Film Forum is screening a new 35mm print of Carol Reed’s “The Third Man” from June 12-25, and they’re doing it the analog way.
Unlike most classic film prints made today, which are digitally restored then output to film stock, this print was created photochemically in a lab from the original 35mm elements. Haghefilm and L’Immagine Ritrovata handled the work for Studiocanal, keeping the process true to the film’s origins.
The 1949 noir, starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, and Orson Welles as Harry Lime, was shot across five weeks of double shifts in Vienna. Cinematographer Robert Krasker won an Oscar for his shadow work, and Anton Karas’s zither theme became a worldwide phenomenon.
Welles lit his own scenes and wrote much of his dialogue, including the famous “cuckoo clock” speech. The film won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and was named one of the 10 best-shot films of cinema’s first 50 years by American Cinematographer.
This matters because photochemical preservation is increasingly rare. Most repertory houses default to digital restorations. Film Forum’s commitment to analog processes keeps the craft alive for filmmakers and audiences who care about how classics are preserved and presented.
