The Third Man spoof from Saturday Live (UK), 1986

Series 1 episode 10, 29/03/1986.
Starring Robbie Coltrane, Miranda Richardson, Harry Ditson, Steve Steen, and Carey Wilson.

[@Blayze1017]

If you’re familiar with this movie you will realize how good this is.

[@ewaf88]

I found The Third man unbearably sad at times. I'm finding this unbearably funny

[@pjd4268]

Just busting up...heheheh...so good.

[@Cybjon]

It really is, isn't it?

[@Blayze1017]

@@Cybjon it sure is

[@paillette2010]

Absolutely

[@mollyfilms]

Robbie did an exceptional impression of Orson. This is such a masterpiece. I’ve never seen this before, such a good cast.

[@anthonyomahoney122]

Robbies Orson Welles is spot on.

[@thomashildebrand6706]

absolute genius. great Orson Welles impersonation !

[@thetartanspartan01]

I've been a fan of the Third Man for nearly twenty years and I had no idea this existed. I also really miss Robbie Coltrane.

[@Schlachthof5]

He even sounded like Orson Wells.

[@TheSaltydog07]

Same. Got the VHS in 1983 as a gift. Still watch it.

[@ColinH1973]

@thetartanspartan01 I also had no idea about this, and those are my sentiments exactly. Such a sad loss.

[@douglasmilton2805]

I don’t know why this just dropped into my inbox, but oh man what a gem. Have loved The Third Man unreservedly since childhood and this is such a great parody. And it’s got Miranda Richardson! Great camera and lighting work. Just excellent. RIP Robbie, glad I finally got to see this.

[@Richard19551]

Miranda Richardson is just so brilliant :)

[@garybrockwell2031]

With you there👍✌️🇬🇧💯🤩

[@alexanderkarayannis6425]

​@@garybrockwell2031 She's a national asset!...A Treasure!...Terrific actress, be it in hilarious Comedy, or Shakespearean Drama, and absolutely everything else in-between...Very talented lady!...

[@martamp_el84]

A hint of Madeleine Kahn in there. 😊

[@funkyalfonso]

@@martamp_el84 Exactly what I thought. Lili von Stupp.

[@vingotaq777]

The Third Man is one of my fav movies , this spoof is so clever and Robbie Coltrane nails the Orson Welles character

[@leonlowery3389]

outstanding. Perfect Orson even down to the run.

[@patrickvalentine8700]

Thank God this spoof of the classic Third Man popped up on my feed. Absolutely hysterical.

[@charlesmclaughlin4444]

Never was a huge Robbie fan, but his impression is spot on…’old man.’

[@briankorbelik2873]

Yes, a good spoof of one of the best films ever to be filmed in celluloid or any other type of"film".

[@alexanderkarayannis6425]

The more familiar one is with the real movie, the funnier this will be...I happen to be a huge fan of the original and I found this hilarious from start to finish...🤔🤭😁😂 Many thanks for a most delightful upload!..👏👏👏

[@dannycalley7777]

AK ..............if you get the chance .........a Schillers Reel of La dolce Gilda !!!!!! .........from the 70s

[@alexanderkarayannis6425]

@@dannycalley7777 Thanks for the tip, always on the lookout for such gems, still, all I get is the description on that page, with a notice: "Sorry, this video does not exist!..." Pity!...I "ll keep trying just in case...

[@rgnyc]

Brilliant! Perfect, right down to the shots and angles. Never knew Robbie Coltrane could do such a dead-on Orson Welles.

[@Stocko1234]

I believe he wrote it too

[@rgnyc]

@@Stocko1234 I am in even greater awe at that. It's well written, perfectly crafted, with terrific performances.

[@c.a.savage5689]

This is excellent. If you've never seen the original, please see the movie or refrain from leaving an uninformed comment. And for the love of God it is NOT SNL.

[@ukuleletyke]

That’s the best Welles impersonation I’ve ever heard..

[@chinny_reckon]

You know you live an interesting life when someone follows you around playing the Zither.

[@joby19881]

Fuck, Robbie Coltrane's Orson Welles is so spot on! The world is so much emptier without him

[@anonymouse4073]

I watched The Third Man again this weekend and boy this sketch does it justice, even down to the Dutch angle. Robbie was exceptional and was obviously a huge fan of Welles, even playing him in Urban Myths in 2017 and choosing the Harry Lime theme when he was a guest on Desert Island Discs in 1992. Great job, old man. Greatly missed. ❤

[@TranscendianIntendor]

Yes about the Dutch angle shots.

[@stephaniecarrow4898]

Fantastic Orson Welles impersonation. I love the original movie, and love this parody. Great camera work, and re-creation of the original settings. Love the "cat," who's still by the kiosk in the chase scene :-) And it's great to hear that music again!

