The Third Man - Lime's Introduction

Harry Lime's (Orson Welles) famous introduction scene in the classic The Third Man.
One of the best movie scenes ever.

[@aethelredtheforty-second6818]

His contempt, his amusement at the situation, his pleasure at seeing an old friend, the mystery... all in a few glances.

[@garydevlin8178]

And on that dark fatal night, it suddenly struck me…I could not help but find it quite perplexing…that once Evil itself stepped forth from the shadows…it should arrive baring not a scowl, nor or a frown…but a…mischievous grin…😆

[@Nojnotpu]

This has got to be one of the most wonderful movie scenes of all times and it is only part of what was the greatest movie ever made. I saw the film when I was about 9, I am now 69 and I just cannot drag myself away from looking at it whenever i can.

[@RossCourtright]

That shot where the light falls on Lime's face is the moment you forget it's in black & white, honestly

[@vinista256]

Welles might have disagreed with you there, but only because he actually PREFERRED black & white. He called it "the actor's best friend."

[@1956harty]

Best scene in the film - great cinematography, great soundtrack, great acting............ one of the best films ever!!!!!!!!!!!

[@phemyda94]

Amazing. Welles manages to steal the entire film with a single, slightly flirtatious glance at Joseph Cotton. When this movie was over, all I could think was that I wished he had had more screen time.

[@willpeony5534]

Good news! Hollywood will resurrect Harry Lime for 12 movies and an eight season TV series.

[@leonardosomma4196]

​@@willpeony5534oh please no....

[@peterfrank3365]

I just love how the light hits on Welles' face.

[@gj003f6898]

The smirk ... it'll always be that smirk on Welles' face that does it for me.

[@lastyeehaw715]

And how it leaves it totally in the black as soon as it goes out....

[@pennyspring1]

has to be the gretest entrance of all cinema.

[@DogbiteW]

My sentiments exactly.

[@vincentsartain3061]

Well, none greater, at least. But I think John Wayne's intro scene in STAGECOACH is just as iconic. Charlie Chaplin's intro in CITY LIGHTS is both classic and hilarious. The camera zooming in on Clark Gable's intro in GONE WITH THE WIND is terrific, too. Other "co-equals" are out there. But again, this intro shot of Orson Welles as Harry Line is definitely up there with the best of 'em in intro shots.

[@melissamarsh2219]

@@vincentsartain3061 also Vader’s entrance in A New Hope

[@matthewgreene3318]

What about Gene Wilder's entrance as Willy Wonka.

[@vik1n9]

Stone Cold Steve Austin, must have been so much shattered glass backstage.

[@cepri29333]

the greatest scene in movie history.... the more i watch this (the movie) the more i love it....... ages like a fine wine.......

[@rogerkincaid931]

Magnificent shot.

[@ColoradoViews50]

"The cat only liked Harry"

[@Nojnotpu]

I have watched it since the age of about nine or something. I have watched it over and over again and, at the age of 70, I never grow tired of it. I have even had the wonderful opurtinity to have a business associate in Vienna (about my age as well;) who remembers Anton Karas when, on the proceeds of his fame from the film, opened his own wine garden in Viennna. .

[@_thomaswaldron]

Come out come out whoever you are. An iconic scene, raises the hairs on the back of my neck everytime the light shines down on his face. So perfect.

[@MrDarrellmoo]

Now THAT'S a STAR entrance!!!

[@gurto]

I only just saw this film for the first time recently. And the cinematography was just, well, as George Costanza would say it: "I think it moved."

[@KINGMOON444]

This movie as a whole, serves as both my favorite film of all time… and also, objectively speaking, might just be the finest film ever made.

[@nicolasguzman2339]

the best scene of all times

[@sarcasticsugar4466]

Now that I have watched every single Best Picture winner, I'm on to every single Foreign Best Picture Oscar. This was on the list and it was a GREAT movie. Absolutely one of my all time favorites. And that ending breaks my heart.

[@DogbiteW]

Correct. The unrequited love theme drives the plot more than most people realize.

[@cakeandicecream1582]

Do you have a Letterboxd?

