The Third Man Theme

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"The Third Man Theme"

Single by Anton Karas
Released	1950
Label	Decca
Writer(s)	Anton Karas
Chart positions
#1 (U.S.)

"The Third Man Theme" is an instrumental written and performed by Anton Karas for the soundtrack to the film The Third Man (1949).

Karas was working as a zither player when director Carol Reed, during location scouting for the film, heard him playing in a beer garden. Reed wanted music that wasn't waltz but would be appropriate to the city of Vienna, in which the film was set, so he asked Karas if he would write and record the film's score. Karas agreed, and he wrote the theme based on a melody in a practice book. The zither had not previously been widely used in English or American music, but the theme became popular with audiences of the film soon after its premiere.

Following its release as a single in 1950 (see 1950 in music), "The Third Man Theme" spent eleven weeks at number one on Billboard's U.S. Best Sellers in Stores chart, from 23 April to 8 July. Its success led to a trend in releasing film theme music as singles. A guitar version by Guy Lombardo also sold strongly, and four other versions charted in the U.S. during 1950.^[1] According to Faber and Faber, the different versions of the theme have collectively sold a estimated forty million copies.

1 Audio sample
2 See also
3 Notes
4 References
5 External links

Preceded by: "If I Knew You Were Comin' (I'd've Baked a Cake)" by Eileen Barton	*U.S. Billboard* Best Sellers in Stores number-one single** April 29, 1950	Succeeded by: "Mona Lisa" by Nat King Cole
Preceded by: Music! Music! Music!	Cash Box magazine best selling record chart #1 record April 22, 1950–July 1, 1950	Succeeded by: Bewitched