The Third Man Theme after the film's premiere, and more than half a million copies of "The Third Man Theme" record were sold within weeks of the film's release. The tune was originally released in the U.K. in 1949, where it was known as "The Harry Lime Theme". Following its release in the U.S. in 1950 (see 1950 in music), "The Third Man Theme" spent 11 weeks at number one on "Billboard"'s U.S. Best Sellers in Stores chart, from April 29 to July 8. Its success led to a trend in releasing film theme music as singles. A guitar version by Guy Lombardo also
Lime Grove Studios success in the United States (where it was distributed by Universal Pictures). The studios prospered under Gaumont-British, and in 1941 were bought by the Rank Organisation. By then Rank had a substantial interest in Gainsborough Pictures, and "The Wicked Lady" (1945), among other Gainsborough melodramas, was shot at Lime Grove. In 1949 the BBC bought Lime Grove Studios as a "temporary measure"—because they were to build Television Centre at nearby White City—and began converting them from film to television use, reopening them on 21 May 1950. Lime Grove would be used for many BBC Television programmes over the next forty-two