At a time when film noir was at the apex of its popularity, it took something pretty special to stand out from among an increasingly crowded pack. It goes without saying that Carol Reed’s The Third Man had those intangibles in spades, with its expressionistic cinematography, all-time great introduction of Orson Welles’ Harry Lime, iconic theme music, ominous atmosphere, and engrossing central mystery continuing to influence the hard-boiled thriller to this day.
Source: The movie Roger Ebert wanted “on the altar of my love”