52 "Lives of Harry Lime" episodes

[Le Chiffre]

These are all the examples of this program in the radioGOLDINdex database. These listings are accurate as of July 17, 2013. The programs are listed chronologically, partial dates appear first, unknown dates appear last. All the dates given for this series are for the broadcast on the Mutual net. The series was however, recorded in London at the "IBC Studios," originally broadcast on Radio Luxembourg, and syndicated by Lang-Worth after the Mutual run. The dates listed for the series have also been described as the broadcast dates on Radio Luxembourg.

The Lives Of Harry Lime. August 3, 1951. Program #1. Lang-Worth syndication. "Too Many Crooks". Commercials added locally. Harry gets a telegram from a banker in Budapest, asking for help from an upcoming bank robbery! Harry meets old flame Lilly (or Lulu). This episode is done with Lime's narration in present tense, an awkward device that Welles wisely abandoned for the rest of the series. Orson Welles (writer, performer), Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 27:12. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. ***

518. The Lives Of Harry Lime. August 10, 1951. Program #2. Lang-Worth syndication. "See Naples and Live". Commercials added locally. Harry plans to heist a beautiful emerald locket from a Neapolitan socialite. Harry falls for Amy, but when she sees him trying to steal her employer’s necklace, she rejects him. Nice, evocative echo atmosphere in some Pompeii catacombs, Good line: “We could see both Mt. Vesuvius and it’s victim, Pompeii.” Harry gets shot in the shoulder. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 27:25. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. Another Redhead, a 'la Rita Hayworth? ***

519. The Lives Of Harry Lime. August 17, 1951. Program #3. Lang-Worth syndication. "Clay Pigeon" . Commercials added locally. In New York City, Governor James Hadley offers Harry $15,000 to free him with a blackmail plot. The blackmailer is Kato, who wants to set up Organized Crime activity in the state with immunity. Harry: "Compared to you, Joe Stalin is an amateur." Good show, but Welles mumbles Harry's narration a little too much. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 27:42. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. The early shows a little less flippant. Harry kills a man in cold blood. ***

520. The Lives Of Harry Lime. August 24, 1951. Program #4. Lang-Worth syndication. "A Ticket To Tangier". Commercials added locally. Down on his luck in Paris, Harry finds an opportunity in Morocco (Tangier, filled with money, a "free gold" area where noone pays any income taxes, every 2nd address is a private bank and every 2nd person is an international operator or lawyer - Swtzerland with Arabs) from a classified ad in a newspaper. The sale of Heroin is "controlled" by international law. Rico Margetti (Lucky Luciano?) Orson Welles writer, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 26:55. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. ****

521. The Lives Of Harry Lime. August 31, 1951. Program #5. Lang-Worth syndication. "Voodoo". Commercials added locally. In Haiti, Harry teams up with a con-lady to cheat a loud-mouthed American. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director), Graham Greene (creator), Sidney Torch (music), Suzanne Cloutier. 27:19. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. The doltish American businessman has no idea who Henri Christophe is: "Every two-bit republic has their own George Washington", he says. Nice, Spooky return to Welles's Voodoo Macbeth stomping grounds. ****

522. The Lives Of Harry Lime. September 7, 1951. Program #6. Lang-Worth syndication. "The Bohemian Star" . Commercials added locally. A diamond as big as duck's egg? In 1938 London, Harry pretends to be a reporter, learns about the crown jewels of Bockanovia, and gets involved with makers of fake diamonds, who plot to replace the real Bohemian Star with a replica. Betty Grable in 1938? Good line: "The Monarchy was replaced by what was ironically called a 'People's Republic'". Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 27:37. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. **

523. The Lives Of Harry Lime. September 14, 1951. Program #7. Lang-Worth syndication. "Love Affair". Commercials added locally. In a remote Saudi Arabian town of Baccarata, Harry finds a murder and a double-cross in oil. Harry has the oil lease concession rights and two foreign agents from different countries set to buy. An American tourist (CIA?) guide warns tourists about Harry Lime. "Usually his party of Babbits consisted of soda addicts, fugitives from Board of Directors meetings, and well-proportioned dowagers spending the money their husbands had worked themselves to death accumulating." Welles narrates a bit too fast, as if trying to squeeze it all in. This undermines the clarity of the plot. Good line: "In Bacarata there is nothing to do but get rich. Mines of black gold (oil) dot the landscape as far you can see, and huddled beneath these modern steel skeletons lies the sleepy town of Bacarata." "My meeting with the high potentate of Bacarata was an infuriating ordeal. Somehow or other, the granting of oil rights seemed to be inexpertly tied up with native dances and rituals."“May your beard never grow white.” an Arabian merchant says to Harry. Harry has charmed the "Alafin" (?) Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 27:00. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. ***

