The Third Man Theme The Third Man Theme "The Third Man Theme" (also known as "The Harry Lime Theme") is an instrumental written and performed by Anton Karas for the soundtrack to the 1949 film "The Third Man". "The Third Man" is a 1949 British film noir, directed by Carol Reed. One night after a long day of filming "The Third Man" on location in Vienna, Reed and cast members Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli and Orson Welles had dinner and retired to a wine cellar. In the bistro, which retained the atmosphere of the pre-war days, they heard the zither music of Anton Karas,
Alexander Korda (1916), "St. Peter's Umbrella" (1917), "The Stork Caliph" (1917) (from the novel by Mihály Babits), and "Magic" (1917). Korda later regarded "Harrison and Barrison" (1917) as his best film. He also made "Faun" (1918), "" (1918), and "Mary Ann" (1918). During the Hungarian Soviet Republic, Korda made "Ave Caesar!" (1919), "White Rose" (1919), "Yamata" (1919) and "Neither at Home or Abroad" (1919). His final Hungarian film was "Number 111" (1919). In October 1919, Korda was arrested during the White Terror that followed the overthrow of the short-lived Communist government, the Hungarian Democratic Republic, because he had participated in its government.