Yes, maybe it alludes to philistines of this type. Harry Lime as the Randian hero, fighting the lonely fight against the state controllers of the market, who believe that penicillin should be distributed to the undeserving, rather than to those who have proven their worth by being able to buy it in the black market. OK, I can see that.
I still doubt this, because I can't see "conservatives" of the NR type, even stupid ones, endorsing anything touched by Graham Greene, even with his Catholicism, which by the days of JPII was suspect anyway.
But I think I will stop now, as looking back I have to remind myself that my "Why 'The Third Man'?" post was triggered by what is apparently *James Heartfield's* own conservative film list, rather than something he dug up. So I suppose what I am really wondering is why Mr. Heartfield considers "The Third Man" a conservative film.
On Sun, Feb 15, 2009 at 9:56 AM, Miles Jackson <cqmv at pdx.edu> wrote:
> Joanna wrote:
>
>> I don't know that I'd call "Third Man" conservative.
>>
>> Cynical, even maybe misanthropic, and definitely very critical of post war
>> American notions of right and wrong and history.
>>
>> Graham Greene was always skeptical about the Americans, and always felt
>> that they were more dangerous than the Europeans. Third Man is yet one
>> version of this; Quiet American, another.
>> But conservative?
>>
>> I don't think Harry Lime's speech at the end is meant to be anything more
>> than the self-serving drivel it is. But the beautiful woman walks right by
>> Joseph Cotton because he's a fool and has the virtuous convictions of a man
>> who has been tested by nothing.
>>
>> Joanna
>>
>
> You're giving conservatives too much credit for a careful reading of the
> context of the Welles' line. It's simple: brotherly love is namby-pamby
> bleeding heart liberal ideal that doesn't produce anything of value. They
> don't care what the Greene or Welles "intended" to say, they just take the
> line literally.
>
> Miles
>
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