524. The Lives Of Harry Lime. September 21, 1951. Program #8. Lang-Worth syndication. "Rogue's Holiday". Commercials added locally. Harry's on crossing the Atlantic on the Princess Ann, planning to swindle to Lady Barbara Follet. However, what about her lovely companion? Harry swindles 3 Wall St. investors as "J Harrington Lime". Lady Barbra and her jewels are his target. Principality behind the Iron Curtain. Not much humor. Good punch line though, where Harry pays 10K for fake pearls using counterfeit cash. Good line: “If you can’t manage to resist temptation, be sure you at least get it appraised.” Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 27:34. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. ***

525. The Lives Of Harry Lime. September 28, 1951. Program #9. Lang-Worth syndication. "Work Of Art". Commercials added locally. In Buenos Aires in July, 1944, Harry is hired to swindle an original Rubens from its beautiful owner. Bad sound mixing in spots (background music too high). Lime hired to provide info on private art collections. Different music. Good lines: “I’ve known women with cash registers where their hearts were supposed to be.” “The dinner was over in what seemed a mere few months.” “After we’ve been hurt, we build up a wall around ourselves.” The woman is the wife of a Nazi arms manufacturer in Argentina, a 'la Hedy Lamarr? Like F For Fake. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 27:13. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. ***

526. The Lives Of Harry Lime. October 5, 1951. Program #10. Lang-Worth syndication. "Operation Music Box" . Commercials added locally. In London, Harry breaks three music boxes and founds an orphan asylum! Orson Welles (writer, performer), Ida Lupino as the girl?, Robert Arden as a Music Box dealer?, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 1/2 hour. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. Clever show with great punchline. Good line "Remember what Ben Franklin said about honesty being the best policy. I wish I could." ****

527. The Lives Of Harry Lime. October 12, 1951. Program #11. Lang-Worth syndication. "The Golden Fleece". Commercials added locally. A story that begins with a bullfight in Spain and ends with a naval engagement in the China Sea! Orson Welles, Ida Lupino? Robert Arden as Chinese warlord? (No) Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 27:23. Audio condition: Excellent. Harry poses as a ship's captain, not realizing that the former ship's captain was a Nazi, smuggling explosives for a Chinese warlord. Good line: "A bullfight is to Spain what the Opera is to Italy: the only thing that starts on time." Otherwise complete. ****

528. The Lives Of Harry Lime. October 19, 1951. Program #12. Lang-Worth syndication. "Blue Bride". Commercials added locally. Harry's involved in a counterfeiting scheme in Bordeaux. Good line: "I was competing with the French government by printing money for French traders headed for French West Africa." And trading inland with natives for Ivory, a 'la Heart of Darkness. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 26:34. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. ***

529. The Lives Of Harry Lime. October 26, 1951. Program #13. Lang-Worth syndication. "Every Frame Has A Silver Lining". Commercials added locally. Harry is given a package with $50,000 worth of opium by an old friend on the streets of Teheran (where, with all that oil, there was a lot of empire building and empire busting). Good line: "Money and women. They both go together, and neither one is of much use without the other." Orson Welles, Robert Arden, doing a mid-east accent? Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 26:55. Audio condition: Excellent. One of the more clever and lucid shows, with some nice plot twists. Otherwise complete. ****

530. The Lives Of Harry Lime. November 2, 1951. Program #14. Lang-Worth syndication. "Mexican Hat Trick". Commercials added locally. Harry's in Mexico City down to his last borrowed cigarette when a friendly pickpocket puts him on the trail of an innocent, but convicted murderer. He goes to a small, isolated village and deals with a noisy bell, looking for affidavits. Good line: "As the old saying goes, Lime doesn't pay". Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 27:37. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. ***

531. The Lives Of Harry Lime. November 9, 1951. Program #15. Lang-Worth syndication. "Art Is Long and Lime Is Fleeting". Commercials added locally. In Paris, Harry buys a cheap painting and tries to pass it off as a Renoir. F For Fake. Good line: "I trust you about as much as I can move the Eifel Tower." "To hold a drudge for a long time is a sign of immaturity." Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 27:06. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. **

532. The Lives Of Harry Lime. November 16, 1951. Program #16. Lang-Worth syndication. "In Pursuit Of A Ghost". Commercials added locally. In the Fall of 1945, Harry gets involved with a Central American revolution...and "El Zorro!" A New York gangster using funds from the revolution to finance activity in Cuba. Interesting show. Peter Finch as a Cockney? Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 27:30. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. ****

