AMORE MUSICORUM: 2012-11-18

1950 - THE THIRD MAN THEME

ALSO KNOWN AS : THE HARRY LIME THEME

COMPOSED AND ORIGINALLY PERFORMED BY :

ANTON KARAS

FOR : THE MOVIE "THE THIRD MAN" ( 1949 )

BIRTH OF A SONG

Karas was working as a zither player when director Carol Reed, during location scouting for the film, heard him playing in a beer garden. Reed wanted music that wasn't a waltz but would be appropriate to the city of Vienna, in which the film was set, so he asked Karas if he would write and record the film's score. Karas agreed, and he wrote the theme based on a melody in a practice book. The zither had not previously been widely used in English or American music, but the theme became popular with audiences of the film soon after its premiere.

IN THE HIT PARADE

Following its release in the US in 1950, "The Third Man theme" spent 11 weeks at number one on Billboards "US Bestsellers in Stores" chart, from April 29 to July 8th.

DID YOU KNOW

* The full soundtrack album was ready for release when The Third Man came out, but there was not a lot of interest in it. Instead, labels focused on the catchy main theme and released it as a single.
* The fact that Anton Karas took his melody from a practice book may hold the secret to the popularity of this song.
* "The Third Man Theme" is informally known in Japan as the "Yebisu Beer Theme," which is still used in Yebisu beer commercials to this day. For this reason, it is also used at Yebisu Station on the JR Yamamote line to inform passengers of incoming trains.
* This was the first number one hit in the USA for an Austrian artist.
* Anton Karas had never learned to read music.
* Shortly before the The Third Man's release, Carol Reed's masterpiece was viewed by Sir Arthur Jarratt, the Chairman of the distributing company, British Lion. Jarratt sent a telegram to the director, congratulating him on what looked likely to be a successful film. There was, he said, only one problem: "Please take off the banjo."

FACTS AND FIGURES

* According to Faber and Faber, the different versions of the theme have collectively sold an estimated 40,000,000 copies.
* The original music recording (released at the same time as the film) sold 500,000 copies in one month

* Approximate number of artists who recorded a cover version of the song = 120.
* The zither has a total of 40 strings

A PERSONAL VIDEO SELECTION

Here we guide you to some remarkable and amazing videos related to this song.

YEBISU BEER ADVERTISEMENT - MUSIC :

" THE THIRD MAN "

ZITHER VERSION -

WITH PICTURES FROM THE ORIGINAL MOVIE

MANDOLIN VERSION - THE LUGANO MANDOLIN ORCHESTRA

GREAT GUITAR VERSION BY SUNGHA JUNG

BIG BAND CHA CHA VERSION

XAVIER CUGAT AND HIS ORCHESTRA

ONE OF THE FIRST COVERS

GUY LOMBARDO AND HIS ORCHESTRA

VERSION WITH LYRICS

THE FONTAINE SISTERS

HERB ALPERT AND THE TIJUANA BRASS

FROM THE ALBUM "GOING PLACES" ( 1965 )

THE BEATLES HAVING SOME OFF THE RECORD FUN

WITH "THE THIRD MAN THEME"

GEOFF LOVE AND HIS ORCHESTRA PLAY

THE HARRY LIME THEME

QUOTES RELATING TO THE MUSIC

" What sort of music it is, whether jaunty or sad, fierce or provoking, it would be hard to reckon; but under its enthrallment, the camera comes into play ... The unseen zither-player ... is made to employ his instrument much as the Homeric bard did his lyre. "
( William Whytebait )

" Anton Karas will have you in a dither with his zither "
( From the original movie trailer )

" We should be able to make a fortune out of this music "
( David O. Selznick - co financer of the film )

" The zither is used in different stresses against the mood and against the action and it sharpens both to an extraordinary degree "
( Richard Winnington - movie critic at the time)

" The music hits one's consciousness like a cloudburst of needles ".
( Manny Farber - famous American critic )

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE

MORE ABOUT THE ZITHER INSTRUMENT