Sunday, May 24, 2015

The Third Man (1949)

dir. Carol Reed

Many thanks to the Third Man website for clarifying many obscure points.

Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) goes to his friend Harry Lime's (Orson Welles) apartment – Josefsplatz 5, Vienna, Austria. The building is actually Palais Pallavicini. It’s a baroque palace built and owned by the Fries family in the late 18th century but later acquired by Alfons Pallavicini in 1842.

Martins attends Lime's funeral where he meets Major Calloway (Trevor Howard) – Zentralfriedhof, Simmeringer Hauptstraße 234, Vienna, Austria.

Martins meeting with Kurtz (Ernst Deutsch) at 'Café Mozart' – Neuer Markt 8A, Vienna, Austria. There's indeed a café there now, though the real Café Mozart is located at Albertinaplatz 2. The building on the left is the Kaisegruft (Imperial Crypt), the principal place of entombment for members of the House of Habsburg.

Kurtz shows Martins where they laid down Harry Lime after his accident – Josefsplatz, Vienna, Austria. They're standing near the statue of the Emperor Josef II (incidentally, it's him who Jeffrey Jones played in Amadeus.)

Anna's (Alida Valli) apartment – Am Hof 6A, Vienna, Austria. The old building is no longer there but the rest of the square looks pretty much the same.

Martins comes to see Dr. Winkel (Erich Ponto) – Sankt-Ulrichs-Platz 2, Vienna, Austria. It’s in the courtyard but it's hard to get in there because the front door is locked. It’s actually an entirely different building from the one Winkel later comes out with his bike.

The Casanova Club – Dorotheergasse 6-8, Vienna, Austria. The club is still there though its name is no longer on the marquee.

Dr. Winkel comes out with his bike – Börsegasse 5, Vienna, Austria

Lime’s associates meeting on a bridge – Reichsbrücke, Vienna, Austria. The original suspension bridge collapsed in 1976 and a new bridge was built in its place.

An angry crowd chasing Martins and Anna – Ruprechtsplatz, Vienna, Austria. The church in the background is Ruprechtskirche.

Martins and Anna hiding in a movie theater – Porzellangasse 19, Vienna, Austria. The former movie theater is now a theater (Schauspielhaus).

The hotel where Martins stays – Hotel Sacher, Philharmonikerstraße 4, Vienna, Austria.

A cab drives Martins to a lecture – Salesianerkirche, Rennweg 10, Vienna, Austria.

Martins running from thugs towards a church – Maria am Gestade, Salvatorgasse 12, Vienna, Austria

Martins on his way to meet with Lime – Schreyvogelgasse, Vienna, Austria

Lime lurking in the doorway – Schreyvogelgasse 8, Vienna, Austria

Martins showing Calloway where Lime vanished – Schulhof, Vienna, Austria. The basin with a cherub was apparently a prop.

The kiosk that masks the entrance to the sewers – Am Hof, Vienna, Austria. The kiosk itself was a prop.

Martins comes to see Kurtz – Morzinplatz 3, Vienna, Austria. The square has been substantially rebuilt but the building still stands. The façade has been stripped of its baroque ornaments though.

The Ferris wheel – Wiener Riesenrad, Riesenradplatz 1, Prater Park, Vienna, Austria

Anna is escorted to the railway station but then refuses to leave – Franz-Josefs-Bahnhof, Julius-Tandler-Platz, Vienna, Austria. The current terminal was built in 1978.

Martins waiting for Lime in a café – Café Marc Aurel (now closed), Hoher Markt 5, Vienna, Austria. It's a stationery store now.

The police setting a trap for Lime – Hoher Markt, Vienna, Austria.

A giant shadow appears – Reitschulgasse at Habsburgergasse, Vienna, Austria. This place is not anywhere near the Hoher Markt where the police are waiting. The shadow is projected on the Stallburg.

The police are lurking among the statues – Vermählungsbrunnen (Wedding Fountain), Hoher Markt, Vienna, Austria. The fountain was commissioned by Emperor Leopold I who wanted to celebrate the return of his son Joseph from the siege of Landau. The sculptures depict the marriage between Joseph and Mary by the High Priest under a bronze baldachin, supported by four large Corinthian columns.

