''The Adventures of Harry Lime'' (broadcast in the United States as ''The Lives of Harry Lime'') is an

old-time radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the earl ...

programme produced in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

during the 1951 to 1952 season.

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

reprises his role of Harry Lime from the celebrated 1949 film ''

The Third Man ''The Third Man'' is a 1949 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Set in postwar Vienna, the film centres on American Holly Martins (Cotten ...

''. The radio series is a

prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term ...

to the film, and depicts the many misadventures of con-artist Lime in a somewhat lighter tone than that of the film.

Production

''The Adventures of Harry Lime'' is one of the most successful series created by prolific British radio producer

Harry Alan Towers Harry Alan Towers (19 October 1920 – 31 July 2009) was a British radio and independent film producer and screenwriter. He wrote numerous screenplays for the films he produced, often under the pseudonym Peter Welbeck. He produced over 80 f ...

and his company Towers of London. Towers and

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

, author of ''The Third Man'', had the same literary agent, and Towers learned that Greene had not sold the rights to the character of Harry Lime to

Alexander Korda Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; hu, Korda Sándor; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)The Third Man ''The Third Man'' is a 1949 British film noir directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene and starring Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, and Trevor Howard. Set in postwar Vienna, the film centres on American Holly Martins (Cotten ...

''. Towers quickly bought the rights to the character and in 1951 he put a syndicated radio series into production. Orson Welles reprised the role of Harry Lime in a series of adventures that preceded the story told in ''The Third Man''."Harry Alan Towers: Film, TV and radio producer and scriptwriter who rose from adapting the Fu Manchu novels to making Cry, the Beloved Country". ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'', August 5, 2009 Several episodes would begin with "

The Third Man Theme "The Third Man Theme" (also written "3rd Man Theme" and known as "The Harry Lime Theme") is an instrumental written and performed by Anton Karas for the soundtrack to the 1949 film ''The Third Man''. Background ''The Third Man'' is a 1949 British ...

" 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 ''

''. 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 Towers of London and syndicated internationally.

Episodes

Only sixteen 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. The con orchestrated by Welles' character in the episode "Horse Play" closely resembles that of the 1973 Robert Redford and Paul Newman film "

The Sting ''The Sting'' is a 1973 American caper film set in September 1936, involving a complicated plot by two professional grifters (Paul Newman and Robert Redford) to con a mob boss ( Robert Shaw).'' Variety'' film review; December 12, 1973, pag ...

." Both are based on the book "The Big Con" written by

David W. Maurer David Warren Maurer (April 12, 1906 – June 11, 1981) was a professor of linguistics at the University of Louisville from 1937 to 1972. He was the writer of numerous studies of the language of the American underworld. Biography Maurer received a ...

which was published in 1940. The episode "Man of Mystery", written by Welles, was later expanded by him and served as the basic plot for his film ''

Mr. Arkadin ''Mr. Arkadin'' (first released in Spain, 1955), known in Britain as ''Confidential Report'', is a French-Spanish-Swiss coproduction film, written and directed by Orson Welles and shot in several Spanish locations, including Costa Brava, Segovi ...

''. A recording of the 1951 "A Ticket to Tangiers" episode of ''The Lives of Harry Lime'' series is available on the

Criterion Collection The Criterion Collection, Inc. (or simply Criterion) is an American home-video distribution company that focuses on licensing, restoring and distributing "important classic and contemporary films." Criterion serves film and media scholars, cine ...

DVD edition of ''

''. In addition, recordings of the 1952 episodes ''Man of Mystery'', ''Murder on the Riviera'' and ''Blackmail is a Nasty Word'' are included on the

DVD ''The Complete

''.

Novelisation

''The Lives of Harry Lime''

Fifteen episodes were adapted into a short story collection, ''The Lives of Harry Lime'', published in the United Kingdom by

Pocket Books Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books. History Pocket Books produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing ...

in 1952. The book was credited to "Orson Welles and others", and Welles had been credited with writing the scripts of several episodes, but it is unclear whether or not he wrote the adaptations. Additionally, Harry Alan Towers has cast doubt on whether Welles even wrote the episodes he was credited with. He describes how the series started being written by a team of experienced American radio scriptwriters. When Welles discovered they were being paid $1,000 per script, he offered to write 6 scripts himself. The scripts were delivered and Towers duly paid Welles $6,000. Then one day, a man walked into Towers' office, demanding to be paid for the scripts which ''he'' had ghostwritten for Welles. When Welles was asked about it later, he smiled: "Don't pay him. They weren't very good scripts." The episodes which were adapted into short stories were: #''It's in the Bag'' by Orson Welles (Episode 30) #''The Golden Fleece'' by Orson Welles (Episode 11) #''Art is Long and Lime is Fleeting'' by Sigmund Miller (Episode 15) #''Love Affair'' by Sigmund Miller (Episode 7) #''See Naples and Live'' by Sigmund Miller (Episode 2) #''Every Frame Has a Silver Lining'' by Robert Cenedella (Episode 13) #''Paris is Not the Same'' by Joseph Cochran (Episode 49) #''Five Thousand Pengoes and a Kiss'' by Carl Jampel (Episode 26) #''The Hand of Glory'' by Jonquil Anthony (Episode 24) #''The Hyacinth Patrol'' by Virginia Cooke (Episode 31) #''Horseplay'' by Peter Lyon (Episode 17) #''Work of Art'' by Bud Lesser (Episode 9) #''Rogue's Holiday'' by Peter Lyon (Episode 8) #''A Ticket to Tangier'' icby Orson Welles (Episode 4) #''An Old Moorish Custom'' by Irvan Ashkinazy (Episode 20)

''Une Grosse Légume''

Welles also tried to convert one episode script into a film script for producer

Alexander Korda Sir Alexander Korda (; born Sándor László Kellner; hu, Korda Sándor; 16 September 1893 – 23 January 1956)Mr. Arkadin ''Mr. Arkadin'' (first released in Spain, 1955), known in Britain as ''Confidential Report'', is a French-Spanish-Swiss coproduction film, written and directed by Orson Welles and shot in several Spanish locations, including Costa Brava, Segovi ...

'' (2006) - DVD extra on the Criterion edition

Listen to

Archive.org: ''The Lives of Harry Lime'' (52 episodes)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adventures of Harry Lime, The American radio dramas 1951 radio programme debuts 1952 radio programme endings Radio programs based on films Works by Orson Welles