Harry Lime: One the Radio

The show began with the haunting The Third Man Theme. The music stops abruptly with a gunshot. Then you hear Orson Welles voice:

"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."

When Harry Lime was on the radio, the airwaves were filled with detectives, comedians, space-farers, and drama. Harry Lime was an admitted blackguard and made no apologies for it. Instead of using a gun, Lime lived by his wits to get what he wanted, staying one step ahead of the law with someone else usually taking the fall for his misdeeds.

The thing that is confusing about the character is his popularity. Welles played a bit of Lime’s ruthlessness in the radio show as evidenced by letting other people pay for his crimes. People didn’t really like Harry Lime but they were fascinated by him.

There was no other character like Harry Lime on old radio shows at the time. Sure there were characters who were bad guys turned good like Boston Blackie but there were few, if any, leading characters who were admittedly bad guys.

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