The Third Man

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Notorious1946

Hitchcock's postwar spy romance pairs Cary Grant's cynicism with Ingrid Bergman's doomed loyalty, echoing the moral rot and compromised love triangle at the heart of Reed's Vienna.

But A slower burn than a thriller promises, and its Nazi-plot backdrop can feel quaint next to the black-market grime of Vienna.

Casablanca1943

A cynical expatriate, a war-scarred city, and a love triangle where doing the right thing costs everything — the same weary romanticism haunting Vienna's rubble.

But More earnest and hopeful than Reed's film; the ending trades ambiguity for clean, noble sacrifice.

The Maltese Falcon1941

The template for a detective led by curiosity into a web of liars — the same slow unraveling of trust, minus the zither, plus Bogart's sneer.

But Drier wit, more mercenary stakes than moral ones — less heartbreak, more heist.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Third Man

Cast

• 
  Joseph CottenHolly Martins
• 
  Alida ValliAnna Schmidt
• 
  Trevor HowardMajor Calloway
• 
  Orson WellesHarry Lime
• 
  Paul HörbigerKarl the Porter
• 
  Ernst Deutsch'Baron' Kurtz
• 
  Erich PontoDr. Winkel
• 
  Siegfried BreuerPopescu
• 
  Hedwig BleibtreuAnna's Landlady
• 
  Bernard LeeSergeant Paine
• 
  Wilfrid Hyde-WhiteCrabbin
• A
  Alexis ChesnakovCol. Brodsky the Russian Liaison Officer (uncredited)

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