533. The Lives Of Harry Lime. November 23, 1951. Program #17. Lang-Worth syndication. "Horse Play". Commercials added locally. Harry uses a "lost wallet" con in Paris, pretending to be an expert on the ponies. The "fix is in" and a sucker is lined up! Suspiciously reminiscent of The Sting, with a fake betting parlor constructed by Harry’s associates, a horse mistakenly bet to “win” instead of “place”, and a staged shooting with fake blood afterwards. This episode uses almost exactly the same plot as The Sting but predates it by 20 years. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 26:52. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. ****

534. The Lives Of Harry Lime. November 30, 1951. Program #18. Lang-Worth syndication. "Three Farthings For Your Thoughts". Commercials added locally. The story of a farthing worth twenty thousand pounds Sterling! It all starts in a pub in Liverpool. Good line: "I knew fortune by her maiden name: Miss-Fortune." Helen’s husband gets shot while escaping from prison. Harry & others get robbed in an English pub. Helen and Harry discover the 3rd farthing in a Beethoven piano concerto about a farthing. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 27:26. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. ***

535. The Lives Of Harry Lime. December 7, 1951. Program #19. Lang-Worth syndication. "The Third Woman". Commercials added locally. During the war, Corporal Lime is ordered to a tailor on Saville Row for three suits, and told to report to the Savoy Hotel for a special assignment, with the rank of Colonel! Robert Arden as Southern Major. Istanbul: Good line: “I made my way to Georgette’s, an upholstered sewer masquerading as a nightclub.” Lime tries to help kidnaped girl (Nazis). Jumps from 4th story window. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 27:13. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. ***

536. The Lives Of Harry Lime. December 14, 1951. Program #20. Lang-Worth syndication. "An Old Moorish Custom". Commercials added locally. Harry's in Algiers, on the trail of golden cups and gold dust lost since 1504. Harry has just twenty four hours to find the loot! Good line: "Don’t worry about my politics, honey. I’m like a pair of socks: neither right nor left." Robert Arden doing French accent? Harry falls for the daughter of a Moorish chieftain, who doesn’t think he’s good enough and has Valery followed. Like Arkadin. The Corsairs were Greek Arabs who wrote their own Koran. Recalls both Treasure Island and Othello. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 27:16. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. ****

537. The Lives Of Harry Lime. December 21, 1951. Program #21. Lang-Worth syndication. "It's A Knockout". Commercials added locally. Harry has become J. Harrington Lime, Wall Street financier and Cuban sportsman. He plans to swindle an American businessman with a rigged boxing match. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 28:27. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. Harry does boxing commentary. Slightly reminiscent of The Sting (and The Sting II?). ***

538. The Lives Of Harry Lime. December 28, 1951. Program #22. Lang-Worth syndication. "Two Is Company". Commercials added locally. Harry meets Gus in a bar in Sicily. Gus is a wealthy mid-westerner and very much in love with another mid-westerner. Robert Arden as Gus Schmidt III. Comic variation of Romeo and Juliet, almost screwball quality, as Mafia gets involved with Harry's fake kidnap plot. Orson Welles (writer, performer), Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 27:17. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. ***

15518. The Lives Of Harry Lime. January 4, 1952. Program #23. Syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York aircheck. "Cherchez La Gem". Participating sponsors. Harry's in Hawaii after $75,000 in stolen jewels. WRVR air date: February 5, 1975. Orson Welles, Suzanne Cloutier as the girl?, Nice zither version of "Hawain Sunset". by Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 25 minutes. Audio condition: Excellent. Complete. ***

15519. The Lives Of Harry Lime. January 11, 1952. Program #24. Syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York aircheck. "The Hand of Glory". Participating sponsors. Two old brothers in England devote their lives to alchemy. Another creepy tale that touches on witchcraft and the supernatural. WRVR air date: February 12, 1975. Orson Welles, Gudrun Ure?, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 25 minutes. Audio condition: Very good to excellent. Complete. (AKA: Fool's Gold) ***

15520. The Lives Of Harry Lime. January 18, 1952. Program #25. Syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York aircheck. "Double Double-Trouble". Participating sponsors. Monte Carlo: 1936. Harry parachutes into England with smuggled currency. American greenbacks are plentiful on the continent, but scarce in the UK because of all the regulations. Harry "falls in love" and has a funny confrontation scene with the "jealous" husband. WRVR air date: February 18, 1975. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 25 minutes. Audio condition: Excellent. Complete. AKA The Double Double-cross ***

