The Lives Of Harry Lime (1951 -1952)
Various
Orson Welles reprised his role of Harry Lime from the celebrated 1949 film adaptation of Graham Greene's novel The Third Man. The radio series is a "prequel" to the film, and depicts the many misadventures of con-artist Lime in a somewhat lighter tone than the character's villainy in the film.
This recording is part of the Old Time Radio collection.
Chapitres
Critiques
The Lives of Harry Lime
Ed 999
The Third Man (The Lives of Harry Lime) was a old-time radio adventure series that ran in 1951 and 1952. It was based on the 1949 film of the same name. Orson Welles stars as Harry Lime, 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 zither music of Anton Karas adds a wonderful Viennese ambience. Each episode would begin with "The Third Man Theme" being played, abruptly cut off by an echoing gunshot. Then Welles would speak: "That was the shot that killed Harry Lime. He died in a sewer beneath Vienna, as those of you 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 I can recount all of them. How do I know? Very simple. Because my name is Harry Lime." Although often cited as a BBC production, the series was one of a number produced and distributed independently by the prolific Harry Alan Towers. Only ten of the episodes were acquired and broadcast by the BBC in the UK. It was the first time that the BBC broadcast episodes of a dramatic series that it did not produce. The full series was syndicated to radio stations in the U.S. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lives_of_Harry_Lime
Very enjoyable!
LeGrande
Like most complete or near-complete collections, some episodes have better sound quality than others. The condition of the transcription disc or reel-to-reel tape used for that particular episode is the reason for the lack of consistency. If someone is really upset with the sound quality, they can clean it up themselves with a program like Audacity and post that improved sound file to the archive. I'm sure such efforts would be appreciated, if not financially rewarded. As far as this series goes, it's top-notch all the way, with great and fluid performances by Welles and supporting cast.
Well worth it
mwillett
Highly entertaining, this series takes the tone of "The Third Man" film's famous cuckoo clock speech and expands it into several prequels to that film. The settings are exotic Hollywood fantasy ports-of-call such as Algiers and Budapest. The narrator and voice of Harry Lime is, of course, Orson Welles, the finest radio actor ever and capable of making entertainment out of reading a deli menu. As these radio plays are well written and performed, the only downside might be the overuse of Anton Karas' renowned zither music from the film. The earlier episodes take themselves far too seriously, but by the time an episode like "The Dead Candidate" rolls around, "The Lives of Harry Lime" is flat-out comedy. As noted elsewhere, the same source material was used here for an episode ("Horse Play") as the 1973 film "The Sting." There are loads of wacky accents, cartoon villains, mysterious Arabs and femme fatales. Those looking for political correctness regarding ethnic and gender stereotypes should look elsewhere, although the later episodes are performed so tongue-in-cheek it's hard to take offense. By the end of the run the tone gets close to Firesign Theater "Nick Danger" territory. Considering their age, sound quality of the transfers is good. As the cast members other than Welles are not named, it is fun to pick out the voices of old pros like Sebastian Cabot. All told, this series is well worth listening to.
Good series
NoSpillBlood
This series is a real romp for Welles fans, a Comedy/Drama full of lines to relish. I'd say Welles is obviously enjoying himself here. This may constitute a spoiler, but I will say that as often as Lime's schemes fall through, with the promise of huge riches slipping through his hands, I wonder how he managed to live in the capitols of Europe. In more than one episode, he comments in the beginning on his own "bustitude," with only enough money for another beer as the story starts. Yet by the end of the episode, he doesn't have a dime to show for all his effort. And other times the reward for a scheme he thought worth millions of francs turns out to be narrowly escaping jail, nothing more. My favorite episodes are It's in the Bag, Art is Long and Lime is Fleeting, Greek Meets Greek, Paris is not the Same, Clay Pigeon, and The Third Woman.
Harry Lime -- great but a little sour
Eddystone
This is a great series! Thank you. But the sound quality/distortion, as noted by others, is a real drawback. It might also need volume balancing between the orchestral [vs. zither] intro/segue music and Welles' low-level intros. I found a few of these episodes, three at 64kbs and some 32 & 24, on a different IA page, "Harry Lime with Orson Welles." At least the 64kbs ones seem much better.
new upload is a HUGE improvement! Thanks very much!
sunsplasher
This current set of Harry Limes files sounds wonderful. (Previous versions were file-compressed to the point of incomprehensibility when played in the car, and they gave one a warbly headache in headphones): What an improvement now! The writing is top-notch in this series, full of surprises, and there are occasional double double crosses that leave the hero 'losing a round'.
Error
Plautius
The title of episode 15 was actually "Art is Long and Lime is FLEECING". Not fleeting.
Harry Lime - Worth your time! Forget the Whine!!
1nicolem
The Lives of Harry Lime is one of my favorite OTR shows. Good to above average writing for the 27-28 minutes that had to fill. Just as an FYI...this site is a .ORG. Huh? Well, that means they can't afford all those fancy machines (and time/money) to remove those tiny fragments of annoying hiss and gurgle that some find so bothersome. Let me tell you, the quality on most of the recordings is very acceptabe and rather good! Please remember much of the recordings on this site are from reels or record and from a very long time ago. If the occasional hiss bothers you, check your meds, try a bit of yoga or practice the great lost art of concentration. It's amazing the things you hear when you learn to focus on the things that matter. Just try to cope with the wiggles and crackels as you listen. I know, I know...CD and DVDs don't do that kind of stuff. Of course I can only bet that most of the complaints are coming from those who did not grow up listening to tapes, 8-track and records. Shame. The sound quality was so much better than the little plastic disks they use now.