[@bamamamacat]

I couldn't agree more, on both counts: (1) greatest entrance EVER.( A lot of people remember Orson Welles in his later years, when he had gained a lot of weight & was a frequent guest on talk shows, but the young Orson Welles, in my opinion, was an incredibly sexy man -- maybe because he was so supremely self-assured, I don't know, but what a man!) (2) Joseph Cotten carried this film from start to finish; I never realized he didn't get proper recognition for his role, but if true, how shameful!

[@rocketman544]

DAT SMIRK

[@12348477]

In order for the cat to remain at Welles's shoes they were coated with sardines.

[@sjp6839]

That little smirk from welles nails this. He only had few minutes screen time in this movie but totally stole every scene he was in

[@dnasty312]

Roger did say he's cinema's greatest villain

[@edmondscott7444]

Marvellous film with a great cast and story, and great zither music by Anton Karas. Brilliantly directed from a short story by Graham Greene.

[@QMPhilosophe]

One of my favorite films. This scene is great. Holly thinks Harry was hit by a car and here he almosts get hit by a car.

[@MrHEC381991]

1:01 harry: ya got me lol coolest reveal shot ever.

[@jonathanfoutz8931]

Graham Greene is such a great writer. And Carol Reed a great director. That plus the acting, cinematography and score (I never would have imagined zither music would be so haunting) make for a very good movie. 10/10

[@bamamamacat]

I can only imagine how the movie must have changed for you from your first viewing at the age of nine. With each subsequent viewing you would have seen it from a slightly different perspective, I would think. And how thrilling it must have been for you to have known someone who was personally acquainted with Anton Karas!

[@reetban1996]

"Cat got your tongue" "Come out, come out whoever you are" Some of the most iconic movie lines

[@ulissesrocha3365]

O gato comeu sua língua?

[@lordeisschrank]

is this really the origin of those lines? would be kinda surprised if that was really the case

[@reetban1996]

@@lordeisschrank don't know but might be.

[@jj80808]

I love that cat licking it's paws so much

[@user-vs6uz5mz5c]

I can watch this ending over and over again without ever tiring of it. Such pathos! I adore the very last scene; Joseph Cotton lighting a cigarette and throwing the match in frustration. I am an ex-smoker, but if anyone ever needed a cigarette, it was Cotton. I'd light up too!

[@emilro1]

Qué cara, qué expresión, qué actor, qué actores. Qué cine

[@genuinesaucy]

That's a 5/5 smirk.

[@MSoulPoet]

Gorgeous cinematography!

[@MrBill2719]

My favorite movie. Where to start? This as I read years ago, is the third of a trilogy by director Carol Reed. Preceded by Odd Man Out and The Fallen Idol; both of which are well worth watching, it seems to characterize the post-war paranoia in Europe.

[@barbarativvu2023]

One of the best movie scenes ever. Period.

[@CapitalFProductions]

They don't make'em like this anymore

[@BubblingSyphilisSund]

Love this soundtrack. Much, much better than your typical orchestra blathering.

[@Rokudammela]

Well, "The Third Man" is what one could call a classic movie. I find it even more classic than Citizen Kane, which was a more groundbreaking movie. Anyway, if a comparison has to be made, I don't think it's fair comparating the two movies... of course the style of the third man resembles that of citizen kane a bit and we also have two actors of CK, including Welles himself, but the two movies are very different and, anyway, Citizen Kane changed cinema forever and has a wider, epic resonance!

[@randywhite3947]

What do you mean more Classic?

[@joependleton8688]

best movie reveal ever.

[@ddoeser5830]

The Third Man de film met acteur Orson Welles heb ik mn vader dikwijls horen vertellen hoe fantastisch hij de film vond zowel acteerwerk en de muziek wat er werd gespeeld ...als kind is me dat bij gebleven

[@alexandrakitty6704]

My co-favorite movie of all-time, but with the best scene ever made. I love this scene.

[@bamamamacat]

Your two posts have now completely intrigued me into watching this movie again :) I've only seen it once, and even then I knew it was the kind of movie that reveals itself more and more with each additional viewing.

[@sarahcook5744]

This scene gives me goosebumps

[@arodlob]

Una de las mejores apariciones en la historia del cine.

