Movie Music II: The Third Man

No discussion of outstanding movie music is complete without "The Third Man" 1949. Directed by Carol Reed (a man) with a screenplay by Graham Greene, based on his own book. It starred Joseph Cotton and Orson Welles (together again after "Citizen Kane") and was a British film which won an Oscar - for cinematography.

But the other star of the film is Anton Karas, who plays the only instrument heard on the soundtrack, the zither. This would have been absolutely impossible to do in Hollywood in 1949. And it's difficult to say why the zither works so well in a movie about criminals in post-WWII Europe. It makes the film seem exotic and off-beat and it's one of the most memorable things about the movie. In fact, more people recognize "The Third Man Theme" than remember the movie itself. Karas seems to have done it all: wrote the music and played his solo instrument.
You can hear the music on the pompous David Selznick trailer on IMDB.

The music should be an inspiration to low-budget film-makers everywhere.