So I am back. No reason for being away, just nowt to report.
This week I have mostly been watching The Third Secret. A little film from 1964 (two years before I was born) about mental illness. Kimberly Lindbergs from Cinebeats put me onto this. I'm not sure where she found it, but her nose is highly tuned for off-target sixties cinema.
Well, I am very surprised not to have come across this before, as it is London based, with UK actors, but the BBC seem to have shunned it as far as I can see. Then again, Charles Crichton always seems to get a bit of a hard deal from the establishment.
Back to the film. A crazy American journo is lead to believe that the death of his analyst was not suicide. We are lead on a merry path of claim and counter-claim to try and find the supposed killer. All this leads to a wacky last 20 minutes of plot explaining fun.
The B&W cinematography is excellent, with many a jaunty angle creating a feeling of un-ease. The score add to the hairs on the neck standing up. The over-acting by Stephen Boyd is stellar, but just about fits in. The rest is pretty much standard sixties British fare, but overall the film is well worth searching out. I got my DVD from the US.
I am usually pretty good at spotting the killer, but this kept me guessing till very near the end.
To watch out for: when discussing what the third secret is, you can see that the two leads mouth "the fourth secret". Later, when discussing the psychiatrists patients, you can see the leads say sixth, when the soundtrack says "fifth".
What does it all mean?
About 7/10 in all probability
Suzie-Q, this one is definitely for you. I'll stick it on the post if you want it
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