"The Third Man" (1949) to be re-released in honor of Welles' Centennial

Orson Welles in Carol Reed's The Third Man (1949).

Today would have been the 100th birthday of legendary actor, producer and writer Orson Welles (1915-1985).

Independent distributor Rialto Pictures, which handles the North American distribution of the StudioCanal+ library, has announced that they are going to re-release Carol Reed's 1949 thriller, The Third Man, which was adapted from the novel of the same name by Graham Greene.  The distributor announced this on the centennial of Welles' birth.  Rialto will release The Third Man to selected theaters in major cities.

The film features Welles, Joseph Cotten (who was also in Welles' 1941 masterpiece, Citizen Kane), Trevor Howard, Alida Valli, Wilfrid Hyde-White and Bernard Lee.  It was originally released in the United Kingdom by British film magnate Sir Alexander Korda, in cooperation with David O. Selznick.  Selznick released a truncated version Carol Reed's film in the United States.

The Third Man (the complete British version) was recently remastered in 4K by Deluxe, for digital exhibition.

Washington-area audiences will get the chance to see the newly restored version The Third Man, which will be shown at the American Film Institute's Silver Theater in Silver Spring, Maryland beginning on June 26th.  This is part of an AFI screening series of Welles' best cinematic works, in commemoration of the centennial of the actor's birth.

If you've never seen The Third Man or any one of Orson Welles' cinematic works (Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, Touch of Evil, etc.)- see them when you have the chance.