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Mystery / crime caper · Syndicated (BBC/Towers of London)

The Lives of Harry Lime

August 3, 1951 – July 25, 1952 · 52 broadcasts

The Lives of Harry Lime (heard in Britain as The Adventures of Harry Lime) is a 1951-52 syndicated series that handed Orson Welles back one of his signature roles -- the silken racketeer of Carol Reed's 1949 film The Third Man. It is a prequel: every week opens with a gunshot and Anton Karas's famous zither theme, then Welles purrs, "That was the shot that killed Harry Lime... but it was not the beginning," and spins another tale from before Vienna's sewers. Producer Harry Alan Towers, who had quietly bought the radio rights to Graham Greene's character, packaged the show in London and sold it to stations around the world. This Lime is lighter than the film's villain -- a globe-trotting confidence man who lies, cheats and steals, but usually against marks even more crooked than himself, and often walks away with a wink rather than a fortune. Welles wrote several episodes himself; one, "Man of Mystery," he later expanded into his film Mr. Arkadin, and "The Dead Candidate" grew into the French novel Une Grosse Legume. Across fifty-two half-hours the show carries Harry from Budapest to Buenos Aires, Haiti to the Panama Canal -- trading in emeralds, forged Renoirs, and dead voters, witty and worldly and just a little wicked.

Collection status: 52 of 52 held (100% complete)
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Episode Spine

Grouped by year. Jump to the full list below, or open a season on its own page.

1951

August 3, 1951 Too Many Crooks Listen (MP3)
A Budapest banker wires Harry for help against a looming bank robbery -- and Harry sizes up the caper for himself.
August 10, 1951 See Naples and Live Listen (MP3)
In Naples, Harry schemes to lift a priceless emerald locket from a wealthy socialite.
August 17, 1951 Clay Pigeon Listen (MP3)
In New York, a cornered governor offers Harry $15,000 to break a blackmail trap closing around him.
August 24, 1951 Ticket to Tangiers Listen (MP3)
Broke in Paris, Harry answers a newspaper ad that promises easy money in Morocco.
August 31, 1951 Voodoo Listen (MP3)
On Haiti, Harry and a con-woman fleece a loud American tourist -- coveting the sacred Scepter of Henri Christophe, at ruinous cost to his island friends.
September 7, 1951 Bohemian Star Listen (MP3)
In 1938 London, Harry hears of a diamond as big as a duck's egg among the crown jewels of Bockanovia.
September 14, 1951 Love Affair Listen (MP3)
In a remote Saudi oil town, Harry's concession rights draw two foreign agents -- and a murder -- into a double-cross.
September 21, 1951 Rogue's Holiday Listen (MP3)
Aboard a transatlantic liner, Harry sets his sights on swindling a titled English lady.
September 28, 1951 Work of Art Listen (MP3)
In 1944 Buenos Aires, Harry is hired to con an original Rubens away from its beautiful owner.
October 5, 1951 Operation Music Box Listen (MP3)
In London, Harry smashes three music boxes and founds an orphans' home -- with a swindler's angle.
October 12, 1951 Golden Fleece Listen (MP3)
A caper that opens at a Spanish bullfight and ends in a sea fight off the China coast.
October 19, 1951 Blue Bride Listen (MP3)
Harry is drawn into a counterfeiting scheme in Bordeaux.
October 26, 1951 Every Frame Has a Silver Lining Listen (MP3)
On the streets of Teheran, an old friend hands Harry a package hiding $50,000 in opium.
November 2, 1951 Mexican Hat Trick Listen (MP3)
Flat broke in Mexico City, Harry gets his lead back into the game from a friendly pickpocket.
November 9, 1951 Art Is Long and Lime Is Fleeting Listen (MP3)
In Paris, Harry buys a cheap canvas and tries to pass it off as a lost Renoir.
November 16, 1951 In Pursuit of a Ghost Listen (MP3)
In 1945, Harry is sent to hunt down 'El Zorro,' a con-man who vanished with a million dollars meant for Central American revolutionaries.
November 23, 1951 Horse Play Listen (MP3)
In Paris, Harry runs a lost-wallet racetrack con on a mark whose own greed makes him the perfect sucker.
November 30, 1951 Three Farthings for Your Thoughts Listen (MP3)
A single farthing said to be worth twenty thousand pounds sets Harry off, starting in a Liverpool pub.
December 7, 1951 The Third Woman Listen (MP3)
During the war, an order for three Savile Row suits draws Corporal Lime into a tailor-shop intrigue.
December 14, 1951 An Old Moorish Custom Listen (MP3)
In Algiers, Harry chases golden cups and gold dust lost since 1504.
December 21, 1951 It's a Knockout Listen (MP3)
Reinvented as a Wall Street financier, Harry lines up a swindle in the world of prizefighting.
December 28, 1951 Two Is Company Listen (MP3)
In a Sicilian bar, Harry meets a wealthy, lovesick man named Gus -- and an opportunity.

