Calloway quotes from The Third Man (1949)

Martins

I guess nobody knew Harry like he did, like I did.

Calloway

How long ago?

Martins

Back in school. I was never so lonesome in my life till he showed up.

Calloway

When did you see him last?

Martins

September, '39.

Calloway

When the business started?

Martins

Mmm, hmm.

Calloway

See much of him before that?

Martins

Once in a while. Best friend I ever had.

Calloway

That sounds like a cheap novelette.

Martins

I write cheap novelettes.

Martins

It’s a shame.

Calloway

What?

Martins

Him dying like that.

Calloway

Best thing that ever happened to him.

Martins

What are you trying to say?

Calloway

He was about the worst racketeer that ever made a dirty living in this city.

Martins

Policeman, huh?

Calloway

Come on, have another drink.

Martins

No, I never did like policemen. I have to call them sheriffs. Ever seen one? Pin it on a dead man. Some petty racket with gasoline or something. Just like a cop. You’re a real cop, I suppose.

Calloway

It wasn’t petrol.

Martins

So it wasn’t petrol. So it was tyres or saccharin or… Why don’t you catch a few murderers for a change?

Calloway

Well, you could say that murder was part of his racket.

Martins

I suppose it wouldn't interest you to know that Harry Lime was murdered? You're too busy. You haven't even bothered to get the complete evidence...And there was a third man there. I suppose that doesn't sound peculiar to you.

Calloway

I'm not interested in whether a racketeer like Lime was killed by his friends or by an accident. The only important thing is that he's dead. Go home Martins, like a sensible chap. You don't know what you're mixing in, get the next plane.

Martins

As soon as I get to the bottom of this, I'll get the next plane.

Calloway

Death's at the bottom of everything, Martins. Leave death to the professionals.

Martins

Mind if I use that line in my next Western?

Calloway

I told you to go away, Martins. This isn't Santa Fe. I'm not a sheriff and you aren't a cowboy. You've been blundering around with the worst bunch of racketeers in Vienna, your precious Harry's friends, and now you're wanted for murder.

Martins

Put down drunk and disorderly too.

Calloway

I have. What’s the matter with your hand?

Martins

Parrot bit me.

Calloway

Oh, stop behaving like a fool, Martins.

Martins

I’m only a little fool. I’m an amateur at it. You’re a professional. You’ve been shaking your cap and bells all over town.

Calloway

You’re going to hear the facts.

Martins

You haven’t told me a single one yet.

Calloway

Have you ever heard of penicillin?

Martins

Well?

Calloway

In Vienna, there hasn’t been enough penicillin to go around. So a nice trade started here. Stealing penicillin from the military hospitals, diluting it to make it go further and selling it to patients. Do you see what that means?

Martins

Are you too busy chasing a few tubes of penicillin to investigate a murder?

Calloway

These were murders. Men with gangrened legs, women in childbirth. And there were children too. They used some of this diluted penicillin against meningitis. The lucky children died. The unlucky ones went off their heads. You can see them now in the mental ward. That was the racket Harry Lime organized.

Martins

Well, what’s this? Where are we?

It’s the main sewer. Runs right into the blue Danube. Smells sweet, doesn’t it?

Calloway

We should have dug deeper than a grave.

Martins

Calloway, can't you do something about Anna?

Calloway

I'll do what I can - if she'll let me. [They pass Anna on the road]

Martins

Wait a minute. Let me out.

Calloway

Well, there's not much time.

Martins

One can't just leave. Please. [Calloway stops the jeep and Holly gets out]

Calloway

Be sensible, Martins.

Martins

Haven't got a sensible name, Calloway.
[Anna walks past Martins without saying a word]