AFI: 100 Greatest Films - STRIPPED

[Sneelock]

but what a director!

The two main stars were American, and more importantly Welles had a major creative imput.

though, not as major as he would often claim. as much as I adore the man, he could get some drinks in him and say the damndest things. no doubt about it, his hand is on both sides of the camera but I think, like with Richard Fleischer's 'Compulsion', Orson's mere presence is his mightiest contribution. director's respected him. Reed was no slouch but I'm sure Orson's presence was an invitation to strive for something especially excellent.

the battle rages. I pretty much regard it a British film myself but I know this dispute has been going on at least since the first Leslie Halliwell Filmgoer's Companion, probably far longer. it belongs to the nation of GOOD films, it seems we all agree about that.

[Jimbly]

It was a co-production as I said before. Alexander Korda originated it for London studios but the money came from the States and Selznick oversaw the whole thing.
It's difficult to know whether it had a European sensibility since US film noir was full of European director's and dp's using expressionist ideas anyway. What you have is a melting pot of influences.
The two main stars were American, and more importantly Welles had a major creative imput.

So it was entirely financed by US dollars with Selznick overseeing?

Hmm....

So the only thing British about it was the director.

Screenplay and Story were British as well, just to historically accurate

[Matt Wilson]

It was a co-production as I said before. Alexander Korda originated it for London studios but the money came from the States and Selznick oversaw the whole thing.
It's difficult to know whether it had a European sensibility since US film noir was full of European director's and dp's using expressionist ideas anyway. What you have is a melting pot of influences.
The two main stars were American, and more importantly Welles had a major creative imput.

So it was entirely financed by US dollars with Selznick overseeing?

Hmm....

So the only thing British about it was the director.

Screenplay and Story were British as well, just to historically accurate

Got it.
I thought the book was British too but didn't want to sully my outstanding reputation around here by speaking without authority you know...

[The Modernist]

It was a co-production as I said before. Alexander Korda originated it for London studios but the money came from the States and Selznick oversaw the whole thing.
It's difficult to know whether it had a European sensibility since US film noir was full of European director's and dp's using expressionist ideas anyway. What you have is a melting pot of influences.
The two main stars were American, and more importantly Welles had a major creative imput.

So it was entirely financed by US dollars with Selznick overseeing?

Hmm....

So the only thing British about it was the director.

Korda was british (well Austrian -British) and then there's the imput of Greene which is pretty crucial. It was developed by Korda, Selsnick came in at the pre-production phase...and made life pretty difficult, he wanted to call it "A Night In Vienna"! I think Korda tried to keep him at arms length in terms of the actual film. But they needed him for the international distribution.

The production is quite complex.

[The Modernist]

but what a director!

The two main stars were American, and more importantly Welles had a major creative imput.

though, not as major as he would often claim. as much as I adore the man, he could get some drinks in him and say the damndest things. no doubt about it, his hand is on both sides of the camera but I think, like with Richard Fleischer's 'Compulsion', Orson's mere presence is his mightiest contribution. director's respected him. Reed was no slouch but I'm sure Orson's presence was an invitation to strive for something especially excellent.
.

It's pretty much accepted that the "cuckoo" speech came from Welles. He's also claimed credit for some of the direction ideas. But if you look at Reed's "Odd Man Out" (and any fan of The Third Man must see this), it has the same kind of expressionist direction (it also uses Dublin wonderfully in the same way Vienna is used wondefully in The Third Man).

[Matt Wilson]

but what a director!

The two main stars were American, and more importantly Welles had a major creative imput.

though, not as major as he would often claim. as much as I adore the man, he could get some drinks in him and say the damndest things. no doubt about it, his hand is on both sides of the camera but I think, like with Richard Fleischer's 'Compulsion', Orson's mere presence is his mightiest contribution. director's respected him. Reed was no slouch but I'm sure Orson's presence was an invitation to strive for something especially excellent.
.

It's pretty much accepted that the "cuckoo" speech came from Welles. He's also claimed credit for some of the direction ideas. But if you look at Reed's "Odd Man Out" (and any fan of The Third Man must see this), it has the same kind of expressionist direction (it also uses Dublin wonderfully in the same way Vienna is used wondefully in The Third Man).

Not to mention Welles always had the highest respect for Reed. I said this earlier but The Third Man is as good as most Welles films. Really, only Kane, Ambersons (maybe) and Touch of Evil surpass it.

[Sneelock]

'the cuckoo clock speech' is what's brilliant about Welles in a nutshell. Reed made a remarkable movie, what's the thing people always mention about it? that funny little speech just puts the whole thing in another category. him heap plenty smart film maker guy.

[The Modernist]

Not to mention Welles always had the highest respect for Reed. I said this earlier but The Third Man is as good as most Welles films. Really, only Kane, Ambersons (maybe) and Touch of Evil surpass it.

for me personally it would go:

The Third Man
Touch Of Evil
Citizen Kane
The Magnificent Ambersons

[Jimbly]

It was a co-production as I said before. Alexander Korda originated it for London studios but the money came from the States and Selznick oversaw the whole thing.
It's difficult to know whether it had a European sensibility since US film noir was full of European director's and dp's using expressionist ideas anyway. What you have is a melting pot of influences.
The two main stars were American, and more importantly Welles had a major creative imput.

