Madam, - It was interesting to read Oliver McGrane's letter of August 11th August, "First Lady of The Third Man" on the important role played by Alida Valli in that film.
Rarely has a film been so perfectly cast in the face of powerful Hollywood interests who wanted only star names. The battle between director Carol Reed and financier David O. Selznick is beautifully laid out in the book In Search of The Third Man by Charles Drazin.
Reed's victory in that artistic struggle was eventually to lead to the film being voted Best British film of all time by the prestigious British Film Institute.
The Third Man had a great effect on Irish audiences, even to the present time. It ran in cinemas here for months and was repeated for years after. Anton Karas and his zither played to packed houses in Dublin. I have heard the theme song played three times in just one week recently. The Harry Lime Theme was featured in two TV programmes last week alone.
The film also influenced the career choice of many Irish people, including myself, in the 1950s. Like many others at the time, I emigrated to London to learn the craft of photography and film. I wanted to emulate the images in that film and in my time there I met literally dozens of Irish who were also influenced by the movie and were students in film schools.
In fact to this day I still meet people who tell me that The Third Man affected the direction of their lives for the better. None of us really know why.
So "Thank you" Alida Valli, Carol Reed, Trevor Howard, Orson Welles and Anton Karas. - Yours, etc,
TIM COSTELLO, Granville Road, Cabinteely, Co Dublin.