The Third Man refers to another witness to a crime that no one seems to know anything about. The crime of course is the hit and run murder of Harry Lime played by Orson Welles. But is Welles dead.<br /><br />One of the things I like about The Third Man is that it makes a nominal hero out of one of the biggest bunglers ever put on screen. Let's just say that if Holly Martins played by Joseph Cotten were bumping into furniture on top of everything else, he'd be Inspector Clouseau.<br /><br />Holly arrives in occupied Vienna in the late Forties at the invitation of an old college classmate Harry Lime. Literally upon arriving in Vienna, Martins learns that his friend Lime was the victim of a hit and run accident and the funeral is going on at that moment. He goes to the funeral and is smitten by Lime's girlfriend, Alida Valli.<br /><br />Martins is a writer of western stories and it's bad when a writer starts believing he's one of his own heroes. Maybe Jessica Fletcher is capable of it, but not Holly Martins. Martins decides to start his own investigation into Lime's death much to the consternation of the British occupying force which doing its own inquiry. Trevor Howard plays Major Callaway of the British Army in charge of the investigation.<br /><br />Martins turns out to be right that there is something more afoot than a simple traffic accident. But he's so terribly wrong about everything and everyone else it is frightening. I really can't say more at this point.<br /><br />Someone reading the plot description I've given might think The Third Man is some kind of comedy, but it is not. It is in fact one of the most finely crafted dramas ever put on the screen. The location photography in Vienna is fabulous and contributes so much to the authenticity of the story and its characters. Joseph Cotten gives one of his best performances as the bull-in-the-china-shop amateur detective.<br /><br />As for Orson Welles, it's a virtual tie in my opinion with Compulsion for the distinction of his finest performer as an actor without working for director Orson Welles. Harry Lime turns out to be the harbinger of a cynical age we were entering.<br /><br />And if nothing else grabs you about The Third Man, that theme on the zither will stay with you forever. Definitely one of the ten best known movie scores ever.