The Third Man (1949) - The importance of costuming

In the 1949 movie The Third Man (directed by Carol Reed), stars Holly Martins (played by Joseph Cotten) and Anna Schmidt (played by Alida Valli) battle confusion and paranoia as they investigate the mysterious death of their close friend Harry Lime (played by Orson Welles). In this 1956 movie, paranoia is a distinctive characteristic that is constantly leaving its characters in confusion. Creating the theme of paranoia in film was greatly aided by the work of the costume department as Ivy Baker (wardrobe), Gene Hornsby (assistant wardrobe: women), George Murrey (wardrobe master) and Dickie Richardson (assistant wardrobe: men) came together to create the perfect period and story line appropriate wardrobe that subconsciously leaves the viewers with many hints of subtle paranoia.

Costumes in a movie can either be overlooked or the talk of the show. They can create a character from the ground up, or they can simply compliment the character’s personality or even setting. The range of what costumes can do for a movie can be so wide and broad and yet sometimes what they do can be subconscious. And the costumes in The Third Man, did just that. Set in the late 1940s, The Third Man was working with a rather different playing field than in movies you see today. Men’s fashion in the 1940’s was used to make a man feel “larger than life” while still adhering to the trends and the fabric rations that limited cloth. For men’s fashion, suits were all the rage regardless as to whether you were going into the office or out for a picnic. During World War II, the USA war board placed restrictions and rules on both women’s and men’s clothing. In America in the 1940’s, suit pockets were not allowed to have flaps, trousers could not be more the 19 inches around or be cuffed, and suits were sold without vests or waistcoats. In Europe however (which is where this movie takes place), the restrictions on the clothing was much harsher. Jackets were not allowed to have pleated backs, metal zippers, buttons, feature raglan sleeves, or have half belts.

Now even though costumes in The Third Man obeyed all of these rules, the did however break some major social trends. For example, in the commentary about The Third Man (made by Brian Brems, Ginger, and Anthony), Brian goes on to talk about how because Baron Kurtz’s bow tie and fur neck lined trench coat, are examples and codes as to how Kurtz is portrayed as homosexual without having the movie come out and say it because or the time period the movie was made and propaganda. Now while it is true that Baron Kurtz was purposefully portrayed as homosexual (more specially that he was in a relationship with Dr. Winkel) and that there are many pieces of evidence and clues to back this up (such as but not limited to Kurtz’s statement about illegal activity being an innuendo, his small dog that later seen at Dr. Winkel’s house, and Kurtz and Winkel later being seen together on the balcony, both seemingly wearing pajamas), the statement made in the commentary could go much farther than that. In the 1940s, no suit would be complete without a necktie. Made out of silk, rayon, or wool, ties were often themes around the interests and hobbies (such as fishing, hunting, painting, ect) of the person wearing it. The crazier the tie looked, the cooler it was.

Geometrics, curly lines, monograms and art deco style were almost always wanted in bright colors. Animals, plants, flowers, birds, Western and tropical themes also really popular. Bow ties were also still worn but less popular. This, is a prime example of where the consumers in this movie decided to twisted the social norms in order to convey a message. Not only was Kurtz the only character on that screen to be wearing a bow-tie instead of a necktie, but his was also the only character to have a noticeable obvious pattern on his bow-tie. He was a person with an unpopular type of tie with a very popular pattern surrounded by people with popular types of ties with boring and unpopular patterns. It was as if the costumers wanted to say “Hey look audience! This character isn’t all that bad and might actually have some clue as to what he is talking about!”.

Interestingly enough, Kurtz was not the only character to have some subconscious messages hidden in his costume. The costume of Holly Martins had some subtle choices that left my mind wondering throughout the course of the movie. In the 1940’s, vests/waistcoats were considered a wasteful item because of the war, therefore most men preferred not wearing a waistcoat with their suits at all. A collared dress shirt was worn with suits or by themselves with a pair of slacks which were held up by a pair of suspenders instead of a belt. And although most costumes in this movie obeyed those standers, Holly Martian’s did not. Holly was the only character to wear a waistcoat as if to add to the mood of paranoia by signaling him as the odd man out in society. Even more stranger however was his necktie. The issue was not the pattern or lack thereof like we saw with Baron Kurtz, but instead the issue was the way it bulged throughout the entire movie. The difficult and annoying part of keeping your necktie looking flat and good, I have always found to be the task of keeping the part that goes around your neck to sit properly underneath the collar of your shirt without making the collar ride up and out of being tucked under your waistcoat and suit jacket, not the challenge of keeping the visible and widest part to lay normally against your chest and tucked into your waistcoat. That is the easy part. And yet throughout the entire movie, the most noticeable part of Holly’s costume (the part of a suit that just so happens to most accurately represent the interests, personality, and value or a person) was an awkward bulging mess. It is as if to underline the feeling of paranoia by giving it the feeling of a little but noticeable thing in a big, bad world going unnoticed or ignored by those it effects the most just like the mysteries of Harry Lime’s death went ignored before Holly arrived.

Watch the trailer here: