An out of work pulp fiction novelist, Holly Martins, arrives in a post-war Vienna divided into sectors by the victorious Allies where a shortage of supplies has lead to a flourishing black market. He arrives at the invitation of an ex-school friend, Harry Lime, who had offered him a job, only to discover that Lime has recently died in a peculiar traffic accident. From talking to Lime’s friends and associates, Martins soon notes the inconsistency in their stories and determines to discover what really happened.