[@iandenyer2372]

Hah! Not seen this before.. Coltrane's "Lime" is brilliant.. :)

[@alanbradfield3211]

Brilliant - Friday/Saturday live was a fantastic show - the off angle shots, the decor and acting is superb send-up. I visited the actual doorway where Orson Welles was hiding (with the cat) in Vienna a few years back and spoke to some of the locals who didn't know the significance of the location. 'Do you really think, old man...'

[@kimberlykasimoff1447]

This was done so well, I thought at first it was just dubbing the movie. Yes, I know who the real actors were.

[@wrmty56413]

It's a shame the London Eye wasn't around in 1986

[@renukaviswanathan454]

Loved the original. And now this!

[@bedstuyrover]

now this was really well done!

[@jameshartley5]

this is one of the best parodies i've ever seen ... kudos!

[@garybrockwell2031]

Wow our ROBBIE doing an ALL SOME WELL'S 🥰😁 CAROL REED WOULD BE HONOURED 🎬🤩🇬🇧💯

[@josegutierrez9568]

I love this clip so much I gotta see it once a day

[@dannycalley7777]

JG ..............try La dolce Gilda .........a SNL spoof of La Dolce Vita , Gilda Radner , and the crew !!!!!

[@velvetbees]

Robbie Coltrane, who played Harry Lime in this spoof, was given tender, loving memorials by the kids who worked with him for ten years during the Harry Potter movies. This is a great spoof that honors how good the original movie is.

[@larss337]

My all-time favorite movie. And this is a great spoof.

[@jantyszka1036]

Coltrane is bang on, voice, look, everything.

[@ilyastone4353]

Robbie Coltrane is so good at this Welles impression. He obviously has great love for Orson. I need to see more Of Coltrane’s stuff. Best impersonation ever.

[@peteredwards338]

Brilliant ! Nice to see Robbie.

[@mikeforney354]

Great, should have thousands of views, guess my generation is just about kaput

[@lynnerobson3435]

Hilarious spoof really funny made me laugh robbie coltrane at his best

[@markcantemail8018]

@@lynnerobson3435 The Cat , classic .

[@roderickfernandez5382]

You're not alone out there you're not alone there are plenty of us

[@Stocko1234]

@mikeforney354 Seems like it had to wait a year before KZbin's mysterious algorhythms spotted this video. Views have shot up in the last couple of months since I guess it's appearing in people's recommendations

[@donbrown1284]

Too long.

[@jamesyates1432]

"He got me a date with Prince Andrew and a role on Eastenders." Shit, That line didn't age well.

[@joshuarosen465]

It got much funnier. It was a throw away line in 1986, now it's hilarious.

[@Lou-f]

Or they knew

[@charcolew]

@@Lou-f Everybody knew at the time

[@vikingsong2068]

No they didn't. Andrew would have barely been in his thirties in 86. He was considered attractive, was a war hero, and dated supermodels. No one knew he was screwing teenagers or that Epstein was a monster.

[@sharonryan2815]

Robbie Coltrane does a pretty damn good Orson Welles impression.

[@TheSaltydog07]

Robbie ❤️❤️ does an excellent Orson. Oh, FYI, I also found a wonderful parody of "Brief Encounter" on KZbin.

[@wrmty56413]

Thanks - been searching for this forever!

[@stewreviews9345]

Same. Sad news today promoted me to find it. It's really very good..

[@wrmty56413]

@@stewreviews9345 Robbie does a beautiful Orson. RIP

[@ergbudster3333]

Hmm.. I think it takes a lot of love to make a parody this acute. One of the classic films.

[@Stocko1234]

It's not clear who wrote/directed/produced this and other similar film segments for Saturday Live as they are largely uncredited. I would think that they came from the Comic Strip team, possibly even directed by Peter Richardson. However, Robbie Coltrane gets a writing crediting in the show that this film was a part of, so there's a good chance that he either wrote or co-wrote it.

[@davidlawrence5]

Orson and I are both in hysterics!

[@johnmillard7555]

Wonderful!

[@SvenAnarki]

This and Robert Mitchum doing Farewell, My Lovely have to be the two best SNL parody skits!

[@Stocko1234]

It's not SNL. It's UK show Saturday Live

[@BGNOLA]

@@Stocko1234 yeah, too obscure a reference to be SNL

[@jmccallion2394]

Robbie does look like the great man, especially in incident with the cat!

[@ThePookosh]

"a date with Prince Andrew..."

[@Iamkcs2c]

I just watched the original, not only is this a great spoof, but a very effective condensation. But I miss Valli.

[@davewhitehead8601]

Above Coltrane's head in the doorway scene it says "Wienerschnitzel Straße"! 😂

[@the_grand_tourer]

03:06 "A date with Prince Andrew!", I guess like everyone knowing about Jimmy, people knew all about Andrew too. Genius sketch, dialogue felt like 'Airplane', tight writing. Good old Robbie! And Miranda!

