Having just been to Vienna and seen the sewers in which the climax of The Third Man takes place I was fascinated by this book and the film with Orson Welles.
Despite Greene’s own preference for the film version I enjoyed the book more. Somehow the characters seemed more real in the book and I felt that the character of Martins is better as an Englishman called Rollo as in the book than as an American called Holly as in the film. I know, I know the book was written primarily as a way of fleshing out the story for the film and the film is rated one of the best of all time. Nevertheless i stick to my preference, just about, for the book.which is fast paced and always interesting whilst conveying the grim aspects of life in post war Vienna with its destroyed buildings and split into British, French, American and Russian zones.
The film is beautiful and haunting. There are at least three features of the film that you don’t get from the book - the wonderful cuckoo clock speech by the chief character Harry Lime, the zither music which adds atmosphere and the very long final scene. Apart from Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli and Trevor Howard who play the main parts there is also an appearance from Wilfred Hyde-White, always something to make me chuckle.
The different endings in the book be film make sense from a filmmaker’s perspective as does the change of name and nationality for Martins. All in all it’s been a great pleasure to read this short novel and watch this old film over the past few days.

Two stories, one based on a film, the second "was not written for the films" which I enjoyed far more. It's hard to give a single star-rating/review for a book with two stories that pulled me in opposite directions.

The Third Man was intriguing. Remembering the time when it was written, and when the film came out, around 1950, influenced by opinion of course. Set in Vienna, during a time on conflict between countries that was before my time. I haven't seen the film yet, but intend to, so I can't make that comparison yet. Rollo Martins is a slippery character with a hint of swagger, and I enjoyed trying to anticipate his actions. Without giving it all away, I enjoyed the clever "slip" that made the story possible. I was not a fan of the 'ol cops and robbers kind of back and forth. Even once I got used to the storyteller within a storyteller approach, it still made reading certain scenes difficult to follow who was doing the talking, maybe I was tired. Heh.

The Fallen Idol, originally published as The Basement Room in 1935, was far superior in my opinion. I loved both Philip and Baines. These two drew me in, made me love them, and then made me angry at Baines even though I knew what was happening the whole way through. I had mixed feelings towards Mrs. Baines, but from Philip's POV I began to dread her by the end as well. I thought it was a more engaging story, with more emotion and charm. But again to note when it was written, the use of the N-word and what history was like back then, naturally made me pull back and remember what the depth of the few descriptive words meant for that age. This story is more tragic, darker, and more heartfelt than the first. I have not seen this movie from 1948 that was based on this story, but I look forward to seeing how it was protrayed.

Recommended for those who need a change of pace, a throwback to a different time, and a serious note in two works of fiction.

'The Third Man and The Fallen Idol' by Graham Greene is first published in 1954. It's not one of his best books...

Freshman year? Sophomore year?

The line about the Swiss and peace is only in the film

In post-war Vienna, Graham Greene's struggling novelist Rollo Martins, arrives to visit old friend Harry Lime. But something has happened to Harry, and Martins is soon drawn into a web of intrigue and drug-dealing as he tries to uncover the truth.

The Fallen Idol is the tale of a boy left in the care of Baines the butler and his mean-spirited wife, while the lad’s parents are off on holiday. But finding himself captivated by the servant's talk of exotic places, the boy is forced into making a difficult decision when he becomes an unwilling witness to a tragedy.

The Third Man was never intended to be published, and was originally written as the basis for the movie Carol Reed wanted to make. Apart from a handful of subtle differences, the story is very similar to the film and it’s easy to see why Greene accepted the few changes Reed insisted upon in the finished movie. As a narrative, it is nevertheless a fascinating example of Greene’s clever use of language, though I was more impressed with the quality of the writing in the short story The Fallen Idol, which, conversely, the author claimed he had always thought impossible to recreate as a movie. Written as The Basement Room, the story builds tension in an understated but intelligent manner as the boy hero becomes entangled in the stories spun by his butler.

Of the two tales, The Fallen Idol is by far the more interesting in its use of language, imagery and joint themes of betrayal and loss of innocence. Essential reading for fans of one of Britain’s finest writers.

These are two rather short stories that hardly could qualify as full fledged books. From the 130 pages of the book, 30 belong to The Fallen Idol. And while it is disappointing that the reader can only enjoy Greene's immersive writing and brilliant storyline in only a compact form, the introduction by Ian Thomson spoils the excitement of the anticipation for the plot. Not all readers have watched the 1949 film, The Third Man, featuring Orson Welles. A film, I am told, that is hight rated. So having no clue of what to expect in the book, beyond a detective story set in the immediate post world war two Vienna, the introduction spills out the complete storyline in only a few pages. After this, the reader knows what to expect and is merely left with Greene's story-telling faculties; a beautiful juxtaposition of the characters' emotional reactions to physical surroundings, an action-like transition from one scene to the next, and a somehow gloomy narrative that nevertheless impregnates the reader's imagination. The introduction also explains the origins of the idea for the book and how Greene wrote the story specifically for the film and how his scenario was adjusted for the needs of the movie-set. This explains the compact size and action-filled narrative. But Greene himself focuses on these two points in his preface anyway, providing a repetition of information. Essentially, Ian Thomson reproduces Greene's preface and produces a summary of the book. This is something for the publishers to pay attention to.

