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
Alexander Korda three other films, "Bonnie Prince Charlie" (1948), "The Winslow Boy" (1948) and "The Fallen Idol" (1948). "The Winslow Boy" and "Fallen Idol" were hits. "An Ideal Husband" and "Anna Karenina" had some acclaim but lost money at the box-office. "Bonnie Prince Charlie" was a fiasco. Korda was also badly hurt by the trade war between the British and American film industries in the late 1940s. Korda did recover, in part due to a £3 million loan British Lion received from the National Film Finance Corporation. In 1948 Korda signed a co-production deal with David O. Selznick. This resulted in "The