As a film geek, I've seen countless movies but I only rank two as absolute favorites. The Magic Christian directed by Joe McGrath, based on Terry Southern's book and starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr holds the number two spot. The slice of cinema history that I can watch endlessly and love no matter what condition the print is Carol Reed's The Third Man with Joseph Cotton and Alida Valli. Yes, Orson Welles is in it but Joe and Alida make me salivate.
The musical theme and the soundtrack throughout is by Anton Karas playing the zither with innovation and mastery making modern ears think it's electronic gimmickry. Love the movie, love the theme, and so did many others as the variety of renditions spanning genres and generations proves.
As my anniversary offering to Cold Dirt Press, I have gathered some of my favorite versions of The Third Man Theme a.k.a. The Harry Lime Theme. First up are the iconic opening credits of the film with vibrating strings.
Here is Anton playing live!
