The Third Man is a novel which plays in postwar Vienna. It was written by Graham Greene and published in 1950.
Rollo Martins travels after the World War II to the into four zones divided and occupied Vienna to visit his old school friend Harry Lime who has invited him to Austria to report on international refugees. When he arrives he has to discover that his old friend has been run over by a car and died a few days earlier. At the funeral he meets Colonel Calloway who states that Lime has been the worst racketeer in Vienna. Dissenting from Calloway and expecting Lime's death as a murder, Martins starts his own inquiry.
Starting with Mr. Koch, Lime's caretaker, he gets informed about two people, Mr. Kurtz and Colonel Cooler, both friends of Lime, and the driver of the car that ran Harry Lime over, to be witnesses of the accident and carried the dead body. Afterwards a doctor, Mr. Crabbin, arrived. After visiting Harry's girlfriend Anna Schmidt, who tells Martins that the driver also has been a friend of Lime, Mr Koch reveals that he claims that a third man has been present at that time. Then he visits Anna Schmidt again and tells her about his latest investigation, so they decide to question Koch again. As they arrive, Koch has been murdered. After the discussion Rollo Martins was expected to give, he has a conversation with Calloway, who informs him about Lime's rackets with diluted Penicillin.
Disillusioned and disappointed about Lime he wants to leave Vienna, but he can't, because of the Austrian police. He thinks that Kurtz or the „third man“ has killed Lime, so he tries to find this mysterious „third man“. He visits Anna Schmidt to tell her all about Lime, and as leaving her, he finds out that someone's following him. He quickly turns around, and can fortunately see the face of the „third man“: Harry Lime. He pursues him to an iron kiosk where he vanishes, so he informs Colonel Calloway about all that. In the meantime Schmidt has been arrested by the four powers because of her falsified papers. Martins and Calloway find a door in the kiosk with stairs to the sewer system, which has been used for smuggling. Knowing that Lime is alive, Martins makes an appointment with him at the Prater´s Great Wheel. There, he realises that Lime's character has totally changed, that he has become a man with no scruples, that he betrays and uses persons, but that he still has certain principles. He is godless man, possessed by evil and tempted by money. Visiting Schmidt again, she remains loyal to Lime, because she still loves him. So Martins, who has fallen in love with her, is a bit disappointed. At Calloway's office, he is informed that it's Harbin who has been in Limes´s coffin, and that Winkler and Cooler will be arrested, but not Lime and Kurtz. Martins decides to be used for bait, because he has lost his faith in Lime's friendship. So he makes another appointment with Lime. At the meeting, Lime realises the trap and flees. The police and Martins persecute him through the sewer system, and in the end Martins wounds and shoots Lime, his former best friend.
He's an English author of cheap westerns, who trusts his old friend Harry Lime completely. When he arrives in Vienna after the World War II, he finds out that his best friend Harry Lime's dead. Martins thinks he has been murdered, so he starts to investigate on his own. He thinks the stories about Lime being a criminal are lies. But when he discovers truth he changes his opinion completely. The only thing he wants to do is to punish his old friend.
He's an old school friend and idol of Martins. Harry Lime invites the author to Vienna to report on international refugees. But when his friend arrives, Harry's supposed to be dead. Everybody thinks he has been run over by a car, but as time goes on, Rollo Martins finds out the frightening truth.
He's an English police officer, who narrates the story by reconstructing his police files. During the story, the Colonel often admits the mistakes of their police work.
She's an actress, and Harry Lime's girlfriend. Anna Schmidt's Hungarian, but she masquerades as an Austrian girl. Because of that, she gets arrested by the four powers in Vienna. She always remains loyal to Harry Lime, even when she hears about his real character.
He's Lime's caretaker and witness of his accident. Mr. Koch doesn't want to have anything to do with Harry or his death but introduces „the third man“, whom he has seen, but couldn't identify. Because of that he gets a lot of troubles…
He's Lime's friend and present doctor at the accident.
The are friends of Harry and members of the penicillin racket.
The representative of the fictitious British Cultural Relations Society who allows Rollo Martins to stay in Vienna by paying his bills.