“You know as much as I do.”
Why it's great
It refuses to explain anything and hands the ignorance right back.
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Neutral
Use it yourself
You know as much as I do about the new plan.
00:00 / 02:32
00:00 / 02:32
Calloway Interrogates Anna Schmidt, Explained
The Third Man · 1949
Chapter 9 of 17 · 2'32"
Calloway questions Anna about Harry Lime, first asking whether she was 'intimate with' him and then showing her a photograph of Joseph Harbin. She denies knowing the man, and Calloway warns her that lying is stupid: 'I'm in a position to help you.' She answers that he has everything upside down.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:20–0:46
Calloway Presses Anna About Harry
26s - 1:04–1:31
Anna Turns the Case Around
26s
Calloway Interrogates Anna Schmidt, explained
What happens
Calloway interrogates Anna Schmidt at police headquarters. He asks about her relationship with Harry Lime, then shows her a photo of Joseph Harbin and presses her to admit she knows him. Anna denies it, and when Calloway says he can help her, she tells him he has the whole case upside down.
What's really going on
The interrogation is a battle of two fixed stories. Calloway's method is leverage: he softens Anna with the promise that her letters will be returned, keeps her passport, then works from the personal — 'you were intimate with Lime, weren't you?' — to the photographic evidence of Harbin. His key move is a threat dressed as help: 'It's stupid to lie to me, Miss Schmidt. I'm in a position to help you.' Anna is not intimidated. She grants the love openly — 'We loved each other' — and then refuses every other point, twice saying she has never seen Harbin, until she turns the accusation back: 'What can I tell you, but you've got everything upside down.' To Calloway she is a witness who might lead him to a missing man; to herself she is a woman protecting the only thing left of Harry, which is why she gives ground on nothing.
Key lines & what they mean
- “You know as much as I do.”
- A shrug that keeps Calloway's advantage: he refuses to explain more than Anna already knows, so the pressure stays on her.
- “We loved each other. Do you mean that?”
- Anna answers the personal question directly and turns it back on the questioner, refusing to be ashamed of the love he is probing.
- “It's stupid to lie to me, Miss Schmidt. I'm in a position to help you.”
- Calloway's offer and threat in one breath: cooperate and be helped, or keep lying and lose the only protection he can give.
- “You're wrong about Harry. You're wrong about everything.”
- Anna's flat rejection of the whole case against Harry, defending the man the police have already condemned.
- “What can I tell you, but you've got everything upside down.”
- Her summary of the impasse: the police have the story backwards, and she has nothing to add to an investigation built on the wrong premise.
- “He moved his head, but the rest is good, isn't it?”
- A lighter line about a photograph, the small vanity of a face caught at the wrong moment amid a grim interview.
Theme
- Deception — Calloway pressures Anna to admit she knows Harbin, testing how far she will lie to protect Harry and herself.
- Trust — The interrogation runs on who can be believed: Calloway offers help in exchange for truth, and Anna trusts no one who works for the police.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
Review right after watchingMy level2/6
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
Language points
Click a card to jump to its moment in the videoGolden lines
A great line in its own right — why and how to use it“We loved each other. Do you mean that?”
Why it's great
She answers the crude question with dignity, then makes him say what he really meant.
Register
Neutral
Use it yourself
Do you mean that as a compliment or a warning?
“It's stupid to lie to me, Miss Schmidt. I'm in a position to help you.”
Why it's great
The threat and the offer sit in one breath, the classic interrogator's move.
Register
Formal
Use it yourself
I'm in a position to help you, but not for long.
“You're wrong about Harry. You're wrong about everything.”
Why it's great
The repeated structure turns one correction into a total rejection of his case.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
You're wrong about her, and you're wrong about everything else.
“What can I tell you, but you've got everything upside down.”
Why it's great
The shrug and the verdict together sound resigned and defiant at once.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
You've got everything upside down; it was never my money.
“He moved his head, but the rest is good, isn't it?”
Why it's great
A casual judgement that quietly sounds like a verdict on something far larger.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
The colours are odd, but the rest is good, isn't it?
Up next · 10break the rulesThe scene: Martins Confronts Popescu at the ClubTakeaways
What you walk away with- Calloway's offer to help is also a threat.
- Anna answers an intimate question without flinching.
- The missing man's name turns a letter into evidence.
- A casual remark about a statue sounds like a verdict.
People also search
Questions, then the linesWhy does Calloway question Anna about Harry?
Because she was close to Lime and may know his associates. He wants information that could lead to Harbin, who vanished the same day Anna made her telephone call.
Who is Joseph Harbin?
A man who worked in a military hospital and was a contact of Harry's. He disappeared on the day Anna telephoned him, and Calloway believes finding him is the key to the case.
Why does Anna deny knowing Harbin?
Because she is protecting Harry and herself. She admits she loved Harry but refuses to confirm anything that could implicate him, even when Calloway offers to help her in return.
What does 'in a position to' mean?
It means having the ability or authority to do something. Calloway says he is in a position to help Anna, which is both an offer and a warning about what she stands to lose.
Why does Anna say Calloway has everything upside down?
Because she believes the police have the whole story backwards. In her view they have cast Harry as the criminal when the truth is the reverse, so their case makes no sense to her.