<![CDATA[Selznick on the music]]>Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — The Third Man

alfa — 9 years ago(April 15, 2016 09:08 AM)

David O. Selznick On the Zither Music
November 25, 1949
TELEGRAM to Daniel T. O'Shea [Executive VicePresident,
Selznick Productions]
Cannot commence to tell you sensation caused by Karas's zither music in The Third
Man. It is rage of England and has already sold more record copies than any other record
in entire history of record business in England. It is widest-played dance music in
England Ads here use "Hear Harry Lime Theme," etc. in type dwarfing all other billing.
It is one of those unpredictable, tremendous sensations that I cannot expect any of you to
understand who have not been here. Entirely unrelated newspaper articles and editorials,
even on politics, constantly refer to it. Inevitably, this success will be repeated America if
we are prepared for it. We should be able to make fortune out of this music.
Regards,
David
By the time Selznick released the film in the U.S., in February 1950, the "Harry Lime Theme" was already a sensation. He capitalized on this by including the tag line "Featuring the Famous Zither Score by Anton KarasHe"ll have in you a dither with his zither!" in the ad campaign and trailers

]]>https://filmglance.com/discuss/topic/176637/selznick-on-the-musicRSS for NodeThu, 14 May 2026 16:09:04 GMTMon, 27 Apr 2026 12:37:21 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Selznick on the music on Mon, 27 Apr 2026 12:38:06 GMT]]>Squeeth2 — 9 years ago(April 16, 2016 07:18 AM)

"What slogan are we going to use for Wodehouse's Pessaries?"
"Wodehouse's Pessaries, you know what you can do with them!"
Marlon, Claudia and Dimby the cats 1989-2005, 2007 and 2010.

]]>https://filmglance.com/discuss/post/1483569https://filmglance.com/discuss/post/1483569Mon, 27 Apr 2026 12:38:06 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Selznick on the music on Mon, 27 Apr 2026 12:37:54 GMT]]>alfa — 9 years ago(April 16, 2016 06:31 AM)

F Scott Fitzgerald got a job writing ad slogans in the 1920's. He took one into his boss for a dry cleaners called Muscatine which went "We keep you clean at Muscatine". His boss said "I don't think we'll be able to afford you for much longer".

]]>https://filmglance.com/discuss/post/1483568https://filmglance.com/discuss/post/1483568Mon, 27 Apr 2026 12:37:54 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Selznick on the music on Mon, 27 Apr 2026 12:37:38 GMT]]>Squeeth2 — 9 years ago(April 16, 2016 04:20 AM)

He"ll have in you a dither with his zither!"
Class.not! ;O))
Marlon, Claudia and Dimby the cats 1989-2005, 2007 and 2010.

]]>https://filmglance.com/discuss/post/1483567https://filmglance.com/discuss/post/1483567Mon, 27 Apr 2026 12:37:38 GMT