Preaching to the Unconverted: The Third Man (1949) as Historical Resource for Exploring the Topic of Americans in Vienna, 1945–1955

Classic but by no means “timeless,” Carol Reed’s 1949 British/US co-production The Third Man is also a fascinating historical document about the Four Power occupation in Vienna after 1945. In this article I would like to use the film to focus upon the US occupation in particular and the perception of the role of Americans in postwar Austria. A look at the plot, the production history, and a sample of the German-speaking reception will demonstrate that the film’s ironic distance to the United States was a major part of its appeal to European audiences. Moreover, this distance was elegantly camouflaged through an innovative multilingual script that ultimately helped to reconcile German-speaking audiences to the US occupation rather than deepening “anti-Americanism.” Along with its ironic distance to the Americans, the film’s creative use of Austrian actors, music, and locations without the slightest association with war crimes or complicity with criminal actions during the war ultimately led to its paradoxical high standing as both a “mirror” of postwar reality and “timeless classic.”