Broadcast: 16th November 1951

Starring: Orson Welles

Added: Jan 24 2004

Harry Lime: “You come in to the theatre just as the curtain is drawing up the band’s playing something exciting, the stage is alive with color and dancing against the background of a market place in central America. Suddenly some one with a Spanish accent as broad as the east river shouts, “el Janni Ral” and everything comes to a halt. El Janni Ral sweeps in wearing a broad sash, a handle bar moustache and a big menacing frown that scares nobody. He mutters something about Laura Boussion, a couple of shots ring out, a few chorus boys drop gracefully to the ground and the entire company break in to the fist big production number. But revolutions aren’t like that, there’s no music playing, no scantily clad dancers. The guns have real bullets in them. I know I was mixed up in one of them. I’ll tell you about it …”