88368. The Lives Of Harry Lime. January 25, 1952. Program #26. Syndicated. "Five-Thousand Pengoes and A Kiss". Commercials added locally. Harry is hired to help a beautiful singer to escape from Budapest to Czheckoslovakia. The title refers to the price he charges to help her. An excellent script! Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither). 28:48. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. **

15521. The Lives Of Harry Lime. February 1, 1952. Program #27. Syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York aircheck. "The Dark Enchantress". Participating sponsors. A young lady in the Algerian casbah needs the help of Harry Lime. Unconvincing denouement where Lime gives money to a convent. WRVR air date: March 18, 1975. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 21:56. Audio condition: Excellent. Complete. **

15525. The Lives Of Harry Lime. February 8, 1952. Program #28. Syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York aircheck. "The Earl On Troubled Waters". Participating sponsors. Harry poses as a nobleman to smuggle $30,000 out of the country, but little Lord Randolph himself takes a hand. WRVR air date: April 22, 1975. The program number and story title are subject to correction. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director), with Robert Arden as a Texas oil baron. Memorable quote: "Remember, the wages of sin are not nearly as high as they ought to be, considering the overhead." 22:36. Audio condition: Very good to excellent. Complete. ***

539. The Lives Of Harry Lime. February 15, 1952. Program #29. Lang-Worth syndication. "The Dead Candidate". Commercials added locally. Buzzo! A fun visit to the dictatorship of Milenia. Became the basis for Welles's first novel, "Une Grosse Legume". Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 27:20. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. ****

540. The Lives Of Harry Lime. February 22, 1952. Program #30. Lang-Worth syndication. "It's In The Bag". Commercials added locally. Harry meets a friendly Greek aboard the Orient Express. The Greek has black market money, Harry has counterfeit! Written by Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 27:25. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. ****

15524. The Lives Of Harry Lime. February 29, 1952. Program #31. Syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York aircheck. "Hyacinth Patrol". Participating sponsors. In wartime Panama, Harry breaks up a spy ring out to wreck the Panama Canal. Robert Arden as Bouncer at a military bar called "Ptomaine Joe's". Another redhead: "Her hair was the dark red of aging blood." Hyacinth attracts Malaria-breeding mosquitoes. Lt. Nugent is a corrupt military man. Like Arkadin, Lime gets caught in the bedroom of the bouncer's girl (named Rita). "Way to Santiago" type terrorist plot in Latin American jungle? WRVR air date: April 15, 1975. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 24:21. Audio condition: Excellent. Complete. ****

15523. The Lives Of Harry Lime. March 7, 1952. Program #32. Syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York aircheck. "Turnabout Is Fair Play". Participating sponsors. Harry plans to cheat an ex-Nazi of his $30,000 but he's foiled by his honest daughter. WRVR air date: April 8, 1975. Byrne, Swtzerland. German, ex-Nazi industrialist. Arden as a German? UN plans for industrialization of Western Europe are for rent, for a large price. They’d be worth millions. (unscrupulous people like the sharks, mad with their own blood) Good line: “Patriotism blunts the sense of smell.” Kurtz and Krupt. German uses own daughter (Frita, blond, based on Hedy Lemarr?) to corrupt Lime (like Arkadin?) Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 25 minutes. Audio condition: Excellent. Complete. ***

86752. The Lives Of Harry Lime. March 14, 1952. Program #33. Towers Of London syndication. "Violets, Sweet Violets". Music fill for local commercial insert. Intrigue in occupied Marseilles. This is a more complete, syndicated version of cat. #15526. Orson Welles, Harry Alan Towers (*producers), Tig Roe (director), Anton Karas (zither). 27:46. Audio condition: Very good to excellent. Otherwise complete. ****

15526. The Lives Of Harry Lime. March 14, 1952. Program #33. Syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York aircheck. "Violets, Sweet Violets". Participating sponsors. Intrigue and the black market in occupied Marseilles (a wicked, corrupt city which ironically had many churches. Or was it ironic?) Good line: "Under the Nazis, the city has a mood of defeat, despair, and hopelessness. " An old lady saying, "Please buy my violets" recalls Welles in drag for his later TV show, Orson's Bag. At the dock there is a Treasure Island type atmosphere, with a Long John Silver type named "Grippo". Both the Nazis and the French Underground are after Grippo, who gets shot at the end and falls into the water, like Quinlan and Bracco, the peg leg man at the beginning of Mr. Arkadin. WRVR air date: April 29, 1975. See cat. #86752 for a more complete version of this program. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 25 minutes. Audio condition: Excellent. Complete. ****