1952

January 4, 1952 Cherchez La Gem Listen (MP3)
January 11, 1952 The Hand of Glory Listen (MP3)
Harry follows a woman to her family's country house, where her eccentric twin uncles pursue alchemy through the gruesome ritual of a 'hand of glory.'
January 18, 1952 Double Double Cross Listen (MP3)
Monte Carlo, 1936: Harry parachutes into England carrying smuggled currency into a double-cross.
January 25, 1952 5000 Pengoes and a Kiss Listen (MP3)
Harry is hired to spirit a beautiful singer out of Budapest.
February 1, 1952 Dark Enchantress Listen (MP3)
At a casbah cafe, Harry moves against a blackmailer holding a wealthy family's daughter for ransom.
February 8, 1952 Earl on Troubled Waters Listen (MP3)
Harry poses as a nobleman to smuggle $30,000 abroad -- until the real little lord takes a hand.
February 15, 1952 Dead Candidate Listen (MP3)
Peddling a soft drink to the island dictatorship of Mylenia, Harry is mistaken for a visiting diplomat and tangled in a rigged election run on dead voters.
February 22, 1952 It's in the Bag Listen (MP3)
Aboard the Orient Express, Harry's counterfeit bankroll meets a friendly Greek's black-market cash.
February 29, 1952 Hyacinth Patrol Listen (MP3)
In wartime Panama, Harry breaks up a spy ring plotting to sabotage the Canal.
March 7, 1952 Turnabout Is Foul Play Listen (MP3)
Harry's plan to fleece an ex-Nazi of $30,000 is undone by the man's honest daughter.
March 14, 1952 Violets, Sweet Violets Listen (MP3)
Intrigue finds Harry in occupied Marseilles.
March 21, 1952 Faith, Lime and Charity Listen (MP3)
In India, Harry meets a beautiful woman running an orphans' charity -- and a fraud.
March 28, 1952 Pleasure Before Business Listen (MP3)
Harry's alluring accomplice on a Venice jewel robbery has her own agenda: romance.
April 4, 1952 Fool's Gold Listen (MP3)
Harry flies a planeload of stolen gold from Kuwait toward Goa.
April 11, 1952 Man of Mystery Listen (MP3)
The wealthy, amnesiac Gregory Arkadin hires Harry to uncover his own hidden past.
April 18, 1952 The Painted Smile Listen (MP3)
As a clown's guest at a Sicilian circus, Harry is drawn into the performer's troubles.
April 25, 1952 Harry Joins the Circus Listen (MP3)
Harry hunts Hans Hessle, an escaped Nazi hiding among circus folk from those he wronged.
May 2, 1952 Suzie's Cue Listen (MP3)
In Vienna, Harry covets a diamond necklace once owned by Marie Antoinette.
May 9, 1952 Vive Le Chance Listen (MP3)
In Paris, Harry devises a scheme to fleece a visiting American named Witherspoon.
May 16, 1952 The Elusive Vermeer Listen (MP3)
Harry and a partner plot to fence a Vermeer before it's even stolen.
May 23, 1952 Murder on the Riviera Listen (MP3)
Smuggling cigarettes on the postwar Riviera, Harry crosses a sharp girl nicknamed 'Stupid.'
May 30, 1952 Pearls of Bohemia Listen (MP3)
A woman enlists Harry -- supposedly to win an Egyptian beauty contest, really for the pearls.
June 6, 1952 A Night in a Harem Listen (MP3)
Harry, a hustler named Sam, and an Arabian princess chase a hundred-million-dollar oil concession.
June 13, 1952 Blackmail Is a Nasty Word Listen (MP3)
Marseilles, 1947: one blackmailer sets Harry to blackmail a second, to pay off a third.
June 20, 1952 The Professor Regrets Listen (MP3)
Harry helps a fellow con artist expose an atomic scientist selling out his country.
June 27, 1952 The Hard Way Listen (MP3)
In the charter-airline business, Harry takes on the strange Mr. Butterboy's flight to Zurich.
July 4, 1952 Paris Is Not the Same Listen (MP3)
Reunited with a wartime flame in Paris, Harry works a perfume swindle with a hidden 'third man.'
July 11, 1952 Honeymoon Listen (MP3)
Harry and a countess try to smuggle Sicily's most-wanted bandit to safety.
July 18, 1952 The Blue Caribou Listen (MP3)
A beautiful American hires Harry to recover a stolen antique -- a blue caribou figurine.
July 25, 1952 Greek Meets Greek Listen (MP3)
In Piraeus with the measles, Harry faces a corpse, a gun-toting woman, and a coveted sculpture.
The Story

The Lives of Harry Lime (heard in Britain as The Adventures of Harry Lime) is a 1951-52 syndicated series that handed Orson Welles back one of his signature roles -- the silken racketeer of Carol Reed's 1949 film The Third Man. It is a prequel: every week opens with a gunshot and Anton Karas's famous zither theme, then Welles purrs, "That was the shot that killed Harry Lime... but it was not the beginning," and spins another tale from before Vienna's sewers. Producer Harry Alan Towers, who had quietly bought the radio rights to Graham Greene's character, packaged the show in London and sold it to stations around the world. This Lime is lighter than the film's villain -- a globe-trotting confidence man who lies, cheats and steals, but usually against marks even more crooked than himself, and often walks away with a wink rather than a fortune. Welles wrote several episodes himself; one, "Man of Mystery," he later expanded into his film Mr. Arkadin, and "The Dead Candidate" grew into the French novel Une Grosse Legume. Across fifty-two half-hours the show carries Harry from Budapest to Buenos Aires, Haiti to the Panama Canal -- trading in emeralds, forged Renoirs, and dead voters, witty and worldly and just a little wicked.

Full story — coming soon while it's being curated.
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