[@vikingsong2068]

No one knew he was screwing teenagers or his friendship with Weinstein or that Epstein was a monster back in the 80s. Andrew in his younger days was a bit of a playboy and a lot of women found him attractive.

[@TighelanderII]

Never knew of this. I think it was around this time that I got a VHS copy of the movie. I had never seen it before that.

[@scott1434]

Fantastic

[@GloryholeComedy]

I’m keen to know who directed this. It was clearly made by someone who truly loved the film. The script was a bit poor, but the photography is spot on. I never saw this at the time. Thanks for sharing.

[@Stocko1234]

It is uncredited. Robbie gets a writing credit at the end of the live show, presumably for this piece. It's possible he may have also directed it, but my other guess would be Peter Richardson. Beyond that, there are no clues.

[@lawrencehawkins7198]

This is so good, I couldn't laugh. I had to take it all in, first!

[@johnheath4305]

“Old man” is great

[@maxcaldwell2680]

GENIUS

[@amcleanYT]

Laughed so hard!!!

[@hypercomms2001]

excellent!

[@davidhull1481]

Wow. One tends to forget that SNL once assumed it’s audience knew a thing or two about classic movies. No Adam Sandler/Rob Schneider/ Pete Davidson idiocy here.

[@Stocko1234]

As I've mentioned a few times, this isn't SNL

[@davidhull1481]

@@Stocko1234 Oops. I didn’t read the comments, so I don’t know what you said. But I also didn’t read the description carefully. My brain saw Saturday Live and filled in the Night. Funny, that.

[@Stocko1234]

@@davidhull1481 No worries, I guess if you've grown up with it your brain fills in the words

[@davidhull1481]

@@Stocko1234 Yeah, it’s a well known phenomenon. I’ve seen quizzes and the like about this. And I fell for it. So what show is it from? I can’t place the man’s name, but I think he’s Canadian?

[@Stocko1234]

@@davidhull1481 Well you already said it, it's from Saturday Live, as it says in the description, the UK show from 1986. Robbie Coltrane was British

[@danielcleary3914]

Brilliant! Robbie Coltrane spot on. As was everyone else. Shows you what SNL could be at its best. Miranda Richardson excellent Alida Valli! Not sure of Actor who did Cotton but Great Job!

[@c.a.savage5689]

It's NOT SNL. It's a UK production, Saturday Live. Probably made before most the SNL cast were even born.

[@nevbarnes1034]

I really should watch that film some day.

[@pressureworks]

Nice one !

[@dennisburby8585]

Coltrane could be Welles' twin. Even the voice

[@TeaParty1776]

The zither! Make it stop! Im going mad!

[@robkeeleycomposer]

Miranda Richardson does a damn fine Marlene Dietrich! This is superb!

[@c.a.savage5689]

You know she is not playing Marlene Dietrich but Alida Valli in the film, right?

[@grodesby3422]

They could use the London Eye for the confrontation scene if they remade it today.

[@franzliszt3195]

The 3rd Man, one of the best movies made, but today almost no one in the USA knows it.

[@canadagood]

There were actually American and British versions made. They had different narrators and the American version is sadly about 11 minutes shorter. Thankfully the British version is far better known today.

[@pendragon4905]

Brilliant!!

[@judcitizen706]

The guy who plays Holly sort of sounds like a young Bob Odenkirk.

[@sebastianb.1926]

Back in 86 SNL was watched by scholars and gentlemen.

[@Stocko1234]

Great, but this isn't from SNL

[@sebastianb.1926]

@@Stocko1234 I was making a statement totally unrelated to this video. I'm not embarassed in any way.

[@Stocko1234]

@@sebastianb.1926 You should be ashamed of yourself

[@sebastianb.1926]

@@Stocko1234 Quite the opposite. Never felt more proud.

[@BigHenFor]

Who cares? This is British humour. Not the Sellout SNL

[@tingewickmax]

One of my father's favourite films. He was born and grew up in Vienna. At the age of 13, in 1938, he left on a "Kindertransport". It's only later did I realise the real significance of this film to him. It's a great film, even without the connections. Miranda Richardson still doing ER I here too 😂

[@robertricketts5467]

Brilliant!

[@joshuarosen465]

The Third Man is well known amoung film buffs but i didn't think the general public was familiar with it. Is it better known in the UK, or more specifically was it better known then?

[@zargonfuture4046]

Brilliant

[@rudyreyguzman]

Really good

[@hagerty1952]

Hagrid, the early days...

[@pjd4268]

Who's the Viennese guy who looks/sounds like Herbert Lom?

