After the Second World War Holly Martins goes to Vienna to visit his old friend Harry Lime, who offered him a job. As Holly gets there he finds out his friend was passed over by a truck. At the friends funeral, Holly sees conspicuous people. Lateron Holly is told different versions about how his friend died what encourages him to investigate more. He finds out that his friend was the leader of a ground that stole penicillin form the military hospital to fake and resell it. Doing this he caused the death of many children. Holly was told, that a third man was helping to remove his dead friend from the road, he identifies who that third man was.