[crashryan]

Was this connected to the radio series? I first learned about Harry Lime from a TV series with Michael Rennie and Jonathon Harris. Some years later when I saw the film I was surprised to discover Harry was a bad guy.

Link to the book: The Return of The Third Man_1953

[paw broon]

The TV series was the first place I was aware of the character.  Never having read the original Greene novel, I don't know if the Orson Welles film is true to the story, but the tv show changed the orientation of Harry Lime.  This comic precedes the tv series by 6 years, so the artist shows Lime looking more like Welles, but here he seems more like a good guy.

[crashryan]

The TV show was my introduction to Harry Lime, too. By Googling I learned that it ran from 1959 from 1965. It was produced by an independent British company. I had no idea the series lasted so long. I don't remember anything about it except that I was a Michael Rennie fan thanks to The Day the Earth Stood Still.

It must have been later that I heard re-runs of the Lives of Harry Lime radio show. Several of our local radio stations played OTR in the 60s and early 70s.

I read the novel (novella, actually) some time ago. Apparently Greene wrote it not intending it for publication, but rather to use it as a guide from which to create the screenplay. It wasn't published until after the movie came out. There are several differences between story and screenplay. In my opinion the screenplay is better. Here's an article I found (written by someone who agrees with me) comparing the two:

http://www.avclub.com/article/third-man-graham-greene-wrote-book-write-movie-216446