The Third Man: The Cuckoo Clock

Mechanical Cuckoo from 1650

One of the most well-known lines from The Third Man was not written by Graham Greene, but was actually added by Orson Welles to fill an awkward pause in the middle of a scene.

“…in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love – they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.”

Oddly enough, the cuckoo clock actually originated in the Black Forest of Germany and not Switzerland, a point that the Swiss were quick to make to Mr. Welles.

Regardless of its origin, the cuckoo clock is not a simple time piece. It’s often a complex mechanism housed in an intricately decorated… um… house.

. . .

The detail on these traditional cuckoos is impressive, but there’s also something notable about the handiwork and whimsy of the modern takes on this classic clock.