Thriller · Mystery
British
1949 · Directed by Carol Reed · 105 min
An American writer of cheap Westerns travels to postwar Vienna to take a job offered by an old friend, and finds the friend's funeral already under way. As he asks questions nobody wants to answer, the shattered, occupied city becomes a maze of rumour, suspicion and shifting loyalties.
Why it matters in cinema history
A defining film of the postwar European thriller, it carried the shadows of film noir into a real, ruined city and anticipated the moral fog of Cold War fiction.
Watch with intention
Watch the film as an outsider's education: Holly Martins knows nothing about this city, and the camera makes sure you feel just as unsteady.
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