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Although I'm no Joseph Cotten fan. (I feel Shadow of A Doubt
to be the most overrated of Hitchcock's work and think his
scenery chewing in Citizen Kane to be amateurish.) Even the first
time I saw Third Man I thought I loved the movie in spite of him.
I hadn't seen his assured performance in Magnificent Ambersons at
the time.
On subsequent viewings I've come to the opinion that Cotten
does a very good job. Despite the fact that his character is as
written by Greene is clearly an oafish, maladroit boob, his
doggen innocence becomes (I believe unintentionally) redeeming.
No doubt my own resentment at the condescension of jaded
Europeans colors this appraisal. Perhaps it is not Cotten but
Reed responsible. Reed makes the adulterous, grasping wife in the
great "Stars Look Down" more sympathetic than she would
be on paper. Still, my nod is to Cotten. It's a rare review that
mentions him before getting to Orson Welles.
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