The Third Man is a story of life's moral ambiguities, friendship, love, betrayal, with a mix of gloomy realities of the post-war world and some comical elements. The decapitated Austrian economy finds its population unable to heat their houses in the midst of a snowy winter, many turn to racketeering and the black market to meet ends, and a few are not bothered to step on dead bodies in order to prosper. The comic element is the accidental misdentification of Rollo Martins, an author of wild West and cowboy books, as a prominent British writer of high quality literature and the subsequent invitation to literary events. But the epicentre of the storyline is Rollo's efforts to uncover the truth about the death of his school time friend, Harry Lime. In the precarious setting of the divided Austrian capital in the four administrative zones - US, Soviet, British, and French - the spirits run high and political statements cannot escape the story. "No one has a greater sense of self-righteousness than a Russian" declares Calloway, an echo of Greene's beliefs after his experience in the Foreign Office.

Rollo is full of ambiguities, a free rider that loves women and alcohol, but when it comes to life's largest questions of moral duty he sides with humanity and retrieves the premordial sense of utilitarian philosophy. His allegiance to his friend is tried under the cloud of new information that puts in doubts the godlike picture of Lime. This is one of Greene's brilliance, also seen in his characters in The Quiet American. The moral ambiguity of people who are a product of their time, culture, and politics. Greene artistically reveals the internal struggle of the norms that guide people's actions. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, between their conscience and their ideological allegiances. Their flows only underline their earthly origins and make the case for the real life experiences.

Greene is telling his audience that no one is perfect, we are all full of flaws and weaknesses. Ultimately what matters is our moral stance in the larger and important questions, do we sideb with humanity or evil, do we abdicate our duty to our country and friends for the right and just? It is not how we live that counts, but how we die. Being a Catholic, Greene has incorporated elegantly these allegorical truths is his works. As for the girl, Anna - because there always has to be a girl in a macho society where men decide the fate of the world and women - her agency seems to be limited, being a victim of inaction. No matter how great Greene's work, he is nevertheless the product of his time, a time of gender inequality, of a world coming into reckoning after the largest man made distruction.

Not something I would normally read. However it was very good. And the description of Vienna just after the war was startling.

First, if you have not seen the classic film noir, "The Third Man," with it's amazing cinematography of mystery and suspense and iconic performance by Orson Welles, then read no further. Do yourself a favor and rent it and treat yourself to one of the greatest films of all time.

If you have at least seen the movie, and preferably also read the novella (which was published a year after the film was released), then treat yourself to this brilliant analysis below comparing the two. I was attempting to look up a quote and stumbled across this excellent article. I recently saw the film again for the first time in 20 years and wanted to read the novella for additional detail. The book did not disappoint in that regard. I've known a real Harry Lime for a long time and have seen his ability to bamboozle others who did not understand who he was, or had become, at his core. Both the film and novella provided excellent insights into the Lime I know.

http://www.avclub.com/article/third-m...

The Third Man is a truly classical film made in 1949 by Carol Reed and based on a script by Graham Greene. As Greene felt film scenarios are too dry, he first wrote a novella for the film, which was later published as a book (together with the short story for The Fallen Idol). The novella is the film's embryo, so to speak, and several changes were made, in the names of the characters, but also more important ones. The novella is enjoyable, but the film is the greater artistic work. As is often the case with Graham Greene, the story is one of deceit and double-dealing - a method Greene uses to bring out the moral ambiguities in which our contemporary world is steeped.

Pulp novelist Holly Martins (Joseph Cotton) has been invited by his old school friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles) to come to postwar Vienna (a bombed out city still occupied by the U.S., the Soviet Union, Great Britain and France, and split in four sectors), but he just manages to be in time for his friend's burial. He starts investigating the death of Harry Lime and discovers that there are various mysteries, such as the appearance of a strange "third man" at the site where Harry was run over by a truck. He talks to Major Calloway (Trevor Howard), the investigating officer and a powerful man who considers him as a nuisance. Calloway finally fills him in on Harry's criminal activities: selling diluted penicillin on the black market, which led to the deaths of many patients, including children.

