"The Third Man" = "One Rainy Afternoon"

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

“The Third Man” was on cable recently, so I set my VCR to tape it.

I finally got around to watching it, and I was very perplexed.

I thought “The Third Man” was an Orson Welles production, with “Harry Lime.”

I didn’t see anything like that.

But I watched it, anyway.

I didn’t realize that “The Third Man” was a romantic comedy.

Well it isn’t, and it wasn’t. It turns out they had switched the offering to “One Rainy Afternoon,” a silly movie about a guy who gets thrown in jail after accidentally kissing the wrong woman in a dark theater (thank you, IMDB).

They had switched the movie offering with little notice, because the cable messagebox (which pops up whenever you change a channel) was showing “The Third Man” as the movie being shown.

I’m still waiting for “Harry Lime.”

But it was good to see Billy Gilbert, albeit ever so briefly.

(I didn’t catch the title error because my VCR’s clock is apparently off, and just missed recording the opening credits.)

Anyway, I guess my “pointless stuff” that I’m sharing is I was expecting Orson Welles, but I got this silly-ass offering instead.

Seriously, getting thrown in jail and having to pay 1000 francs (however much that was in 1936) fine–for an accidental kiss (mixup in seats) inside the theater.

2

'tis a tragedy. The Third Man is a great movie.

My own cable company has an annoying habit of filling in all menu slots with “To be announced” on a regular basis – even after the programs have started.

3

“The Third Man” wasn’t an Orson Welles production. The director was Carol Reed. Welles was hired solely as an actor, though he wrote most of his own dialog.

Great film, though.

“What we have here is failure to communicate.” – Strother Martin, anticipating the Internet.

www.sff.net/people/rothman

4

THE THIRD MAN is not a movie to see if you have a bad back, however, since watching it is guaranteed to put crimps in your neck. (Carol Reed has the camera at about 30% angles for almost every shot, some right, some left. Give me a pain in the neck to watch.)

On the other hand, great zither music. Bink-a-dink, a-dink.

5

Some of that dialog is absolute genius. I think my all time favorite scene from any movie is the “ferris wheel” scene from “The Third Man”. The segue between Lime’s disertations on his philosophy of amorality and Switzerland’s greatest contribution to mankind is flawless.

Also, If you ever want to get an idea of what a European city looks like after years of bombing, see this movie. It’s hard to believe it’s actually Vienna your looking at.