Anton Karas asked a stunned Karas if he would compose the music for the film. Karas protested, saying he had never actually written music. As Karas later told the story, the director insisted and invited Karas to England. The Austrian became homesick and asked to be allowed to return. Reed told him he could—as soon as he had written the music. Under this pressure Karas wrote his Harry Lime theme. The film—with the music a contributing factor—was a gigantic success, and Karas' life was changed drastically. As a result, he toured all over the world and performed for many celebrities, among them
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.