Reed. A second viewing of Odd Man Out could change Reed’s placement here and push him closer to the top 100 (or even in it). The visual evidence here below with the images below is pretty compelling—these are gorgeous photographes and look like The Third Man. For now though, Reed’s strength here for the purposes of this list is The Third Man. The film ranks as the #42 of all-time and #4 of the 1940’s. Get this- all 41 films ranked ahead of The Third Man have their director already mentioned as directors 1 thru 117 on this list of the best directors of all-time. So clearly, I think the rest of Reed’s credentials are the weaknesses here. I don’t know the full story of what happened after The Third Man. He didn’t stop working.– but it seems impossible that the director of that film would never make a top 100 film of its respective decade from that point forward.
Best film: The Third Man. The cuckoo-clock speech by Welles and the zither score by Anton Karas may be happy accidents (at where Reed was simply standing in the right spot at the right time). But there’s no denying the greatest here in the use of shadow, the tunnel chases, and the final scene composition. These are due to Reed and Reed deserves authorship credit for this colossal masterpiece.
total archiveable films: 8
top 100 films: 1 (The Third Man)
top 500 films: 1 (The Third Man)
top 100 films of the decade: 3 (The Third Man, Odd Man Out, The Fallen Idol)
most overrated: Nothing here. Reed has two films on the TSPDT top 1000. The consensus has The Third Man at #49 (I’m at #42) and Odd Man Out at #931 and that would be about right for me.
most underrated: Nothing officially- see the note above on “overrated” but I do think Oliver is now underrated in some circles. It is an abomination that this film won the Best Picture Academy Award in 1968 over 2001—but it’s not a bad film. It isn’t in the TSPDT top 1000 and it wouldn’t make my top 1000 either though so I have a hard time calling it underrated.
gem I want to spotlight: The Third Man is where everybody should start but how can you argue with these images here for Odd Man Out and the great James Mason.
stylistic innovations/traits: Reed has an impeccable talent for frame composition and mise-en-scene. Some of the symmetry and use of surrounding objects (most notably the tunnels in Third Man) to create a frame is the best in cinema this side of Kubrick. There’s a German expressionism as well in his use of shadows and light. Odd Man Out has too much in common with The Third Man for The Third Man to be an accident. The use of miniatures in Night Train to Munich is impressiveand even in Oliver, the composition and Reed’s dedication to what happens in the background, as well as the foreground, is impressive.
top 10
- The Third Man
- Odd Man Out
- The Fallen Idol
- Night Train to Munich
- Oliver
- Our Man in Havana
- The Agony and the Ecstasy
- Outcast of the Islands
By year and grades
| 1940- Night Train to Munich | R/HR |
| 1947- Odd Man Out | HR |
| 1948- The Fallen Idol | HR |
| 1949- The Third Man | MP |
| 1951- Outcast of the Islands | R |
| 1959- Our Man In Havana | R |
| 1965- The Agony and the Ecstasy | R |
| 1968- Oliver | R |
*MP is Masterpiece- top 1-3 quality of the year film
MS is Must-see- top 5-6 quality of the year film
HR is Highly Recommend- top 10 quality of the year film
R is Recommend- outside the top 10 of the year quality film but still in the archives
If Welles himself were the director of The Third Man, where do you think you’d place him? Anywhere in the top 5?
@Zane- that would feel about right- that would give him give four films in the top fifty of all-time.
This is an interesting question but it is false, Reed and Welles are very different.
I don’t remember Welles using the Dutch angle.
It’s just a rumor, which started as a joke.
Also if you have seen Odd man out you know that the genius behind the third man is Reed.
There is a very good article denying this, let me see if i find it.
The really worrying thing is how Reed did the third man and then fell off the cliff.
Failure to make an above-average movie is the mystery
@Aldo– I was just saying “what if” of course as a hypothetical. You’re right. The Third Man is clearly the work of Reed.
Welles used the Dutch angle more than a few times in Touch of Evil. I cannot recall if he used it in Citizen Kane, but something – probably Touch of Evil to be completely honest – makes me think he used it once or twice in that film.
He did use it in Citizen Kane, as you can see here: http://www.hollywoodlexicon.com/one/dutchangle.jpg
There are probably other examples you could find in the film as well.
The main problem there would be option paralysis. If The Third Man was a part of Welles’ directorial filmography, he would have not one, not two, not three, but FOUR superb choices for his second best film, the others being Touch of Evil, The Trial, and The Magnificent Ambersons, as I believe all four are on a similar level of quality.
I caught The Fallen Idol the other day and that’s another great indicator of Reed’s auteurship. It has the canted angles of The Third Man, and there is even a bit of von Sternberg in some of the POV frame obstructions which tie back to how Phile is never getting the whole truth of the situation. And then there is his run through the London streets at night at the midpoint – Reed casting another major European city in dark, noir-ish light. Very much enjoyed this one.
@Declan- great add here!
My ranking of Reed`s films that I`ve seen:
1. The Third Man MP
2. Odd Man Out MS
3. The Fallen Idol HR
4. Night Train to Munich R/HR
5. Oliver! R
5 Best Performances
1. Mason- Odd Man Out
2. Valli. The Third Man
3. Cotten- The Third Man
4. Welles- The Third Man
5. Richardson- The Fallen Idol