Editing The Third Man (section)

===Differences between releases===
As the original British release begins, the voice of director [[Carol Reed]] (uncredited) describes post-war Vienna from a racketeer's point of view. The version shown in American cinemas cut eleven minutes of footage<ref name=imdb>{{IMDb title|id=041959|title=The Third Man}}</ref><!-- also confirmed in the Criterion DVD documentary --> and replaced Reed's voice-over with narration by Cotten as Holly Martins. Selznick instituted the replacement narration because he did not think American audiences would relate to the seedy tone of the original.<ref>Drazin, Charles: "In Search of the Third Man", page 36. Limelight Editions, 1999</ref> Today, Reed's original version appears on American DVDs, in showings on [[Turner Classic Movies]], and in U.S. cinema releases with the eleven minutes of footage restored, including a shot of a near-topless dancer that would have violated the [[Hays Code]]. Both [[the Criterion Collection]] and [[StudioCanal]] DVD releases of the film include both opening monologues.

A restored version of the film was released in the United Kingdom on 26 June 2015.<ref name="FT"/>

In September 2024, [[StudioCanal]] released a 4K restoration of the film to celebrate its 75th anniversary. It had a short run in UK cinemas and was later released on 4K Blu-ray.