Holly also meets with Harry's friends and acquaintances, such as Anna (Alifa Valli) who was Harry's lover. Holly himself falls in love with Anna, but she is still so full of Harry that he simply doesn't exist for her. She sees him as a rather weak and laughable figure (he manages to get bitten by a parrot, of all things). And then in nightly Vienna, Anna's cat leads Holly to a startling discovery... Harry Lime is alive, standing in a doorway, bathed in shadow.

The film was shot on location in Vienna and the city is in fact the real protagonist. Reed spent two months filming in Vienna, only a few extra scenes were shot in the studios in England. Reed's Vienna is a dark and lonely place, very different from the waltzing city of Strauss. Reed had the streets hosed down with water, so that the cobble stones would glitter on the screen. He also flew in four huge searchlights, which helped him cast enormous shadows on the walls of the nightly city. Unforgettable is also the finale in the extensive underground sewer system, or the central scene where Holly and Harry meet each other in the big Ferris wheel on the Prater. This stood in the Russian sector and had just been put back in operation.

This fairground scene also contains the moral of the film: in the war, millions of innocent people were killed by governments, as so many flies. What is he doing wrong when for money he kills a few of those "dots" himself, Harry says? Isn't this the way of the world, that the strong squash the weak? In other words, Lime serves as the embodiment of the banality of evil and forms a symbol for the moral breakdown after the Second World War.

To reinforce this story, Reed used expressionistic techniques as chiaroscuro lightning and canted camera angles - almost like Welles had done in Citizen Kane (giving birth to the legend that Welles had been involved in the direction of the film, which was not the case - he only barely showed up for the few scenes in which he figures). Reed also discovered the zither player Anton Karas and had him do all the music for the film. The film's signature tune catapulted Karas to fame and led to one of the first musical "hits" of the postwar period.

The Fallen Idol (1948) is a film by British director Carol Reed, based on the short story "The Basement Room" (1935) by Graham Greene. As was the case with the other films they made, The Third Man (1949) and Our Man in Havana (1959), the author worked closely together with the director on the script.

The iconic image of the film comes somewhere at the beginning and is repeated several times after that: a boy staring down from an upstairs landing, peering through the railings at the doings of the grown-ups in the hall, almost as a spy or double agent. Both worlds are connected by a huge staircase - perhaps the main actor in this film which is almost a film noir, thanks to the cinematography of Georges Périnal and Vincent Korda’s set designs. The interior of the Belgrave mansion takes on the same mythical proportions as the streets of Vienna in The Third Man.

The film is mostly seen through the naive eyes of the boy on the landing, who is further set apart for not being an actor and playing his role very awkwardly. But that fits the intention of the film marvelously, for in the story the grown-ups are all the time "acting" and scheming, while the young Phillippe indeed can't "act."

Phillipe (Bobby Henrey) is the son of a diplomat, neglected by his parents, who idolizes his father's butler, Baines (Ralph Richardson), the only human being he feels close to. In order to entertain the boy, Baines tells strong stories about his non-existing exploits in exotic Africa, such as single-handed putting down an uprising, or killing a man in self-defense. The sad reality is that the butler has never been out of England and is stuck in a loveless marriage with a veritable harpy. Mrs Baines (Sonia Dresdel) also works in the Embassy, where she rules with an iron fist as the top maid. She is a sour killjoy, even destroying a small snake the boy secretly keeps, and Phillippe and Baines are naturally bonding against her.

Phillippe catches Baines in a teashop with a young woman and Baines asks him to keep quiet about his "niece" - in fact she is Julie (Michele Morgan), a typist at the embassy with whom he is in love.

And then death invades - Mrs Baines has fallen down the massive staircase after a fierce argument about Julie with her husband. Police officers come to investigate. Phillippe naturally believes his "idol" Mr Baines has done the deed of killing the harridan, and desperately tries to protect him. But his lies are so awkward that they only serve to betray Baines and lead him into deeper trouble. Baines' tall stories also come to haunt him.

Next the police discover evidence that the fall was accidental and Baines is off the hook, but he has had to admit that his stories about Africa were all lies. He has lost his heroic status and so from his side also betrayed Phillippe. The boy, who has been ordered to tell the truth, now pathetically insists to the police that their new evidence is wrong (as he honestly but wrongly believes), but nobody listens to him anymore...

3.5 ⭐

Книгата съдържа две мрачни криминални повести на Греъм Грийн. От тях ми хареса само „Третият“, чието напрегнато действие се развива във Виена след Втората световна война. По това време столицата на Австрия е разцепена на отделни зони от спечелилите държави, което създава условия за жестока престъпност. Писател пристига там, за да види свой стар приятел, а след като научава, че е загинал в мистериозна злополука, се захваща с разследване за убийство...



