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The Lives of Harry Lime
aka The Third Man |
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A gun shot rings out then
from the immortal Orson Welles
we hear: "That was the shot that killed Harry
Lime. He died in a sewer beneath Vienna, for those of you who know, who saw
the movie The Third Man. Yes, that was the end of Harry Lime. But it was not
the beginning. Harry Lime had many lives and l can recount all of them. How
do I know? Well, it's simple. Because my name is Harry Lime" then follows the zither
music of Anton Karas adding a
wonderful Viennese ambience to The Lives of Harry Lime, a dramatic radio series which ran from August 3,
1951 until July 25, 1952, for a total of fifty two episodes, all of which
have survived In syndication and in the
US the radio series was known simply as The Third Man. The radio series was based
on the character Harry Lime from
the Graham Greene novel and in
the subsequent 1949 motion picture The Third Man (available from the Adventure / Film Noir section
of this website). Orson Welles played the character in the movie as well as in the
later radio series. Since Harry Lime was killed
in the movie, Welles sought to use the radio series to imagine episodes in
Lime's life before the period covered by the movie. Harry Lime is a perpetually
broke confidence man, smuggler, and general scoundrel. He will participate in
virtually any criminal activity to make a fast buck, but uses his wits rather
than a gun. He draws the line short of murder, blackmail, or drugs. Even so, Harry is an
endearing character and listeners love to hear of his
one-step-ahead-of-the-law misadventures as he hops around the globe looking
for his next pigeon. The highlight of this
intriguing & beguiling radio show was the zither work of Anton Karas (discovered by The Third Man film director Carol Reed playing in a Vienna bistro). The radio series
enabled Karas to extent and generally embellish his haunting theme from the
movie. The series is also of
significance in that it unearthed the character of Mr. Arkadin via three defining episodes (1952-04-11 Man of
Mystery, 1952-05-23 Murder on the Riviera & 1952-06-13 Blackmail is a
Nasty Word). Welles became enamoured with the character eventually portraying
him in his 1955 film Mr. Arkadin
- often seen as his attempt to marry Citizen Kane with The Third Man (and available in a "comprehensive
edition" from the Adventure / Film Noir section of this website) Harry Alan Towers was the producer of the radio series and recently
he gave a 16 minute interview detailing the genesis of The Lives of Harry
Lime, whether Welles did indeed
write any of the scripts, the Mr Arkadin character, how Welles was signed to do The Third Man movie, and the circumstances surrounding Welles
guest appearance as Professor Moriarty on Tower's production of The Final Problem (an episode of The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes starring Sir John Gielgud and Sir Ralph Richardson as Holmes & Watson) Want
to check the Harry Alan Towers 16
minute documentary? It
can be freely downloaded to your computer - just right button click on any
link below and chose "Download Linked File" (or words to that
effect). The file is about 14Mb - download time will depend on your
(broadband) speed Interview
- Harry Alan Towers.mp3 These 2 MP3 CDs
contain all 52 thirty minute episodes of "The Lives of Harry Lime"
as well the 16 minute Harry Alan Towers documentary, the 50 minute Lux
Theatre dramatization of "The Third Man" with Joseph Cotton
recreating his screen role (alas without Welles as Lime) and the 30 minute
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes episode with Welles playing Moriarty -
fabulous A. Interview with Harry
Alan Towers B. The Lives of Harry
Lime 1.
LHL_1951-08-03 Too
Many Crooks.mp3 2.
LHL_1951-08-10 See
Naples and Live.mp3 3.
LHL_1951-08-17 Clay
Pidgeon.mp3 4.
LHL_1951-08-24 Ticket
to Tangiers.mp3 5.
LHL_1951-08-31
Voodoo.mp3 6.
LHL_1951-09-07 The
Bohemian Star.mp3 7.
LHL_1951-09-14 Love
Affair.mp3 8.
LHL_1951-09-21 Rogue's
Holiday.mp3 9.
LHL_1951-09-28 Work of
Art.mp3 10.
LHL_1951-10-05
Operation Music Box.mp3 11.
LHL_1951-10-12 The
Golden Fleece.mp3 12.
LHL_1951-10-19 The
Blue Bride.mp3 13.
LHL_1951-10-26 Every
Frame Has a Silver Lining.mp3 14.
LHL_1951-11-02 Mexican
Hat Trick.mp3 15.
LHL_1951-11-09 Art is
Long and Lime is Fleeting.mp3 16.
LHL_1951-11-16 In Pursuit of a Ghost.mp3 17.
LHL_1951-11-23 Horse
Play.mp3 18.
LHL_1951-11-30 Three
Farthings for Your Thought.mp3 19.
LHL_1951-12-07 The
Third Woman.mp3 20.
LHL_1951-12-14 An Old
Moorish Custom.mp3 21.
LHL_1951-12-21 It's a
Knockout.mp3 22.
LHL_1951-12-28 Two is
Company.mp3 23.
LHL_1952-01-04 Cherchez
La Gem.mp3 24.
LHL_1952-01-11 The
Hand of Glory.mp3 25.
LHL_1952-01-18 The
Double Double Cross.mp3 26.
LHL_1952-01-25 5,000
Pengoes and a Kiss.mp3 27.
LHL_1952-02-01 The
Dark Enchantress.mp3 28.
LHL_1952-02-08 The
Earl on Troubled Waters.mp3 29.
LHL_1952-02-15 The
Dead Candidate.mp3 30.
LHL_1952-02-22 It's in
the Bag.mp3 31.
LHL_1952-02-29
Hyacinth Patrol.mp3 32.
LHL_1952-03-07
Turnabout is Foul Play.mp3 33.
LHL_1952-03-14
Violets, Sweet Violets.mp3 34.
LHL_1952-03-21 Faith,
Lime and Charity.mp3 35.
LHL_1952-03-28
Pleasure Before Business.mp3 36.
LHL_1952-04-04 Fool's
Gold.mp3 37.
LHL_1952-04-11 Man of
Mystery.mp3 38.
LHL_1952-04-18 The
Painted Smile.mp3 39.
LHL_1952-04-25 Harry
Lime Joins the Circus.mp3 40.
LHL_1952-05-02 Suzie's
Cue.mp3 41.
LHL_1952-05-09 Viva La
Chance.mp3 42.
LHL_1952-05-16 The
Elusive Vermeer.mp3 43.
LHL_1952-05-23 Murder
on the Riviera.mp3 44.
LHL_1952-05-30 The
Pearls of Bohemia.mp3 45.
LHL_1952-06-06 A Night
in a Harem.mp3 46.
LHL_1952-06-13
Blackmail is a Nasty Word.mp3 47.
LHL_1952-06-20 The
Professor Regrets.mp3 48.
LHL_1952-06-27 The
Hard Way.mp3 49.
LHL_1952-07-04 Paris
is Not the Same.mp3 50.
LHL_1952-07-11
Honeymoon.mp3 51.
LHL_1952-07-18 The
Blue Caribou.mp3 52.
LHL_1952-07-25 Greek
Meets Greek.mp3 C. Lux Theatre - The
Third Man 1.
LRT_1951-04-09 The
Third Man.mp3 D. Sherlock Holmes - The
Final Problem 1.
SHGR_1954-12-21 The
Final Problem.mp3 |