The Third Man

The Third Man

1959-1965

TV Series

Michael Rennie

Jonathan Harris

This was a joint British-American production. Rennie starred as Harry Lime, a business tycoon and private eye; he has a shadowy past that included spying during World War II and some art theft. His preferred drink is a whiskey sour with orange peel.

Jonathan Harris played Bradford Whitman, Lime’s assistant. Harris, of course, was Dr. Smith on Lost in Space. (Doing a little research into the show brought on one of those Tex Avery Patented Jaw-Dropping-Moments—Jonathan Harris was born and raised in the Bronx! According to IMDB, Harris studied British movies to learn the accent that he used throughout his career.)

The 26-minute episodes are generally taut and well written; Rennie is always controlled and debonair—his perpetually bemused expression fits the character perfectly. Harris plays Brad more seriously than he would play his next job; Brad is a nervous sort, with the same clipped diction that Dr. Smith would feature, but there is none of the over-the-top silliness of that character.

We forget that we used to get drama in a half-hour format—it’s been decades since TV offered that sort of thing. It might be interesting to see the format again—some modern shows might benefit from less padding.

*

There are ten episodes in this two-disk set from Timeless Media Group. The price was right at $4.99—I would’ve paid more.

Quality is very good—clear with only a few minor scratches and dist specks from time to time. I noticed one spot where we miss a frame or two. There is a TMG logo throughout which is a bit tiresome.

You see the opening sequence only once, before the episode selection screen; each episode begins with the episode title and goes right into the story. Some episodes have closing credits but others don’t—I don’t know why.

I don’t know if these are the ten best of the total of 78 episodes, but I would like to see more.