The Third Man Poster Analysis

 

 

The text in this poster is the most important technique to catch the audiences’ eye. The bold capital letters for the title ‘THE THIRD MAN’ takes up almost half of the page and over laps the sewage water. The other half is predominately filled up with the actors’ names. This suggests the actors are one of the most important selling points as when this film was made they were unable to create special effects for the image so retaining the audience’s attention was down to the actors and the emphatic title of the film.  

The image for this poster is two drawn pictures combined into one.  This is because in the 1940s there were no computers and therefore to obtain and professional finish an artist's impression was a lot more effective with no other printing methods. The dark shadowy man holding a gun wading through black water in a tunnel suggests mystery, criminality and suspense. This compliments the danger and anger which is implied through the red sky line of Vienna in the picture.  The use of red, also suggests the onset of nightfall so all of the connotations of red represent a broken city trying to rebuild its confidence in humanity and culture from the devastation of World War 2. The Viennese city sets the backdrop for the film but keeps the outline of the buildings very vague to remove any real focus. This makes the city rather anonymous so ties in with the theme of spying and crime shown by the dark figure.  The dark figure is positioned on the cross of the bottom right third to appeal to the psychology of where the audience looks. If he was in the middle it would suggest he was the third man but creeping on from the sides gives the image a touch of uncertainty. The pale dull white boarder helps the black and red picture stand out and focus the audiences’ intrigue.   

By 1949 (the time The Third Man was released) the director Carol Reed had also directed Odd Man Out and another Graham Greene ‘The Fallen Idol’ and had won BAFTA’s for both of them. So this critically acclaimed director has his name featured twice to inform the audience the film is likely to follow the other 2 film’s formulas, attracting the pre-made support base. Carol’s prestige is highlighted by the decorative font for the large version of his name as it contrasts with the big bold print of the actors’ names.