So it was entirely financed by US dollars with Selznick overseeing?

Hmm....

So the only thing British about it was the director.

Screenplay and Story were British as well, just to historically accurate

Got it.
I thought the book was British too but didn't want to sully my outstanding reputation around here by speaking without authority you know...

Screenplay and Story came first, the book was based on the screenplay/story/film. Just to keep you right

[The Write Profile]

The screenplay could've only be written by Greene, really, it contains exactly the same sardonic defeatism of many of his great works, from Our Man in Havana to the Quiet American. The opening voiceover ("I never knew Vienna before the war...") is classic Greene, really, as is, I think the attention to detail in terms of the setting and the fact Lime is so alluring. The actual novella is far less satisfying than Greene's screenplay, something he admitted himself. There's less ambiguity and it changes around key details (in particular the ending) that make the film so perfectly black. Bear in mind that Greene actually worked (breifly) as a spy at one stage.

Regarding whether there's any religious implications in either the title or the story, well, I don't think it's a naked allegory, like say, Greene's The Power and the Glory (to say nothing of the End of the Affair!), but Greene always loved the contradictions inherent in Catholocism: Namely, though God judges your worldly sins, only God can judge what a wordly sin is. Much like Harry Lime, Greene used this 'loophole' as an excuse for all sorts of disreputable behaviour! The Third Man Argument is also the name for an incredibly obtuse piece of philosophy about how we group things together. But I doubt it'd have anything to do with that.

As for the film, I wouldn't remove a single frame of it- I think it's perfect. There's the great offhand humour that permeates a lot of the scenes, like the running joke to do with Cotten's character and his inability to pronounce the police inspector's name correctly, or the fact that Lime is quite literally out of the picture until nearly two-thirds of the way into it, or that zither score. Moreover, there's that final scene, apparently something of an accident. Carol Reed accidentally held onto the shot for a good second longer than he intended, but as a result, you see the girl walking off and Cotten standing there, aimlessly flicking his ciggarrette onto the ground. I find that sequence oddly moving, actually. Anyway, here's Roger Ebert's excellent short essay on the film.

[Snarfyguy]

Moreover, there's that final scene, apparently something of an accident. Carol Reed accidentally held onto the shot for a good second longer than he intended, but as a result, you see the girl walking off and Cotten standing there, aimlessly flicking his ciggarrette onto the ground. I find that sequence oddly moving, actually.

I think it's one of the best movie endings of all time: the buildup of her walking up from so far away and then just passing right by. I never knew it was an accident, but they couldn't have planned anything better!

[toomanyhatz]

Moreover, there's that final scene, apparently something of an accident. Carol Reed accidentally held onto the shot for a good second longer than he intended, but as a result, you see the girl walking off and Cotten standing there, aimlessly flicking his ciggarrette onto the ground. I find that sequence oddly moving, actually.

I think it's one of the best movie endings of all time: the buildup of her walking up from so far away and then just passing right by. I never knew it was an accident, but they couldn't have planned anything better!

Ditto. It concentrates so much on every detail of their expressions and body language, without a word. And what's she walking into? The sunset? Resigned to misery? Leaving her old life behind for a better one? There's so much in that scene and absolutely none of it's spelled out for the watcher. Might be my favorite ending to a movie ever.

[Sneelock]

for all welles presence, Cotten really is wonderful in the movie. he is a good and decent man. he looks and acts like a good and decent man. they don't grow on trees.

[Sneelock]

now that it's all said and done, I thought that was a pretty good list.
I thought a lot of really good films went before some pretty overrated stuff IMO. I find much to admire about 'Dances With Wolves' for instance but I think it's sort of jawdropping that it outlived some of the films that got axed with glee before it.

must be Costner's charisma and star quality. yeah, that must be it.

[Davey the Fat Boy]

now that it's all said and done, I thought that was a pretty good list.
I thought a lot of really good films went before some pretty overrated stuff IMO. I find much to admire about 'Dances With Wolves' for instance but I think it's sort of jawdropping that it outlived some of the films that got axed with glee before it.

It seems to me that there is always some attention seeking that goes along with this game. Instead of looking for the weakest one on the list,there seemed to be a few people looking for the pick that would get the biggest reaction. Human nature I suppose. How else does The Graduate go before Tootsie?

[Snarfyguy]

now that it's all said and done, I thought that was a pretty good list.
I thought a lot of really good films went before some pretty overrated stuff IMO. I find much to admire about 'Dances With Wolves' for instance but I think it's sort of jawdropping that it outlived some of the films that got axed with glee before it.

It seems to me that there is always some attention seeking that goes along with this game. Instead of looking for the weakest one on the list,there seemed to be a few people looking for the pick that would get the biggest reaction. Human nature I suppose. How else does The Graduate go before Tootsie?

What the hell is Tootsie doing on a list of great films anyway?