[@dale5898]

Was that Rod Steiger?

[@Stocko1234]

No, the credits are in the description

[@gerry343]

3:06 A date with Prince Andrew ! What did they know in 1986?

[@btraven7681]

A Walther P-38 doesn't make an appearance in the original movie although it certainly is implied.

[@moonlightray8493]

2:12 Is this a reference to Fritz Lang's "M", perhaps?

[@alexanderkarayannis6425]

👍

[@MartinCanada]

There is an elderly bearded balloon peddler in TTM. He intrudes on Maj. Calloway & Sgt. Paine's stake-out of the railway station café roughly 2/3rds the way through the film. Paine buys a balloon and tells the peddler to "Scarper!"

[@alexanderkarayannis6425]

"Ballon mein Herr?..." Also a strong reference to "M" in the original film, no doubt in my mind about it 😁

[@jsXanatos]

Nice

[@snarflatful]

Clever.

[@hectorheath9742]

Quality spoof, but I thought the music really good. And who was the American actor?

[@Stocko1234]

Harry Ditson

[@brianjones3191]

What did the girl say at the end? I turned on subtitles, but it didn’t seem to make sense. Great homage to the brilliant The Third Man!

[@drparnassus2867]

"You couldn't even get me on the cover of Socialist Worker."

[@vikingsong2068]

Sadly, Robbie is dead. RIP, old man.

[@whentheleveebreaks4732]

The fact that we are more censorious today than we were in the 1980s doesn’t speak well of the progress of society.

[@justicewokeisutterbs8641]

Very well done. Coltrane does an excellent Welles. 😎👍

[@marccannizzo8721]

What is the last thing she says in the sewer?

[@alexanderkarayannis6425]

"You couldn't' t even get me on the cover of Socialist Worker..."

[@estebanfrisch2536]

That is funny!

[@pintpot]

Who is playing Holly?

[@Stocko1234]

It's Harry Ditson I believe

[@owenmcgee8496]

They went to a lot of effort with this. The camera work etc. I'm not sure the parody/story worked, though.

[@kkroeger5868]

This bit was too advanced for SNL....

[@tomripsin730]

This is actually from a series called Saturday Live, which was a British show, distinct from SNL.

[@hetmanjz]

Guess it's a good thing it didn't appear on SNL, hahaha 🤣

[@earlleeruhf3130]

I am so confused. I thought this was a SNL skit. It didn't help that I have never seen The Third Man film.

[@Stocko1234]

Yep, that's why it says Saturday Live (UK) in the title, nothing to do with SNL (USA)

[@TighelanderII]

Now I know that this is not from SNL, when did SNL add the "Live" to its name?

[@Stocko1234]

From the beginning as far as I know

[@TighelanderII]

@@Stocko1234 No. It started out as, "Saturday Night". The "Live!" part was added sometime in the Eighties.

[@TighelanderII]

@@Stocko1234 I just looked at the start of the 100th show, from the last season with what was left of the original crew, and "Live!" wasn't in it.

[@Stocko1234]

@@TighelanderII 17th episode of season 2 according to Wikipedia

[@c.a.savage5689]

Who cares? Look it up!!

[@walterbenjamin1386]

Lololololololol!!!!’n

[@johnonorgan]

laugh track ruins video

[@Stocko1234]

You're right, it does a bit in this context. But as it was shown as part of a live show, they couldn't really mute that out

[@c.a.savage5689]

Tell that to every comedy show ever invented. No on is expecting serious drama here.

[@emitindustries8304]

Why the ridiculous canned laughter? If it's really funny, then I laugh. If it's not, which this is, then the laughs must be artificially applied, which they are. OK... what I just wrote is funny! Are you laughing? If not, then I'll turn up the "fake laugh machine", so you don't have to laugh. Just let the machine do all the work. You can sit back, and listen to the assorted chuckles, guffaws, titters, tee-hee-hees, and the occasional grunt, and be satisfied that you saved all that energy. But you should be upset that the people who made this video don't think you're smart enough to know what's really funny. Are you?

[@Stocko1234]

No. The film was within a live show, broadcast live, with a live audience.

[@carebear8762]

Back when SNL was about comedy. 9 minutes on a high concept parody of a 40 yr old movie?

[@Stocko1234]

As I mentioned in other comments, this is nothing to do with SNL, it's from UK show Saturday Live

[@carebear8762]

@@Stocko1234 I meed to read more closely. That makes much more sense. Thank you!

[@RandomDudeOne]

Interesting, but not very funny.

[@BrokebackBob]

That constant cloying music ruined the film for me. Everytime I hear it, I'm triggered and cringe. Otherwise it's meh.

[@doctorshawzy6477]

I pray for you

[@c.a.savage5689]

Well, then, nothing to see here. You obviously have never seen the original. Move along.