The Third Man, was filmed in post World War II Vienna, releasing in 1949. The film was written by Graham Greene, directed by Carol Reed, and produced by the American David Selznick and the British Michael Korda. The black and white, pessimistic film “is one of the greatest British thrillers of the post-war era, in the best Alfred Hitchcock tradition, and beautifully produced….It was voted the #1 British Film of the 20th Century” (Tim Dirkes, Filmsite Review) Holly Martins, the unemployed American writer of western novels, comes to Vienna out of disparity. Holly gets invited to Vienna to work by his childhood friend, Harry Lime: It is their friendship that illustrates the disparity in the post World War II era, it describes the deception in people, the lack of morality, and friendship: the underlying plot and theme of the film in The Third Man.

1) How do the producers utilize the setting to make the audience feel the hopelessness in Post-War era, to accent the themes of deception, friendship, and morality in the film? 2) How does the characterization of Holly Martins show the real-life historical attitude of the average person in the post war era,? 3) How does the conflict express the themes in the Third Man? 4) Why is the theme of the movie most important vs. setting, conflict and characterization? In The Third Man, themes of the movie are expressed incoherently though setting, characterization, and conflict. The key element to understanding the theme throughout the movie is to see where and how the producers utilized the setting, conflict, and characterization to undertone the real meaning of the film. Theme is the most important literary element in The Third Man. It explores a basic understanding in the attitudes of the post World War Viennese people, and surrounding cultures: deception, friendship, and morality.