The Third Man

Holly Martins, a hack American dime store novelist who broke, has just arrived in Vienna as his longtime friend, Harry Lime, offered him a job, the plane ticket on Harry's dime. Holly's arrival coincides with Harry's graveside memorial service, as he was just killed in a traffic accident outside of his apartment building. Meeting him at the service, Holly further learns of accusations by Major Calloway, a British military officer as the Brits control that sector of the city, that Harry was one of the biggest racketeers in town. Calloway is continuing his investigation, not so much of Harry's death as his criminal activities. While corruption does run rampant in this post-war era as Vienna is being rebuilt both literally and figuratively, Holly does not believe the accusations. As such, Holly finds any excuse to remain in Vienna, especially as what happened to Harry does not seem to add up, leading to Holly believing he was murdered. Holly also believes that many of the people that were at the memorial service were somehow involved, with the person he wants to get to know the most being the beautiful young woman. He will learn that she is actress Anna Schmidt, a Czechoslovakian national in Austria with forged papers, who claims to have been Harry's girlfriend. As Holly collects more and more stories from people who purportedly saw, heard, or helped in the aftermath of Harry's death, he ultimately is in search of the mysterious "third man," the unknown person assisting two other known people in carrying Harry's dead body away. He will find that by getting deeper and deeper into the investigation, Holly is putting his own life in danger.