86751. The Lives Of Harry Lime. March 21, 1952. Program #34. Towers Of London syndication. "Faith, Lime and Charity". Music fill for local commercial insert. Frauds and orphans-in-need in India by the beautiful Taj Mahal. Pretty good episode with some nice plot twists and graveyard atmospherics, although Lime's wooing of the rich woman at the Taj Mahal is not that convincing. This is a more complete, different syndicated version of cat. #15527. Orson Welles, Harry Alan Towers (producer), Anton Karas (zither), Tig Roe (director). 28:24. Audio condition: Very good to excellent. Otherwise complete. ***

15527. The Lives Of Harry Lime. March 21, 1952. Program #34. Syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York aircheck. "Faith, Lime and Charity". Participating sponsors. Fraud and orphans-in-need in India by the beautiful Taj Mahal. WRVR air date: May 6, 1975. See cat. #86751 for a more complete version of this program. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 25 minutes. Audio condition: Excellent. Complete. ***

15528. The Lives Of Harry Lime. March 28, 1952. Program #35. Syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York aircheck. "Pleasure Before Business". Participating sponsors. Harry's beautiful partner for a Venice jewel robbery has a few ideas of her own; like love. WRVR air date: May 13, 1975. Post-war Venice. Dana Wynter? Robert Arden as giant Rico? Good line: “She had the realism and sound business sense of a robber baron.” Jewels in a safe. “I call the Count Poochy” “Isn’t that dandy”. Lightweight but funny. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 25 minutes. Audio condition: Excellent. Complete. ***

15529. The Lives Of Harry Lime. April 4, 1952. Program #36. Syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York aircheck. "Fool's Gold". Participating sponsors. Harry flies from Kuwait to Karachi to Goa with a planeful of stolen gold. Gold is more profitable being smuggled to Asia, then sold on legitimate market. Santa Claus mention at start of program, smuggling to Goa, a Portuguese colony in India. Chartering a plane. Eartha Kitt as girl? Kuwait is described as a "Shiekdom". WRVR air date: May 20, 1975. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 25 minutes. Audio condition: Excellent. Complete. ***

541. The Lives Of Harry Lime. April 11, 1952. Program #37. Lang-Worth syndication. "Man Of Mystery". Commercials added locally. Gregory Arkadin summons Harry from Vienna to Antibes. He's a wealthy man with amnesia for twenty years who hires Harry to find out who he really is. It's worth $10,000 to Harry if he succeeds. The story is similar in plot to Orson Welles' film "Mr. Arkadin." Orson Welles, Suzanne Cloutier, Mischa Auer, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director), Robert Rieti, Betty McDowell. 26:57. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. ****

542. The Lives Of Harry Lime. April 18, 1952. Program #38. Lang-Worth syndication. "The Painted Smile". Commercials added locally. Harry attends a performance of a Sicilian circus as the guest of one of the clowns. The clown has a very beautiful wife! Unusual I Pagliacci-like episode that is more like a drama then a thriller. Harry narrates more then usual, almost like an audiobook, making it similar to Fountain of Youth. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 27:18. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. ***

543. The Lives Of Harry Lime. April 25, 1952. Program #39. Lang-Worth syndication. "Harry Lime Joins The Circus". Commercials added locally. Hans Hessle is an escaped Nazi being sought by many of his victims for his atrocities during the war. Harry is working for a circus in central Europe and is hot on his trail. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 27:16. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. Nice echo effect in mine climax. ***

544. The Lives Of Harry Lime. May 2, 1952. Program #40. Lang-Worth syndication. "Suzie's Cue". Commercials added locally. Harry's in Vienna, very interested in a diamond necklace formally owned by Marie Antoinette. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 27:34. Audio condition: Excellent. Good line: "She had the same problem many aristocrats had after the war: expensive taste combined with empty pockets." Otherwise complete. ***

545. The Lives Of Harry Lime. May 9, 1952. Program #41. Lang-Worth syndication. "Vive La Chance". Commercials added locally. Harry is in Paris, planning to cheat an American named Henry Witherspoon with a scheme involving a treasure in buried gold. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 27:16. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. Guy from Lady From Shanghai (who talks about a knife in your pocket being an edge)? Gudrun Ure? ***

546. The Lives Of Harry Lime. May 16, 1952. Program #42. Lang-Worth syndication. "The Elusive Vermeer". Commercials added locally. Horace St. John Windemeer and Harry plan to dispose of a Vermeer painting that's about to be stolen. Nice rogue's gallery, like Arkadin, including Robert Arden as a Cockney, and another dumb Texas oil man who wants a Vermeer. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 27:07. Audio condition: Excellent. Otherwise complete. ***

