The film tells the story of an American writer, Martin, who is invited by his friend Harry to work in Vienna, but discovers that Harry has been killed in a car accident. Martin decides to stay behind to investigate his friend’s death, and as the investigation progresses, he gradually unravels a series of complex mysteries.
The film won the Palme d’Or at the 1949 Cannes Film Festival, the Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Black and White Film) in 1950, and was ranked No. 1 in the British Film Institute’s list of the “100 Greatest British Films”.
I found the cinematography interesting, but the plot was rather dull.
1949 / UK / Suspense Thriller Film Noir / Carol Reed / Joseph Cotton Alida Valli
After World War II, American writer Martin (Joseph Cotten) is invited by his best friend Harry (Orson Welles) to work in Vienna, but just as he arrives at his destination, news arrives of Harry’s death in a car accident.
At Harry’s funeral, Martin meets local officer Calloway, who nonchalantly asks him to leave Vienna immediately.
Martin ignores this and is determined to stay and investigate the truth about his best friend’s death.
Martin finds Harry’s girlfriend, Ms. Skomt (Alida Valli), and together they investigate the incident.
As the investigation progresses, they find that the inner workings of the case become more and more confusing; first their landlord is killed, then Martin himself finds out that he’s being followed, and he figures out that there was a third person present at Harry’s death.
So the key to everything lies in finding out who this mysterious third person is.