„За пръв път Роло Мартинс си припомни миналото без възхищение и си помисли: „Той никога няма да порасне“. Злото беше като Питър Пан — таеше в себе си ужасяващия и страшен дар на вечната младост.“

The Third Mantttt

Rollo Martins is a writer of Western novels, which are reasonably successful but not particularly lucrative. So when he is contacted by an old school friend, Harry Lime, offering him a job in Vienna he jumps at the chance. But when he arrives, he is met with the news that Harry is dead, and his funeral is arranged for that day. Rollo goes to the funeral and meets Colonel Calloway, who had been investigating the scheme that Harry was involved in – a scheme that showed Harry to be morally repugnant, if true. But Rollo doesn’t believe it – he knows Harry sailed close to the wind and wasn’t above scamming and cheating people, but the scheme as described by Col. Calloway is too cruel, too inhumane. So Rollo sets out to do his own investigation, in reluctant cahoots with Calloway but with a different motivation. But has Harry carried out a bigger scam than any of them suspect? And what will Rollo do when he finds out the truth?

There’s an interesting introduction from Greene in which he explains that, when asked to write a “film play”, he finds it necessary to first set the story out in novel form, before condensing it for the screen. Then he gets together with the director – in this case Carol Reed – to hammer out the changes needed to make the story work on screen, taking account of casting and locations, etc. Greene tells us that we should not therefore think that the eventual changes were made by the director – they were all things agreed to and sometimes suggested by Greene, and worked by him into the final screenplay.

Effectively, therefore, this is a first draft, and it shows. The story is there, substantially as it will finally remain. But there’s not the usual depth in the setting and characterisation of most Greene novels – clearly he has left much of the nuance to be brought out by director and actors. I did, however, feel that the basic plot is much clearer in the book – I’ve always found the film to be a bit murky as to what Harry Lime’s scheme actually was.

In the film, Orson Welles’ wonderful performance lights up the screen, lifting a good film into great territory in the last half hour or so when he finally appears. This also has the odd effect of throwing the viewer (this viewer, anyway) rather onto Lime’s side, despite his supposed nefarious actions. In the film also, Joseph Cotten makes an attractive and reasonably heroic Holly Martens (the name changed because Cotten is American, not English as Greene originally envisaged the character, and Carol Reed felt the name Rollo would sound silly for an American. Weirdly, he didn’t seem to feel the same about the name Holly!) In the book, Rollo/Holly is a drunken womaniser with few redeeming qualities, his loyalty to his old school friend being about his only likeable feature. And Lime is much more clearly a money-grubbing opportunist with zero conscience or compassion.

The setting of post-war, partitioned Vienna gives both book and film a noir feel and an atmosphere of danger and tension. In the book, however, Greene makes much use of snow, and of the city full of buildings still damaged by bombing, some to the point of ruin, to add to the atmosphere. The film, presumably for technical reasons, omits the snowy winter element, and while Reed does show some shots of damaged buildings I didn’t feel this was quite as prominent as in the book.

The film, however, is better in many ways. The music, of course! The girl Anna – Harry’s girlfriend and soon to be Holly’s love interest – is so much better in the film. Reed has taken Greene’s limp rag of a man-dependent female and given her a strength and moral core she simply doesn’t have in the book. The performance by Alida Valli is one of the film’s major strengths – I felt she and Welles completely outshone Cotten, although he is the nominal hero. And the end of Anna’s story is changed entirely for the better – to use a fashionable term, she is given “agency” which she lacks completely in the book. The short comedy interlude, where Holly gets roped into giving a talk to a group of people who think he writes heavyweight literature rather than Westerns, is better in the film, though still out of place in both book and film in my opinion. The scene in the sewers is a marvel of film-making – it’s in the book, but not nearly as effective, and Reed gets a truly emotional element into it that the book doesn’t quite achieve. Welles - what can I say about Welles’ performance that hasn’t been said before and better? Nothing, so I’ll limit myself to saying he makes the film. Without him, it wouldn’t be a classic.

So overall, the basic story is the same but there are some significant differences and, in the end, the book is good while the film is great. And, as Greene tells us in the introduction, that was the plan all along.

The Fallen Idol

This is another story later adapted into a screenplay by the pairing of Greene and Reed, this time for a film I haven’t seen. A young boy, Philip, is left in the care of the butler and his wife while his parents go away for two weeks. (Already my credibility meter is in overload.) He witnesses something that he only half understands, and by revealing it, inadvertently betrays the butler, whom he saw as a friend. His confusion, the betrayal and the impact on Philip’s future life are all portrayed well. However, the depiction of the two women characters in this is so deeply misogynistic that the whole thing left a bad taste – I can only hope these characterisations too were improved in the process of making the film. Interesting to learn of Greene’s process for writing for the screen, but I wouldn’t recommend this one at all in its written form.

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