Two particularly Greene touches made Lime's character
memorable, I think. First, his attractiveness, what Greene in
the novel describes as his
"boyishness," the irrepressive spirit of play. Believe in the
novel, the narrator (Calloway) says something to the effect
that in Lime, evil had the face of Peter Pan. Second, there
was the philosophy of evil, the sense of the Overman at play
in the great "temptation scene" atop the ferris wheel, where
Rollo/Holly is asked whether his conscience couldn't put up
with stopping several of the dots (people) from moving for a
handsome reward,
"free of income tax." Of course, Welles embroidered on the
philosophy with the famous cuckoo clock speech.
The boyish spirit linked with the amoral philosophy, sold to
us by one of the greatest actors at his peak, burns him in
memory. Can't imagine a reborn Lime dashing around in a radio
series...but I can't blame the media types for trying.
Bill Hagen
<
billha@ionet.net>
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