"Actor: Erich Ponto"

• The Third Man | DVD | (25/09/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  This classic noir mystery from the team of Carol Reed and Graham Greene is regarded to be the best filmwork of both of these extreme talents. The Third Man features Joseph Cotten as Holly Martins a pulp novelist who has come to post-WWII Vienna with the promise of work from his friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles). When he finds that Lime has just been killed in a questionable car accident he decides to remain in the city to investigate his friend's mysterious death. The Third Man is a masterpiece of melancholia featuring extraordinary writing acting and directing as well as a classic zither score by Anton Karas.

• The Third Man | DVD | (14/01/2002) from £10.78   |  Saving you £8.21 (76.16%)   |  RRP £18.99

  The fractured Europe post-World War II is perfectly captured in Carol Reed's masterpiece thriller, set in a Vienna still shell-shocked from battle. Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) is an alcoholic pulp writer come to visit his old friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles). But when Cotton first arrives in Vienna, Lime's funeral is under way. From Lime's girlfriend and an occupying British officer, Martins learns of allegations of Lime's involvement in racketeering, which Martins vows to clear from his friend's reputation. As he is drawn deeper into post-war intrigue, Martins finds layer upon layer of deception, which he desperately tries to sort out. Welles' long-delayed entrance in the film has become one of the hallmarks of modern cinematography and it is just one of dozens of cockeyed camera angles that seem to mirror the off-kilter post-war society. Cotten and Welles give career-making performances and the Anton Karas zither theme will haunt you. --Anne Hurley