THE THIRD SECRET
UK, 1964, 102 minutes, Black and White.
Stephen Boyd, Pamela Franklin, Richard Attenborough, Jack Hawkins, Diane Cilento, Rachel Kempson, Alan Webb, Nigel Davenport.
Directed by Charles Crichton.
The Third Secret is a good murder mystery with plenty of red herrings, but probably quite obvious from the start for those who go for the least likely suspect. What makes it more interesting than the usual run-of-the-mill 'who-dunit' is the psychiatric setting and the need for a psychiatrist's patients to know that the man who was guiding them to confidence in themselves had been murdered and had not opted out of life by suicide. The minor characters are all better developed than usual in performances by Richard Attenborough, Diane Cilento and Jack Hawkins. Pamela Franklin has a principal role. Earlier she had been one of The Innocents. Later she was to be sinister in Our Mother's House and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
Above average crime entertainment.
1. Was this a good murder mystery? Why? Was the psychological background well portrayed and convincingly communicated? How? By the situations, the style of filming, the dialogue? Whom did you suspect at first? why? Were there sufficient clues from the start that Catherine had killed her father? What were they? Was the difference between a psychotic and a neurotic explained well? What was the difference? Who is the more dangerous?
2. Why was it important for Alex that Dr. Whitkins had not committed suicide? What would have been the effect on the confidence of the patients? Did Alex think he was psychotic? Did his smashing of the office and the choking of Catherine's uncle indicate this? Were the minor characters, the suspects, convincingly portrayed? Were they interesting characters? - the judge, his fear of the past, pleading with Alex, the trick Alex played on him; - Anne, lonely, shy, seeking friendship, the meaning of her suicide and her note; - the art dealer, his pride and confidence? What kind of man was Alex - too serious? Had he the right to investigate the death and know the patients? Why?
3. Why did Catherine ask him to investigate?
4. Why was Catherine psychotic? Did you notice inconsistencies, sudden changes of mood, in her behaviour? Her attitude towards her father and the house?
5. Why did she kill her father? Did she ever think she had? Why did she stab Alex? Whom did she think she had stabbed? Why did she save his life?
6. Why couldn't she cry? Was the ending convincing - her being glad that Alex knew, her tears? What did this mean?
7. What was the significance of 'the third secret'? Did it help with the meaning of the film?
8. What cinema devices did the director use to create suspense or to cause shocks and surprises? How effectively were they used?
