The Third Man and The Fallen Idol

I liked it better on the second reading, 46 years after the first, though I had forgotten most of the plot. Policing in a war-torn occupied city. I think I once saw the film, but can't remember when.

I found it rather odd that in this case the film script was written first. I found the book rather confusing, and when I finished it went back and re-read the first three chapters again, to make sense of what had happened. It's all there in the text, but it's difficult to recall later, when something mentioned quite casually turns out to have great significance later in the story.

And if this is difficult in the text, how much more difficult must it be in a film?

"The Third Man" is an unpolished sketch of a novel, intended as the raw material for the fine film of the same name. All in all, I'd recommend the film over the sketch. "The Fallen Idol" is a more-polished short story, originally published as "The Basement Room," but then expanded into the film "The Fallen Idol." Though it's a more well-crafted read, I think that plot-wise the film improves on it, and in a way that's respectful to the original and to the general Greene spirit.