Can a good movie be spoiled by an inadequate soundtrack? It can, and this film is proof of that.
I like film noir a lot, and I saw this film with pleasure. It's one of those films that you can't miss: it has an excellent story, complex characters, a lot of suspense and a good dose of humor, very elegant, almost intertwined with the main story, where we have a young American writer trying to unravel the very poorly explained death. from a friend in the half-ruined city that was Vienna in the years after World War II. The local police, rather than helping, seem to be part of the problem and, as he progresses in the investigations, there are more and more indicants of a crime.
The film is very good and is very well directed by Carol Reed. The most common aspects of noir are all there: the light, the dense shadows, the tense and dark urban environment, a crime, many potential suspects and criminals, an apparently corrupt police and an elegant young woman who steals hearts, but it may not be so innocent as it looks. The film doesn't let us down for a minute and gives us exactly what we want to see and feel, and that's truly satisfying.
To make things even better, we have good sets and believable costumes, a good use of exterior scenes and a city that, even destroyed, never loses its beauty and elegance. The cinematography couldn't be better, the camera work is worthy of being studied in film schools, and the effects are used sparingly and effectively. The cast is truly competent: despite being the most resonant name, Orson Welles is not the most visible actor. Still young and relatively good-looking (he would put on more weight in the following years, as we know), the actor appears little, but steals our attention whenever he appears. Joseph Cotten is the real protagonist of the film, and he does his job equally well. He is one of those actors that is forgotten today, but he deserves a lot that his work is reviewed and revisited.
The only thing, and it's really just that, that brings this film down is its soundtrack and insistence on a mandolin theme that couldn't be more inappropriate. It could even have been used as an opening theme, during the credits, but no… the annoying music intrudes throughout the film to the point of being unbearable. It sounds like a melody made for a Marx Brothers movie, and it doesn't stop here! It's truly annoying and cuts the mood of the movie!
