The Third Man

Let's talk soundtracks. The soundtrack to a movie, television show, or musical can be more powerful than dialogue, camera work, or physical acting. It tells you what your emotions should be. It tells you what's going on. It's intended to set the scene, mood, and overall "feel". So when you have a soundtrack composed entirely in major keys, played by a plucky-sounding, twangy instrument, you're likely to think of something like Hairspray or Sesame Street. (I might add that both do have minor chords in them, but the feeling is the same.)
When you think of something bad happening, you get that specific sound in your head. Think Law and Order. When they're about to find a body, what does it sound like? Creepy, dissonant, and not particularly pleasant. So when a creepy man, one who is supposedly dead, steps out of the shadows, you probably shouldn't hear something that sounds like the Happy Days theme song, right? Or, as mentioned in class, something you would expect to hear during a Spongebob marathon.
Sure, the soundtrack underscores the irony and shows that Harry is childlike and feels innocent. Grand. It still bugs the crap out of me. There are hundreds of ways to show that. Put a splash of color in his costume. Throw him under some warm lights. Give him a goofy walk, for chrissakes, but give me some damned creepy music!

Another note: Anyone who watches excessive amounts of Law and Order, CSI, or NCIS probably figured out pretty early on that the "third man" was Harry, and the missing man was the dead one. I wasn't certain about that last part until they opened the coffin, but I knew as soon as the janitor was killed that Harry was the third man, was still alive, and was up to no good. Someone was pushed. There was a third man. Harry supposedly spoke about his lover and his biffle before his death, but the likelihood of his having survived the crash (perpetrated by his own driver?!) was next to none. All of those things added up to something squiffy going on, and the best option was Harry being alive. Leastways, in my mind. And when the cat that only liked him wound up rubbing against a shadowy pair of feet, it just cemented it in my mind.

I'd go into the set and such, but at the moment, I'm putting that idea on pause. I'd like to review parts of the movie again to get a better feel for certain parts and to confirm what I only vaguely recall about the backgrounds. Tirrah.