Broadcast History: 1951 to 1952
The Third Man subtitled The Lives of Harry Lime is the fabulous adventure story of the immortal man originally depicted in the motion picture and based on the character created by Graham Greene.
In total there are fifty-two episodes and they were originally broadcast in 1951 and 1952. The main character, Harry Lime who could be compared to Robin Hood in that he robbed the rich to feed the poor (although the poor was usually himself) was played by the inimitable Orson Welles.
The shows are easily distinguished by the zither theme played by Anton Karas followed by a gun shot and then Harry Lime: “ 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.”
