On the 70th anniversary of the very day that The Third Man was released in cinemas, there will be a very special screening in central London.
The Third Man is one of those rare things that genuinely deserves the accolade “iconic” applied to it. The famous music, the dramatic cinematography and the chase sequence, with a rather petulant Orson Welles during the filming, and the plot set in a cynical post war Vienna.
And the cuckoo clock.
In 1999, the British Film Institute voted The Third Man the greatest British film of all time.
There will be a pre-screening exclusive live musical performance from Cornelia Mayer, a Viennese zither player who trained with Anton Karas, followed by a screening of the film in glorious 4K.
Then a post-screening Q&A hosted by film critic Danny Leigh featuring Angela Allen, one of the last remaining crew members, fan of the film writer/director Hossein Amini and more special guests to be confirmed.
The screening and talk will take place at Picturehouse Central, Piccadilly on Sunday 1st September at 3:30pm.
The world premier was held at the Ritz Cinema in Hastings on 1st September 1949, in the evening. Hastings might seem an odd location, but it was chosen by the distributors, British Lion who were experimenting at the time with the idea of having premiers shown in regional cinemas away from London.
Tickets cost £18.40 and can be booked here (side bar, click on the 15:30 button).
Persons with a good memory may recall BBC2’s much missed TV series, Moviedrome with Alex Cox, which opened with a homage to The Third Man as its opening credits.
Somehow I’ve managed to be on this earth for decades without viewing the great œuvre of the great mæstro himself. Until BBC2 showed it last week.
Blurred as my sentiment must be since so much that was innovative is commonplace now, I did try to appreciate it. Unfortunately I found Mr. Welles’s acting over-blown and tasting of ham. Sacrilege I know and I did love the cinematography, but what excited me most was the magnificence of the civil engineering that went into the over-arching beauty of the sewers.
No shame in that. Is there?!