May 31st marks the birthday of Italian great Alida Valli, who passed away ten years ago; a month short of her 85th birthday. Aside from wanting to celebrate a screen legend's birthday, I thought it would be fun to also recognize said actor's greatest role. In Valli's case, the choice was a no-brainer. Though she appeared in Hitchcock's The Paradine Case opposite Gregory Peck and garnered numerous awards in her home country, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for her role in the 1964 film The Paper Man (El Hombre de Papel), widespread fame eluded her. Nevertheless, what would Carol Reed's masterpiece The Third Man be without Valli's haunting beauty and tragic melancholy? Her character; Anna Schmidt, is a study in emotional anguish. The film begins and ends with a funeral; the first being a sham while the second is the genuine article. In both scenes, we see Schmidt bereft; the loss of her lover too much to endure twice.
Most cinephiles know the plot of The Third Man very well. American dime-novelist Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) is invited to join his friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles) in post-war Vienna, only to find he has met his demise in mysterious circumstances. Martins suspicions are aroused, prompting him to conduct an investigation of his own, which runs afoul of British officer Major Calloway, who acts as law enforcement in the British controlled sector of the city. Calloway warns the writer repeatedly to return home. But as he becomes acquainted with Lime's sketchy reputation as a black marketeer, he also encounters his friend's lover, Schmidt; a local actress who sadly pines for her deceased boyfriend. Before long, Martins also succumbs to Schmidt's dark charms. We know how the rest of the story goes.
Vienna in Reed's film is a multicultural, poly-glot. Americans, French, British and Russians share urban space with native Austrians. In this stew is Schmidt, who has not only lost her country, but her lover. She must also contend with Martins' unsolicited attention and Lime's criminal past, which lingers in the Viennese streets like something foul and pestilential.
Schmidt is a fascinating character. Her unwavering loyalty to a confirmed criminal and her refusal to fall for a well-meaning naif like Martins says much about her complicated personality. Valli's lovely, dark features are perfect for a gloomy noir like Reed's. Her face reflects both grief and anger, emotions that perfectly articulate her complex feelings about her lover (and maybe her country's condition). What is it about Lime that draws Schmidt to him? Why would a flower attach itself to a weed? Only Schmidt knows the answers.
Her walk from the cemetery is one of the loneliest in movie history. She is oblivious to Major Calloway and Martins and everything else as she silently strolls the long, bleak path. She leaves us wondering what she might be thinking. Whatever it is, we can be sure it will remain unexpressed. If Valli is remembered for nothing else in her career, at least she left us one of the most fascinating women in film history.
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