The Third Man (TV series)

Last updated

The Third Man
GenreMystery
Created by Graham Greene
Starring Michael Rennie
Country of originUnited States
United Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes77 (7 missing)
Production
ProducerFelix Jackson
Running time30 minutes
Production company National Telefilm Associates
Original release
Network BBC
Syndication (USA)/NTA Film Network
Release23 January 1959 (1959-01-23) 
1965 (1965)

The Third Man is a TV series which ran from 1959 to 1965. It was based on the novel and film The Third Man and starred Michael Rennie as Harry Lime. In the TV series, Lime is an international private investigator.

Contents

The series was a co-production between the NTA Film Network and the BBC. The first twenty episodes were shot at 20th Century Fox studios in Hollywood. Later episodes were filmed at Shepperton Studios and Associated-British Elstree Studios (Associated British Picture Corporation) in England. [1]

Initially eight episodes were lost due to the BBC’s junking policy, but on 4 October 2024, the Film Is Fabulous project announced the episode "The Man Who Wouldn’t Talk" had been recovered and returned to the BBC archive. In addition, they announced the recovery of a version of The Man With Two Left Hands, [2] which was in better quality than the one that existed.

Cast

Episodes

Season 1 (1959–60)

No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
11"One Kind Word"Cliff OwenIain MacCormick2 October 1959 (1959-10-02)
22"The Man Who Died Twice"Paul StanleyA.J. Carothers9 October 1959 (1959-10-09)
33"Death of an Overlord"David Orrick McDearmonDavid Swift16 October 1959 (1959-10-16)
44"The Best Policy"Julian AmyesJohn Player23 October 1959 (1959-10-23)
55"The Indispensable Man"Paul Stanley Jack Laird 30 October 1959 (1959-10-30)
66"Sparks from a Dead Fire"Paul StanleyRobert Yale Libott6 November 1959 (1959-11-06)
77"Three Dancing Turtles"Julian AmyesJohn Kruse13 November 1959 (1959-11-13)
88"Hollywood Incident"Paul StanleyRichard Berg20 November 1959 (1959-11-20)
99"A Question of Price"David Orrick McDearmonHarry Brown27 November 1959 (1959-11-27)
1010"The Importance of Being Harry Lime"Julian AmyesIain MacCormick4 December 1959 (1959-12-04)
1111"Barcelona Passage"Cliff OwenGilbert Winfield18 December 1959 (1959-12-18)
1212"Listen for the Sound of a Witch"Arthur HillerHagar Wilde1 January 1960 (1960-01-01)
1313"A Collector's Item"Julian AmyesJohn Player8 January 1960 (1960-01-08)
1414"How to Buy a Country"Paul StanleyRobert Yale Libott & A.J. Carothers15 January 1960 (1960-01-15)
1515"Dinner in Paris"Anthony BushellIain MacCormick22 January 1960 (1960-01-22)
1616"The Third Medallion"Paul StanleyMilton Gelman29 January 1960 (1960-01-29)
1717"The Angry Young Man"Arthur HillerRichard Berg5 February 1960 (1960-02-05)
1818"High Finance"Julian AmyesAnthony Steven12 February 1960 (1960-02-12)
1919"Castle in Spain"Arthur HillerStanford Whitmore19 February 1960 (1960-02-19)
2020"Toys of the Dead"Anthony BushellJohn Kruse26 February 1960 (1960-02-26)
2121"The Girl Who Didn't Know"Arthur HillerIain MacCormick4 March 1960 (1960-03-04)
2222"A Deal in Oils"Julian AmyesAlun Falconer11 March 1960 (1960-03-11)
2323"A Man Takes a Trip"Paul StanleyJameson Brewer25 March 1960 (1960-03-25)
2424"A Pocketful of Sin"Arthur HillerLászló Görög1 April 1960 (1960-04-01)
2525"The Man Who Wouldn't Talk"Anthony BushellJohn Player8 April 1960 (1960-04-08)
2626"The Tenth Symphony"Anthony BushellIain MacCormick23 April 1960 (1960-04-23)
2727"Trouble at Drill Hill"David Orrick McDearmonDavid Swift13 May 1960 (1960-05-13)
2828"The Man with Two Left Hands"Julian AmyesJohn Warwick27 May 1960 (1960-05-27)
2929"As the Twig Is Bent"Arthur HillerDavid Chandler3 June 1960 (1960-06-03)
3030"A Box of Eyes"Julian AmyesJohn Kruse10 June 1960 (1960-06-10)
3131"An Experiment with Money"Julian AmyesMargot Bennett24 June 1960 (1960-06-24)
3232"Broken Strings"Paul StanleyRichard Collins & Milton Gelman1 July 1960 (1960-07-01)
3333"Five Hours to Kill"Arthur HillerOliver Crawford8 July 1960 (1960-07-08)
3434"The Widow Who Wasn't"Anthony BushellLindsay Galloway15 July 1960 (1960-07-15)
3535"Death in Small Instalments"Julian AmyesRex Rientis22 July 1960 (1960-07-22)
3636"Harry Lime and the King"Anthony BushellJohn Graeme29 July 1960 (1960-07-29)
3737"Dark Island"Paul StanleyEd Adamson5 August 1960 (1960-08-05)
3838"Confessions of an Honest Man"Paul StanleyMerwin Gerard12 August 1960 (1960-08-12)
3939"An Offering of Pearls"Cliff OwenMargot Bennett19 August 1960 (1960-08-19)

Season 2 (1962–63)

