Too Many Crooks (LIME)

The series opens with the theme from the movie The Third Man, interrupted by an echoing gunshot and the lines "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"

In this inaugural episode, a banker in Budapest hires Harry to thwart a heist.

The story is long on double crosses and witty dialogue. While I have heard others rave about this show, the charm hasn't fully revealed itself to me yet. A lot of the action is off-screen and narrated by Lime himself. For me, this means it shorts the listener of the best thing about vintage radio drama - developing a story as a soundscape with a full cast and creative effects.

Lives of Harry Lime #1
Too Many Crooks
3 Aug 1951
19510803(001)_LIME_TooManyCrooks.mp3
Orson Welles (writer, performer), Anton Karas (zither), Harry Alan Towers (producer), Tig Roe (director)

Orson Welles