who clearly loves and understands not only "The Third Man" but who also knows how to tell a tale.Cannot say too much about this book. If you think you know the film, the book will add an additional layer of insight. If you have never seen the film or are too young to understand the meaning and consequences of a "black market" and moral ambiguity then this movie and book should be required reading and viewing.To paraphrase the book, "I never saw Vienna before the war or shortly after the war either" the movie and this book shed some light that. It also makes us look at ourselves are we a Holly Martin or Harry Lime?EXCELLENT ALL AROUND
Reviewer: R. M. Peterson
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Graham Greene, Carol Reed, Orson Welles, et al., including the zither
Review: This is the entry in the series of books, BFI Film Classics, on the movie "The Third Man" - directed by Carol Reed, with the screenplay by Graham Greene. Released in 1949, the movie was hailed by the British Film Institute as the best British film of the 20th Century. The American Film Institute decided that it was sufficiently American (it was co-produced by David O. Selznick) to include it in its list of the 100 Greatest American Films (though at number 57, one more instance in which British aesthetic taste is superior to ours).If you liked "The Third Man", you will enjoy paging through this brief book. It consists of a narrative and analysis of the film interspersed with numerous relevant asides, such as background on the Reed-Greene collaboration, casting decisions (Cary Grant rather than Joseph Cotten was first offered the role of Holly Martins, but Grant wanted too much money), Anton Karas and the distinctive zither accompaniment, and various cinematic influences. In addition, the book includes dozens of stills from the movie and a handful of photographs from the shooting of the film. The text is informed and informative, but without academic pretentiousness. Here are two of those nuggets:In Graham Greene's original screenplay and in his novella, the dangerously innocent American who stumbles and bumbles his way through Vienna looking for his boyhood friend Harry Lime is named Rollo Martins; in the film, his name is Holly Martins. Why the change? Joseph Cotten objected to playing someone named Rollo; he thought it sounded homosexual. David O. Selznick also was uneasy about what he detected to be homosexual overtones to Greene's screenplay. Indeed, in an initial conversation with Greene he asked, "And what's all this buggery?" Greene responded, "Buggery?" Selznick said, "Look. Chap goes out to find his friend. Doesn't find him. He's apparently dead. Why doesn't he go home?" Talk about homophobia.Nor does Greene's novella contain the most famous lines from the movie, spoken by Orson Welles/Harry Lime to Holly Martins at the Prater ferris wheel. The words were improvised by Orson Welles: "In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed - but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love, they had five hundred years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. So long, Holly."
Reviewer: M. D. ROY EARLE
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: A disappointment relative to other BFI monographs
Review: Always try to start with a positive comment...This book hits the high points of the movie. The reader learns a bit about the "cuckoo clock speech," Lime's entry into the movie, and the very interesting final scene.I have read and enjoyed many of the series of BFI film monographs. My primary motivation for reading them is to increase my interest in, and enjoyment of, the films they address. Hence, my primary criterion in assessing the value of an individual monograph is "Does it make me want to view the film again (or, in some instances, does it motivate me to view the film for the first time?)?"BFI The Third Man" adds little to my knowledge of this film, and does little to motivate me to view this film again. Relative to other books in the BFI series, the author of this one fails to convey genuine enthusiasm for the movie. Compare this effort with the BFI monographs on "Vertigo" or "Aguirre, the Wrath of God." The former motivated me to see Vertigo again, even though I've seen it at least a dozen times. The latter motivated me to purchase a movie I had never seen before.At first I thought "The Third Man" monograph failed my litmus test simply because the movie was so fundamentally different from other movies, and hence difficult to write about. However, "Aguirre..." is certainly a very different type of movie, and that monograph succeeds brilliantly.Similarly, I wondered if I simply knew too much about "The Third Man"...if I was too familiar with the movie...to gain additional appreciation and enthusiasm from this book. Yet I've practically memorized"Vertigo," and read numerous books and articles about that movie. Nevertheless I found "BFI Vertigo" to be very entertaining and useful in furthering my knowledge of, and appreciation for, that movie."The Third Man" is a brief monograph, even by BFI standards. In its ~58 pages of actual print, far too much space is given to pre-production issues, and far too much emphasis is placed on comparing the movie to other movies. The point of this comparison is a simple one: the director had explored similar themes in previous movies. Yet pages of print and photos are devoted to these other movies. One is left to wonder if the author simply did not have enough to say about "The Third Man" to fill even 58 pages.Relative to other BFI monograms, a disappointing effort.
Reviewer: Michael Samerdyke
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: "Cafe Mozart at Midnight"
Review: This is a fine entry in the series of BFI guides to classic films. White basically describes the film, interrupting his description with background material. Perhaps a splendid way to enjoy this book is to watch "The Third Man" on DVD. Watch a scene, then read what White has to say, then watch the next scene.Some of the material White brought up was familiar to me, such as the wrangling between producer Alexander Korda and distributor David Selznik, but he also brought up things I had never read before, such as the background and credits of the European performers who play Dr. Winkel, the landlord, Anna's landlady, Baron Kurtz and Popescu."The Third Man" is one of the great movies of all time, and this book will increase your enjoyment of it.
Reviewer: Dylan
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Five Stars
Review: Great product, great timing.
Reviewer: antonalva
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Full of interesting insights and very entertaining and well written. You get a very valuable overview about a deserved British classic and its genesis. I can only recommend it.