No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
401"A Question of Libel"Stuart BurgeGraham Greene & John Warwick2 July 1962 (1962-07-02)
412"Mischka"Robert M. LeedsGraham Greene, Tom Gries, & Mary C. McCall Jr.9 July 1962 (1962-07-09)
423"The Cross of Candos"Robert M. LeedsGraham Greene & Ben Perry16 July 1962 (1962-07-16)
434"Happy Birthday"Paul HenreidGraham Greene & Philip Saltzman 13 August 1962 (1962-08-13)
445"Queen of the Nile"Paul HenreidGraham Greene & Robert Sherman20 August 1962 (1962-08-20)
456"Calculated Risk"Paul HenreidMary C. McCall Jr. & Fred Schiller30 March 1963 (1963-03-30)
467"No Word for Danger"Robert M. LeedsVincent Tilsley6 April 1963 (1963-04-06)
478"Lord Bradford"Robert M. LeedsAnthony Steven & Vincent Tilsley13 April 1963 (1963-04-13)
489"King's Ransom"David MacDonaldAnthony Steven20 April 1963 (1963-04-20)
4910"Hamburg Shakedown"John NewlandJohn Kruse & Mary McCall27 April 1963 (1963-04-27)
5011"The Unexpected Mr. Lime"Robert M. LeedsPeter Yeldham4 May 1963 (1963-05-04)
5112"Diamond in the Rough"Paul HenreidRichard Levinson & William Link11 May 1963 (1963-05-11)
5213"Portrait of Harry"Robert M. LeedsJohn Player18 May 1963 (1963-05-18)
5314"Man in Power"Robert M. LeedsRobert Leslie Bellem25 May 1963 (1963-05-25)
5415"Meeting of the Board"Paul HenreidRobert Sherman8 June 1963 (1963-06-08)
5516"Hansel and Son"Robert M. LeedsLee Berg & Mary C. McCall Jr.15 June 1963 (1963-06-15)
5617"Act of Atonement"Robert M. LeedsRobert Sherman13 July 1963 (1963-07-13)
5718"Ghost Town"Robert M. LeedsRichard Levinson & William Link27 July 1963 (1963-07-27)
5819"Gold Napoleons"Robert M. LeedsP.K. Palmer3 August 1963 (1963-08-03)
5920"Bradford's Dream"Robert M. LeedsAnthony Steven & Vincent Tilsley10 August 1963 (1963-08-10)
6021"The Way of McEagle"David MacDonaldJohn Player17 August 1963 (1963-08-17)
6122"Who Killed Harry Lime?"Robert M. Leeds Philip Saltzman 24 August 1963 (1963-08-24)

Season 3 (1964)

No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
621"A Question in Ice"Robert M. LeedsJohn Warwick27 June 1964 (1964-06-27)
632"I.O.U."Robert M. Leeds Leslie Edgley (as Robert Bloomfield) [3] [4] 4 July 1964 (1964-07-04)
643"A Crisis in Crocodiles"Robert M. LeedsJohn Warwick1 August 1964 (1964-08-01)
654"Judas Goat"Paul HenreidRobert Sherman8 August 1964 (1964-08-08)
665"A Little Knowledge"Robert M. LeedsRaymond Bowers15 August 1964 (1964-08-15)
676"The Day of the Bullfighter"Paul Henreid Philip Saltzman 22 August 1964 (1964-08-22)
687"Mars in Conjunction"John AinsworthPhyllis White & Robert White5 September 1964 (1964-09-05)
698"The Big Kill"Paul HenreidRobert Sherman12 September 1964 (1964-09-12)
709"Frame Up"Paul HenreidGene Wang26 September 1964 (1964-09-26)

Season 4 (1965)

No.
overall
No. in
series
TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air date
711"The Trial of Harry Lime"Robert M. LeedsMichael Gilbert16 July 1965 (1965-07-16)
722"Members Only: Part 1"Robert M. LeedsUnknown23 July 1965 (1965-07-23)
733"Members Only: Part 2"Robert M. LeedsUnknown30 July 1965 (1965-07-30)
744"The House of Bon-Bons"Robert M. LeedsJohn Kruse6 August 1965 (1965-08-06)
755"The Man at the Top"John Llewellyn MoxeyJohn Warwick13 August 1965 (1965-08-13)
766"Proxy Fight"UnknownUnknown20 August 1965 (1965-08-20)
777"The Luck of Harry Lime"Paul HenreidGene Wang27 August 1965 (1965-08-27)

Archive status

Out of a total of 77 episodes, seven are missing: three from the first series and two each from the second and fourth. [5] On 4 October 2024 the Film Is Fabulous project announced the recovery of 'The Man Who Wouldn't Talk', which brought the number of missing episodes down from eight to seven. They also announced they had located a 16mm film recording of 'The Man With Two Left Hands' which was a significant improvement on the poor-quality domestic videotape copy previously known to exist. [6]

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References

  1. Page, Don (7 June 1959). "The Third Man: Harry Lime Will Be Newest TV Hero Harry Lime to Be Hero". Los Angeles Times. p. G8.
  2. "Lost Third Man TV Show! | Film is Fabulous". 4 October 2024. Retrieved 15 December 2024.
  3. Gorman, Ed; Greenberg, Martin H. (2004). The World's Finest Mystery and Crime Stories: 5: Fifth Annual Collection . New York : Tom Doherty Associates. p. 30. ISBN   0-765-31146-1.
  4. The Third Man – I.O.U.: Full Cast and Credits. IMDb.
  5. "The Third Man". TV Brain.
  6. "Lost Third Man TV Show! | Film is Fabulous". 4 October 2024. Retrieved 15 December 2024.