15531. The Lives Of Harry Lime. May 23, 1952. Program #43. Syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York aircheck. "Murder On The Riviera". Participating sponsors. Harry's smuggling cigarettes (like Von Stratton) in postwar France and meets a young girl he calls "Stupid" with a corpse (named Bracco) and fifteen million francs. WRVR air date: June 8, 1975. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 25 minutes. Audio condition: Excellent. Complete. ****

15532. The Lives Of Harry Lime. May 30, 1952. Program #44. Syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York aircheck. "The Pearls Of Bohemia". Participating sponsors. Melody Johnson (another Redhead) enlists Harry's aid, ostensibly to win a beauty contest in Egypt. WRVR air date: July 15, 1975. Good line: "Remember, all that glitters is not Gold. But it ain't hay either." Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 25 minutes. Audio condition: Excellent. Complete. ***

15533. The Lives Of Harry Lime. June 6, 1952. Program #45. Syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York aircheck. "A Night In A Harem". Participating sponsors. Harry, a sharpie named Sam, and a real Arabian princess are set up for a $100,000,000 oil concession pushover. WRVR air date: July 22, 1975. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 25 minutes. Audio condition: Excellent. Complete. Paul Stewart as a corrupt (what else?) Texas oil baron? ***

15534. The Lives Of Harry Lime. June 13, 1952. Program #46. Syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York aircheck. "Blackmail Is A Nasty Word". Marseilles: 1947...and a blackmailer lets Harry blackmail, to pay off another blackmailer. Good of this kind. Man stabbed, like Bracco. Givolet was a Nazi stooge and collaborator under a false name, who joined the French resistance under his unsullied real name. Like Les Miserables. Good line: “Glad to see you on the sunny side of the Iron Curtain.” WRVR air date: July 29, 1975. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 24:06. Audio condition: Excellent. Complete. ****

15535. The Lives Of Harry Lime. June 20, 1952. Program #47. Syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York aircheck. "The Professor Regrets". Participating sponsors. Harry helps a fellow con artist to expose a famous atomic scientist disloyal to America. Ruth Gordon as the girl? Funny love scene. WRVR air date: August 5, 1975. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 25 minutes. Audio condition: Excellent. Complete. ***

15536. The Lives Of Harry Lime. June 27, 1952. Program #48. Syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York aircheck. "The Hard Way". Participating sponsors. Harry finds himself in the charter airline business, where he meets the strange Mr. Butterboy (Paul Stewart?), and a strange, dippy southern girl, wanting to fly to Zurich. Counterfieting. WRVR air date: August 12, 1975. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 25 minutes. Audio condition: Excellent. Complete. (AKA: Legitimate Business) ***

15537. The Lives Of Harry Lime. July 4, 1952. Program #49. Syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York aircheck. "Paris Is Not The Same". Participating sponsors. Harry Lime meets an old flame from wartime London in Paris. He soon uses a "Third Man" to work a perfume swindle. WRVR air date: August 19, 1975. A former flame married to Duval. Andre running black market in diluted perfume stolen from Edmund Duval and sold to American soldiers. Harry sets up scheme with himself, Andre and a “3rd Man”. Duvall lost his silly giggle, and Paris IS the same. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 24:06. Audio condition: Excellent. Complete. ***

15538. The Lives Of Harry Lime. July 11, 1952. Program #50. Syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York aircheck. "Honeymoon". Participating sponsors. Harry and a Countess try to smuggle the most wanted bandit of Sicily. Ruth Gordon as journalist trying to get picture of gangster Plucky Morielo (Lucky Luciano again?). Plucky was locked out of US, and became a businessman in Sicily, where people prayed for his death. Paul Stewart as Plucky? WRVR air date: August 26, 1975. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 23:40. Audio condition: Excellent. Complete. ***

64596. The Lives Of Harry Lime. July 18, 1952. Program #51. Syndicated. "The Blue Caribou". Commercials added locally. In Rimini, Harry Lime is hired by a beautiful American to help her recover a valuable antique piece of pottery. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 28:00. Audio condition: Very good. Otherwise complete. Lucky Luciano-like figure. ***

15539. The Lives Of Harry Lime. July 25, 1952. Program #52. Syndicated, WRVR-FM, New York aircheck. "Greek Meets Greek". Participating sponsors. Harry's in Pireaus with the measles, a dead body, and a mysterious woman with a gun. WRVR air date: September 9, 1975. The last show of the series. Orson Welles, Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director). 23:52. Audio condition: Very good to excellent. Complete. ***

[Wich2]

Not wholly Wellesian productions; and sometimes episodes are a little similar to each other...

But solidly done and at its best, great, great fun!

-Craig

[tonyw]

These were basically programe fillers but as in the case of Graham Greene's "entertainments" were much more than that.

