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The book edition of The Third Man by Graham Greene is not what you might think. It is actually the original treatment that Greene wrote in preparation for creating the film script. In the book's foreword Greene himself explains that the book was never intended to be more than that. It is neither a novelization of the film nor a stand-alone novel upon which the film was based.

As a result, readers who have seen the film version of The Third Man will notice a few differences. Although it reads like a good novel and is close to the film script in many ways, Greene's original Third Man treatment is not the movie. In the book the Joseph Cotten character, the "scribbler" Holly Martins, is called Rolo Martins and he's British, not American. His name, along with some others, changed in the film. Although Anna Schmidt's name didn't change, the nationality of the character played by Alida Valli did change -- from Hungarian to Czech. Certain other Third Man story elements were either altered or left out of the motion picture. But this was all part of a joint effort by Greene and the film's director, Carol Reed (along with uncredited script writers Peter Smollett, Jerome Chodorov, and Mabbie Poole). In fact, it was producer Alexander Korda and director Carol Reed who sent Greene to Vienna in February 1948 to do research for The Third Man story and film. It was during this recon trip that Greene wrote the story now known as The Third Man.

The book is also available in an audio edition, but a bonus on the Criterion DVD version of The Third Man is an edited audio version of Greene's treatment, read by actor Richard Clarke. The story in the book is narrated in the first-person by Major Calloway, which obviously changes the perspective from the film's point of view. Despite such differences, it is amazing how much the abridged audio from the book matches the film. (You can view the film on the DVD with either the book's audio or the normal soundtrack.) But you won't hear the section of the book dealing with the kidnapping of Anna Schmidt by the Russians, because that part of the original treatment never made it into the film.

Of course, Graham Greene (1904-1991) is also known as a master of spy and adventure stories. Devotees of his other novels, including The Comedians and Our Man in Havana, which were also turned into motion pictures, may want to add this book to their collection.

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German Book of Third Man
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