Fans of The Third Man may well lament that Carol Reed didn't direct much else anywhere close to its esteem. His next best-known work is probably Oliver!, followed by The Agony and the Ecstasy. Not much of a style or genre pattern here. Fortunately, nine years before TTM, he had made at least one other movie reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock.
Actually, the Hitchcock quality may not have been Reed's idea. The two screenplay writers had penned The Lady Vanishes two years earlier. NTtM even reprises the two British passengers Charters and Caldicott as understated comic reliefs with eventual importance to the story. Perhaps I'd do better to recommend it to TLV fans rather than TTM fans. Either way, I must add the caveat of a strong Nazi presence.
This being made early in WWII and set only slightly earlier (with no excuse for a few anachronisms, however subtle to modern viewers), we don't see nearly the worst of Nazism, mainly just its invasion and authoritarian domination, with no particular regard for demographics. I don't know whether that was a matter of ignorance or an appeal to all audiences regardless of biases. At any rate, it is effective at vilifying the Third Reich without treating it as a punchline like the same year's The Great Dictator. As far as my sources can tell, Germany still hasn't accepted NTtM for distribution.
So who do we see getting persecuted? A Czech professor who refuses to serve the cause, followed by his adult daughter in order to try to force him. We see just a little of her time in a concentration camp before she escapes -- with suspicious ease. From there, it's a story of intrigue as they attempt to reach a neutral zone with the unlikely help of a street performer (Rex Harrison) who can pass himself off as a Nazi officer with whom the woman has a romantic history. And, yes, the even less likely help of Charters and Caldicott.
Does it get funny? Mildly, as it should. If you're like me, you might prefer that to 1942's To Be or Not to Be.
Heartwarming? Insofar as the good guys have a happy ending. We may surmise that the fake lovers become real lovers, but we never find out for sure. I'd say that Reed did well not to focus on it.
Exciting? Now and then, about as much as we can expect for the time. The climax offers an unusual scenario, but it gets cluttered by a few cliches like handguns that take way too many shots to run out. If only the score swelled up, it could pass for classic Hitchcock.
I call it a classic anyway. Films with Nazis don't get much more watchable than this.
No comments:
Post a Comment