The Anonymous Widower

The Third Man

I hadn’t seen this film before and as BA had a large number of films on the entertainment system, I chose to watch it.  It is a marvellous story, but you’d expect that as it was written by Graham Greene, an author that is always worth reading.  He’s actually a good read if you don’t like long books, as some of his best are about two hundred pages.  They are just as fresh as when they were written.

The film is good and often rated as one of the best films ever made.  It was shot in the ruins of Vienna and mostly at night or in the sewers, so to call it a dark film would not be an understatement.

Years ago, I met a man called Roland Landman, who was in The Guards and they were some of the soldiers who liberated Vienna from the Nazis.  He said that the city was in a dire way and for example, if you wanted a woman, that would cost just two cigarettes. We don’t know what poverty is!

There was talk that Austria would end up under Russian domination and according to Rolnad it was touch and go, whether the Austrians decided to throw in their lot with the communists.  But he told the story of the Major in the Irish Guards, who said that the people needed entertainment and that being Irish, they should organise a horse race meeting.

Everybody thought he was barmy, but they did.

The finery came out, everybody had a good time and Austria stayed in the West.

Whether this tale is true or not, I do not know, but after seeing The Third Man last night, I can understand it a lot more.

Let’s hope we never go through any more wars like that.

May 13, 2010 - Posted by AnonW | World | Austria, Books, Films