[@Lucmunde]

awesome scene

[@Nojnotpu]

Yes i supose you are right in what you say. There was much else in this film though. How about the subtle way the audience learn of the relationship betwen the Baron and Dr Winkle. Holly, on being let into Winkle's house spots the little dog, previously seen being carried around by the Baron. "Is this your dog" says Holly. "Yerse" says Winkle. In this small piece of genius, we now know that he and the Baron are co-habitating lovers. This at a time when this subject was not at all widely aired.

[@yaelpalombo4093]

Magnifico!!!!!!!!!!!

[@ConqueredSun]

@MiMiBerre What a smirk he has.

[@bamamamacat]

Very good points. Technically, Orson Welles' role, in terms of screen time, was minimal ... but then again, not really. The viewer comes away from the film remembering Welles, first and foremost ... and that wonderful music.

[@None-zc5vg]

Welles did a lot of his work for this picture back at the studio: it's been said that the fingers poking up through the grid were the director's own.

[@yaelpalombo4093]

Capolavoro💖👍

[@wcw3086]

I love this

[@dave81958]

Classic.

[@michaeljames4904]

_”I followed his shadow…”_

[@normanpearson8753]

Probably the first car in 7 hours

[@Nojnotpu]

Joseph Cotten did indeed, but up to a point. the contributions of Trevor Howard and Bernard Lee were pretty good.. Not to mention those wonderful Austrian actors who played the porter, Winkle, the Rumanion and Krutz. The music of Karas, a zither player discovered in a Vienna wine garden, by Carol Reed whilst staying in Vienna , was superb . With regard to Orsen? To my mind a cameo role and no more than that.

[@vincentsartain3061]

Can't agree with the way you sized up Welles and his character's significance to the narrative of this film. Every last frame is permeated by Orson Welles / Harry Lime, in much the same way that Marlon Brando / Don Vito Corleone is "present" throughout the entirety of THE GODFATHER, even the scenes that Brando himself isn't actually in.

[@vincentsartain3061]

Can't agree with that. Every frame of this movie is permeated with the presence of Orson Welles / Harry Lime, just as Marlon Brando is "present" throughout THE GODFATHER even in all the scenes where Brando himself is absent and even after the Don has finally expired from a heart attack.

[@user-jz3lk1oo5e]

“Cat got your tongue?”

[@deliusmyth5063]

Filmed at Shepperton.

[@carpdiem88]

I would love to remix this song into a the genre of UK Garage. Would sound great as an intro

[@matthewgrasso7167]

The movie Se7en I thought was brilliant in not having Spacey's name in the opening credits or on its promotions. When he appears it's such an "Holy shit!" moment. It would have been better if the Third Man did this with Wells, if viewers going in didn't know he was in the film. They probably couldn't given the star power of Wells amongst other things.

[@willpeony5534]

KZbin : Hold my gigabits.

[@steveparadis2978]

And now you know what the devil looks like.

[@cmpunkfan14]

what kind of jacket is orson wearing

[@kingofpointless]

@1080portal There were bad movies in 1949 as well if you would care to look them up, I can start you off: The Barkleys of Broadway, Abbot and Costello Meet The Killer Boris Karloff, Mighty Joe Young...

[@daveenci]

LOL!

[@victoriaindigo]

lol Orson's role was not a "cameo", he was the star, the film would be nothing without him in it

[@CousinBowling]

He most certainly was not the star. The bigger name maybe, but not the star of the film.

[@jdburleson4892]

gets me off

[@Theomite]

I dare you to find a better character introduction shot in any movie. #DoubleDareU

[@michellepeoplelikeyoumurde8373]

Omar Sheriff, Laurence ofArabia

[@Theomite]

@@michellepeoplelikeyoumurde8373 ...well played Michelle People...well played....

[@silvernail6]

@1080portal A Really Good Question.....watched a forgettable mess named "Angry Driver" or something w/Nick Cage...not blaming him but my God they're either infantile super hero bile or satan on earth gore fests..I'll take black & white...

[@stuartsviews1565]

Were it not for the casting of Joseph Cotton, this movie would be even better. Every other actor is great, perfect lighting, balanced script, if a bit theatreish in dialogue, fantastic cinematography. The lead, though, is almost unbearably hammy to watch.

[@randywhite3947]

Bull crap Cotten was excellent

[@None-zc5vg]

The Cotten character is intended to appear awkward and out of touch with the nasty world he's landed in. Maybe one's confusing the actor with his role.