[GlennandersFraser]

Frankly, "The Lives of Harry Lime" bored me, as a teenager, but looking back, I'm of the notion that Welles used them, much of the time, as a kind of notebook for possible later film or TV development.

Glenn

[tonyw]

In that way, they resemble Zola's "Ebauches."

[Le Chiffre]

The Harry Lime series I think represents Orson Welles’s biggest artistic attempt to engage with the contemporary world at large. That is, the international world of the early, post-war 1950’s. Harry is a real globetrotter as well as a seasoned con man, and this is a series where every single episode takes place in a different part of the world.

The stories are of variable quality, and with some episodes one gets the feeling that too much story is being crammed into a 30-minute format, so that the plot doesn’t have enough room to breathe, so to speak, and goes by in too much of a whirlwind. Oftentimes you can tell how mediocre the story is by how bored Welles sounds, but when it’s a good story, he sounds fully engaged, and often quite witty.

How much of Welles the director is in the Harry Lime shows? Well, the series of course centers around his character, and although more research is needed about the show, it’s been documented that Welles wrote several of the stories himself. There is also audio evidence from the announcer on at least one episode that he directed some of them as well.
The problem is that the series was produced by Harry Alan Towers, and there was obviously no love lost between him and Welles. On the “Complete Mr. Arkadin” DVD set, Towers accused Welles of trying to steal writing credit for episodes others had written, and Welles, in the new Jaglom book, called Towers “a famous crook”. Towers was associated with a vice ring at the UN, and was rumored to have been a Soviet agent. Considering this, is it possible that Towers was one of several models for Gregory Arkadin?

The falling out must have happened sometime during the making of TREASURE ISLAND in 1972, which starred Welles and was produced by Towers around the time that he was also producing a lot of Jess Franco pictures. Maybe that’s one reason why that film is not very good. The other producer on Treasure was Andre Vincent Gomez, who was later accused of embezzling big money from Welles during the making of THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND. An interesting coincidence.

Another thing that’s fun about the Harry Lime series (I recently listened to all 52 episodes) is to try and guess who some of the voices belong to. I’ve listed some of my guesses as there were many instances of uncredited cameos in the programs. In addition to regulars like Robert Arden, who played Von Stratton in the Arkadin film, and Sebastian Cabot, who played some of the uppercrust British characters, there are many voices that sound like some of the people Welles might have been working with around that time, like Peter Finch, Gudrun Ure, etc. One female voice that sounds somewhat like Ruth Gordon, turns up in a couple of later episodes.

[Le Chiffre]

Here's an interesting exchange from 14 years ago on the old Welles tierranet board:

HARRY LIME “ARKADIN” EPISODE

L. Bantock:
Can anyone please tell me which of the 'Adventures of Harry Lime' episodes served as the basis for the Mr. Arkadin film. I've seen several different sources that say the episode in question is called 'Greek Meets Greek' but this is not correct. 'Greek Meets Greek' concerns a young woman who complains to Lime about a corpse in her hotel room and later turns out to be an arms smuggler. The Mr. Arkadin episode is not 'Greek Meets Greek'. Obliged to anyone who can help clear this matter up.

*

Robert Fischer:
The confusion about "Greek Meets Greek" is due to the fact that there exist (as with so many of the Harry Lime episodes) two versions of different lengeth: a) the original, "Man of Mystery", and b) the shorter version, "Greek Meets Greek", trimmed by several minutes, including the entire prologue which in "Man of Mystery" is exactly as in the Arkadin film (the riddle of the empty plane). And the confusion becomes even greater because there really is an episode with the original tile "Greek Meets Greek", the last episode in the series, which has nothing to do with the Arkadin character or plot (as you well observed). So if you buy Harry Lime cassettes or discs, always make sure that these are the 28 minute versions, not the shorter, butchered ones (yes, poor Orson was a victim of butchery here, too!).

How do I know that these are the right titles? Very easy: They are mentioned in the stories. For example: "And now Orson Welles as Harry Lime – the Third Man – in today’s story, Man of Mystery." In the abridged versions, no title is mentioned - which is the reason why somebody came up with new ones in the first place. (Also, if you compare the titles, the originals are always more poetic and resonant than the alternative ones, e.g. "Every Frame Has a Silver Lining" became "Opium", "Three Farthings for your Thoughts" became "Coins" and so on. You get my drift.)

*

Lewis Bantock:
I've always felt that the Lime radio series was one of Welles's most entertaining. The episodes that he wrote himself, however, definitely deserve a very high place in his radio legacy. It would be nice to have a complete list of the Welles-written episodes.'Operation Music Box' is another, I believe.

