In the film noir classic 'The Third Man,' director Carol Reed made the radical choice to abandon a traditional orchestra. Instead, he hired Anton Karas, a local Viennese musician who played the zither—a flat, stringed instrument common in European folk music. The 'Harry Lime Theme' became one of the most famous pieces of movie music in history. The zither’s jangly, metallic, and slightly melancholic sound perfectly captured the tension of post-WWII Vienna. The soundtrack was a global sensation, and the zither became an unlikely legend, briefly causing a worldwide surge in the instrument's popularity. This remains the most famous example of a single, obscure instrument carrying the entire emotional and atmospheric weight of a legendary film performance, specifically that of Orson Welles.