Anton Karas Anton Karas Anton Karas (7 July 1906 – 10 January 1985) was a Viennese zither player and composer, best known for his internationally famous 1948 soundtrack to Carol Reed's "The Third Man", which came about as a result of a chance meeting. Born in Vienna, one of five children of a factory worker, Anton Karas was already keen on music as a child. He wanted to become a band leader, which because of the family's financial situation was impossible. However, he was allowed to learn to play an instrument, as were his two brothers and two sisters. He later reported
Zoltan Korda for the adventure film "Sanders of the River" (1935), starring the American actor Paul Robeson and Leslie Banks. The film proved a significant commercial and critical success, giving Korda the first of his four nominations for "Best Film" at the Venice Film Festival. Korda and Robert Flaherty won the Venice festival's "Best Director" award for "Elephant Boy" (1937). A former cavalry officer in the Common Army, afterwards in the Austro-Hungarian Army in World War I, Korda made a number of military action/adventure films, many of which were filmed in Africa or India. Of his directorial efforts, 1939's "The Four Feathers,"