*

Robert Fischer:
Did Orson, Man of Mystery if there ever was one, really write any of the Harry Lime radio shows? Well, that is, as so often with him, debatable. If you broaden the meaning of "writing" to include "having the idea for a plot and asking a staff writer do the fleshing out", this may have some more value of truth. (See also the controversy over Welles' authorship of the Arkadin novel.) A collection of fifteen of the Harry Lime shows appeared in (pocket) bookform in 1952, and if you compare them to the shows you'll find that these stories are practically transcripts of the radio plays. The three episodes for which Orson Welles is identified as the "author" in the pocket book are "It's in the Bag", "The Golden Fleece", and "A Ticket to Tangier". I, too, find the Harry Lime adventures highly entertaining, and I like to persuade myself that Orson, too, must have enjoyed these little escapades.

*

L. Bantock:
You're right that many of Welles' writing credits need to be taken with a grain of salt, but the Lime episodes attributed to him (including the three you mentioned) do seem to me to have more elaborate plots and plot twists, plus looser and more flippantly Welles-like dialogue.

In addition to 'Man of Mystery', the episode 'Dead Candidate' (butchered version known as 'Buzzo') was based on one of his plays ('The Unthinking Lobster', I believe?) so that has to be considered essentially a Welles baby. In general, the 'Harry Lime' series strikes me as infinitely more Wellesian then, say, 'The Black Museum', which doesn't strike me as Wellesian at all. Thanks again!

*

R. Fischer:
Harry Lime's Dead Candidate based on OW's olay The Unthinking Lobster? Come on, you should know better than this. Jonathan Rosenbaum has it all right on p. 412, the July 1953 entry of his still invaluable (though flawed) Welles Chronology in This Is Orson Welles. All right, that is, except read Dead Candidate (original Harry Lime episode title) for Buzzo Gospel (truncated version of Dead Candidate).

*

L. Bantock:
My mistake on the source of 'Dead Candidate' - thanks for the correction. I guess it's easy to get confused about these obscure Welles works, since they are not (and may never be) available to the average Welles fan. Unless of course I want to dish out $150 to ABE books for a used copy of 'Une Grosse Legume' - and then learn French.

*

Vidamonte:
Talking about "Un Grosse Légume", I found a copy in Paris four years ago for $10. I enjoyed the book a lot, it was quite funny. There was again a very recognizable Wellesian hero, a cross between O'Hara and Van Stratten, but I think that Welles would have played the corrupted dictator, who was into alcohol and women.

[Wellesnet]

From "The Medium and the Magician" by Paul Heyer:

Much of what we know about "The Lives of Harry Lime" comes from a remarkable 1976 Phd dissertation by Frank Tavares - a rare treatise on the radio side of Welles's many artistic accomplishments - for which he was able to interview Harry Alan Towers in 1975.

[Wellesnet]

Fascinating 2010 essay on the political implications of the Harry Lime radio series, by MATTHEW KILLMEIER from the University of Southern Maine.
America(n) abroad:The Third Man, international audiences and the Cold War:
https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... e_Cold_War

The article examines the ways in which the series creates interpretive openness through its ambiguous characterization of the protagonist Harry Lime, use of Lime’s American nationality, international settings and through drawing upon the Cold War for dramatic material. The series’ international encoding, interpretive openness and period of broadcast during the Cold War ground interpretations of its cultural meanings. The article claims that the series offers critical perspectives on the Cold War through Lime’s presentation as a metonym for the United States, and through plots that allegorically and satirically dramatize the Cold War milieu.

[HarryLime82]

You can find some scripts on this fine page:

http://www.genericradio.com/series/thirdman

"Man of Mystery" is an abridged version, better look for the version of Wellesnet. "Pleasure Before Business" is unbridged, I think.

An here - "Buzz off with Buzzo":

https://emruf.webs.com/THIRDMANthedeadcandidate.htm

Unfortunately, I couldn't find any other scripts online. The old MP3s often have a very poor quality...

[Wich2]

I like the LIME series; though as stated in these pages, it's pretty variable in quality.

Just heard "Man of Mystery" the first time, courtesy of the old RADIO SPIRITS Welles set. Sadly, it's one of the lesser eps., for me.

Of course, the ARKADIN story is much compressed; but worse, it's poorly compressed. The show is just a succession of two-handed Talk scenes, with clunky music drop-ins that don't really "Bridge."

- Craig

[HarryLime82]

Very nice recreating: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MY4oV3mhixc

[Wich2]

I've worked Recreations with that director, Gregg Oppenheimer, and some of his rep company.

He does tight work!

- Craig