The entrance to the sewers – Friedrichstraße at Girardipark, Vienna, Austria. There's indeed an entrance to the sewers which was closed at the time this picture was taken.

The sewers – it was partially filmed on a studio set, partially on the covered portion of the River Wien. The actual sewer appears briefly when Lime escapes across "the waterfall."

The MPs truck arrives to another entrance to the sewers – Alserbachstraße 40, Vienna, Austria. The facades of the buildings have changed.

Lime trying to get out of the sewer through the grating – Minoretenplatz, Vienna, Austria. The grating still exists but it was moved farther down the square (it's visible in my picture.)

Anna walking away after Lime's funeral – Zentralfriedhof, Simmeringer Hauptstraße 234, Vienna, Austria. The white obelisk at the end of the road is the monument to Soviet soldiers. First, Anna is walking away from the monument, and then in the final shot she is inexplicably walking towards it - in the opposite direction.

See also...


Mr. Arkadin

Othello

14 comments:

  1. Nice article. Were you able to find the same path that Anna walks down at the end?
    I visited some of the sites in 2010.
    http://aroundtheworldflightless.blogspot.co.at/2010/11/vienna-third-man.html

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    1. I've updated the post. Please see the explanation above. Thank you.

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  2. Thank you for this comprehensive article. It was very helpful.
    However the 'Kurtz's place – Morzinplatz 3' needs to be double checked.
    The photos do not fit at all.

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    1. The square was bombed down during the war, and has been substantially rebuilt. The house has been also renovated. There are historical photographs that show the house as it was before.

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    2. PS
      Vermählungsbrunnen (Wedding Fountain) at Hoher Markt appears briefly in the 'intro' (in the beginning of the film) and during Martins' night escape (from two thugs), too.
      The big mitological sculptures from the eastern facade of Hofburg (Michaelplatz) are seen not only in the 'giant shadow' scene but in the scenes of that pursuit, too.

      Maria am Gestade church can be seen not only during the police ambush but briefly in the 'Lime and cat’ scene, too.
      Additionally the church is visible in the scene where Dr. Winkel comes out with his bike from his apartment at Börsegasse 5.

      In the scene on the Reichsbrücke one can see so called Mexikokirche (situated at Mexikoplatz) (on the left).

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    3. 'Kurtz's place – Morzinplatz 3'...
      And did they change the entire façade, even the number of the windows?

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    4. What do you mean by the number of windows?

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    5. Oh, forget about it.
      Sorry, I was wrong here.

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  3. "And did they change the entire façade, even the number of the windows?"

    Morzinplatz 1 (Hotel Metropole was destroyed during World War II) and 3 (at the left, the same building as the house of Kurtz): http://static3.akpool.de/images/cards/5/56609.jpg

    They changed it a lot but it is still the same building, Palais Wickenburg.
    https://tools.wmflabs.org/denkmalliste/index.php?action=EinzelID&ID=76475

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  4. One more thing...
    'An angry crowd chasing Martins and Anna – Ruprechtsplatz'
    Same location was used for filming the scene when the police chased after Lime...

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  5. These are excellent photos! 'The Third Man' is one of my favorite films. I always thought that big church -- Maria am Gestade-- was St Stephen's Cathedral. Thank you for clarifying it for me.

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  6. My favorite movie, would love to visit the actual locations.

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  7. Great work. Any idea what place was used for the wine tavern "Schmolka", the place where Calloway takes Martins after the funeral?

    I was planning to write to Guy Hamilton, who was the Assistant Director for the filming, but I waited too long and he died.

    A few weeks ago I thought I had the location figured out, I thought it was the Urbanihaus tavern at Am Hof. Then I visited Vienna and discovered that the Urbinikeller is gone, and in any event, there is no side-street on the left side of the building, where pedestrians could be seen in the film through the arched tavern windows.

    Maybe Schmolka was a studio set?

    Austrian Filmfan

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