The Third Man (1949)

[Wellesnet]

The Third Man starring Joseph Cotten and Orson Welles will be available in a lavish 4K UHD set from Lionsgate in the U.S. beginning February 25.
https://www.wellesnet.com/third-man-4k-us/

[JMcBride]

A friend of mine prefers the US version with the Cotten
narration, but that seems to be no longer available.

I prefer the version with the narration delivered
by director Carol Reed but think both versions
should be available.

[Le Chiffre]

I agree. I've never seen the American version and have never heard of it being shown anywhere, either in a theater or on TV, video, streaming, etc. For curiosity's sake I'd like to see it sometime. Not only does it have the Cotten narration, but according to Wiki it is eleven minutes shorter than the 104-minute British version. Hard to imagine what was cut.

[Steve Paradis]

If it's only the voiceover for the opening montage, Cotten's narration makes no sense, except in US box office appeal.
Holly is a naif who blunders around the dark edges of Vienna until he lands in the pit, while the narrator is already a jaded veteran of the scene.

I never knew the old Vienna before the war with its Strauss music, its glamour and easy charm. Constantinople suited me better.
I really got to know it in the classic period of the black market. We'd run anything if people wanted it enough and had the money to pay. Of course a situation like that does tempt amateurs but, well, you know, they can't stay the course like a professional. Now the city is divided into four zones, you know, each occupied by a power: the American, the British, the Russian and the French. But the center of the city that's international policed by an international patrol. One member of each of the four powers. Wonderful! What a hope they had! All strangers to the place and none of them could speak the same language. Except a sort of smattering of German. Good fellows on the whole, did their best you know. Vienna doesn't really look any worse than a lot of other European cities. Bombed about a bit. Oh, I was going to tell you, wait, I was going to tell you about Holly Martins, an American. Came all the way here to visit a friend of his. The name was Lime, Harry Lime. Now Martins was broke and Lime had offered him, some sort, I don't know, some sort of job. Anyway, there he was, poor chap. Happy as a lark and without a cent.

That sounds like Harry, not Holly.

[Roger Ryan]

... Hard to imagine what was cut....

According to IMDb: "Nearly eleven minutes of film was cut out in Selznick's version, including all references in the original cut to Cotten's Holly Martins being an implied alcoholic and anything else that portrayed him as a less than heroic figure."

The U.S. version was the first one I saw back in the late 70s; I saw this version multiple times and that IMDb assessment sounds about right. I'm pretty sure the extended scene where the apartment landlady scolds the police was deleted as well along with other digressions that didn't involve Holly. What I remember is that when I finally saw the U.K. version, I never wanted to watch the truncated U.S. version again.

[RayKelly]

Lionsgate Limited's release of THE THIRD MAN began arriving in mailboxes today.
https://www.wellesnet.com/third-man-4k-steelbook/

[JMcBride]

I have a friend who prefers the Joseph Cotten-narrated
American edition of THE THIRD MAN. She thinks
it befits the questing character narrative. I disagree but
think it should be available with the British version.
I see this new release of the British edition, etc., has just the opening Cotten
narration as an extra and not the rest of the American edition, though. Too bad.
(I prefer the dry and droll narration by director Carol Reed
in the British version.)