Definitely a must-see for lovers of The Third Man, a movie that I watched so many times to know almost every line by heart. The documentary is cleverly edited, merging bits and pieces from the original movie with modern time scenes in Vienna, where I was surprised to see some of the locations still standing, like the Casanova Cabaret club.
Assistant director Guy Hamilton and another crew member are interviewed and tell some anecdotes. Other registered interviews are with Selznick and Korda's relatives, mentioning how Selznick used amphetamines and probably pushed Korda to use them, too, so that he could schedule filming 22 hours per day.
It also explained that this was an attempt at neorealism, at the time very popular in Italy with Rossellini and the likes, filmed in the "bombed about a bit" streets and with local extras, inclusive of the unforgettable "balloon" man. The concept was applied also to Valli's costumes, but not approved by Selznick who wanted his leading ladies to look beautiful. Luckily he was convinced that an elegant wardrobe would have seem incongruous.
The memorable zither score by Anton Karas is also mentioned and until now, I had not noticed how versatile the instrument is, since it is used both to convey happy and melancholic feelings without the invasive or bombastic use of orchestras.
Shame they did not include one of my favourite scenes, of Martins with Dr. Winkel who corrects him on how to pronounce his surname, but obviously, the ferry wheel and the memorable "cuckoo clock" speech are included. I also appreciated the story on how difficult it was to shoot the scenes with the kitty.
