Greene, Graham: 1904-1991

The Third Man, 1950 - Information about the Book

  • General Information
    • Holly Martins, who arrives penniless as a guest of his childhood chum Harry Lime in postwar Vienna, Austria, only to find him dead. Martins develops a conspiracy theory after learning of a "third man" present at the time of Harry's death, running into interference from British officer Maj. Calloway and falling head-over-heels for Harry's grief-stricken lover, Anna.
    • Information from Wikipedia
  • Facts
    • The novel was published only after the film came out: "The novel was a fuller treatment Greene had written for himself and published only after the film came out." Darrell Delamaide; September 18, 2013
    • A classic film noir thriller. Graham Greene says that it "was never written to be read but only to be seen." Roger Ebert says it is one of the ten best films of all time. The film also features the famous "Harry Lime Theme" played on a zither (see movie).
      Kohn, Martin
      Excerpted, with permission, from the Literature, Arts, and Medicine Database at New York University School of Medicine, © New York University.
    • Author 'The Third Man' as a Story and a Film by Graham Greene. The New York Times; March 19, 1950
    • Character Studies
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