| “ | Like the fella says, in Italy, for 30 years under the Borgias, they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci... and the Renaissance. In Switzerland, they had brotherly love. They had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. So long, Holly. | „ |
| ~ Harry's famous monologue |
Harold "Harry" Lime is the main antagonist of the 1949 British film The Third Man.
He was portrayed by the late Orson Welles.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Close To Being Pure Evil?[]
- He takes advantage of post-war Vienna and sets up a black market Penicillin, where he steals from hospital and waters it down and sells it off, causing the deaths of many injured and sick, including young children, with the survivors having their conditions worsen.
- In order to prevent his arrest from the police, Harry fakes his death and kills his associate, Joseph Harbin, holding a fake funeral where his body is buried to fool the authorities while he hides in the Soviet Sector to escape prosecution.
- When the porter named Karl attempts to give information about Harry’s fake death to Holly, Lime has him murdered with the death pinned on Holly.
- He is completely fine with his lover and associate, Anna Schmidt being thrown under the bus and harassed by the authorities, simply rebuffing Holly’s insistence with him being “dead” and thus, unable to do anything.
- When meeting Holly Martins inside the Ferris wheel, Lime shows to be completely remorseless over the deaths and the physical and mental debilitations caused by his black market running, cynically seeing the population as “moving dots” that he can choose to stop moving to get money.
- Subtly threats to throw Holly off the Ferris Wheel to keep him quiet, and only backtracks when Holly revealed that the police knows he’s alive.
- When Anna reveals to Lime that his meeting with Holly at the tavern is a trap, Harry is moments away from killing his former friend, and only doesn’t when the police are about to burst him.
- As he is chased through the sewers by the police, Harry opens fires and kills Sergeant Paine before being shot by Calloway.
- While Anna’s cat loves Harry and nestles up against him, we see nothing to show that Lime loves the cat back.
- While it was said by Holly that, despite doing some illegal activities, Harry was genuinely a good person and a man of God, it’s made clear that by the time the movie is set, Lime is no longer a good person and only cares about money, and is willing to murder his own best friend when the chips are down.
What Prevents Him From Being Pure Evil?[]
- He genuinely cares for Holly and sees him as a good friend despite attempting to kill him. In the beginning, he is happy that he gets to talk to him after a long time and is sincere when he offers him a job to take up. He even has Holly look after his lover Anna until he comes back and lets him kill him in the end of the film without showing any anger or hostility.
- He has a sympathetic death with him calmly letting Holly shoot him in the sewers when he realises he has no way of escaping and a funeral is later held for others to pay their respects to him. Even Holly joins the event to see his friend's burial and mourn his death, showing Harry's death is by no means a good thing.
Trivia[]
- For the longest time he was approved to be Pure Evil, but got removed and approved as Near Pure Evil when it was found out he does actually get on with Holly and his death is framed in a tragic light.
External Links[]
- Harry Lime on the Villains Wiki
- Harry Lime on the Magnificent Baddie Wiki
