The Third Secret Blu-ray

Firstly, a massive thank you to our Patreon supporters. Your generosity touches me deeply. These supporters have become the single biggest contributing factor to the survival of DVDBeaver. Your assistance has become essential.

What do Patrons receive, that you don't?

1) Our weekly Newsletter sent to your Inbox every Monday morning!
2) Patron-only Silent Auctions - so far over 30 Out-of-Print titles have moved to deserved, appreciative, hands!
3) Access to over 20,000 unpublished screen captures in lossless high-resolution format!

Please consider keeping us in existence with a couple of dollars or more each month (your pocket change!) so we can continue to do our best in giving you timely, thorough reviews, calendar updates and detailed comparisons. Thank you very much.

Search DVDBeaver

S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Charles Crichton
UK 1964

The apparent suicide of an eminent psychologist prompts his teenage daughter (Pamela Franklin - The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, The Legend of Hell House) and one of his patients (Stephen Boyd - Ben-Hur, Fantastic Voyage) to investigate. Convinced he was murdered, the two begin a journey into the lives and twisted psychoses of the doctor's disturbed patients.

Directed by the great Charles Crichton (Dead of Night, The Lavender Hill Mob, A Fish Called Wanda), stunningly photographed by Douglas Slocombe (The Italian Job, Raiders of the Lost Ark), and starring an incredible cast which includes Jack Hawkins, Richard Attenborough, Diane Cilento and Judi Dench in one of her earliest screen roles, The Third Secret is a dark and elegant psychological thriller which has long been overlooked, but is now ripe for rediscovery.

***

TV commentator Stephen Boyd doesn't believe the official verdict of suicide in the death of a famed London psychiatrist. Boyd tries to get to the truth by studying a list of the shrink's patients. While interviewing three of these worthies (Jack Hawkins, Diane Cilento and Richard Attenborough), Boyd discover that each has a deep dark secret that the psychiatrist was privy to. The best-kept secret concerns the schizophrenia of the dead man's teenaged daughter (Pamela Franklin)--a fact that provides the key to mystery. The Third Secret originally featured Patricia Neal as one of the suspects, but her scenes were cut from the final release print.

Excerpt from B+N located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: February, 1964

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Review: Indicator - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

Box Cover		CLICK to order from: Coming out in June 2022 as a standard Blu-ray From Indicator: or buy directly from them:
Distribution	Indicator - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
Runtime	1:49:09.376
Video	2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 39,982,324,135 bytes Feature: 32,544,771,648 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.94 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:
Audio	LPCM Audio English 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit Interviews: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps Isolated Score: LPCM Audio Undetermined 1152 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1152 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	English (SDH), None
Region-locked
Features	Release Information: Studio: Indicator 2.35:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 39,982,324,135 bytes Feature: 32,544,771,648 bytes Video Bitrate: 34.94 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Audio commentary with film historians Dean Brandum and Eloise Ross • The BEHP Interview with Charles Crichton (1988): an archival audio recording, made as part of the British Entertainment History Project, featuring the celebrated filmmaker in conversation with Sidney Cole • The BEHP Interview with Douglas Slocombe (1988): an archival audio recording, made as part of the British Entertainment History Project, featuring the renowned cinematographer in conversation with Sidney Cole • Neil Sinyard on The Third Secret (2019): a new appreciation by the author and film historian (21:42) • Crichton on Crichton (2019): filmmaker David Crichton gives a fascinating biographical overview of his father's life and work (7:25) • An Unconscionable Thing (2019, 4:53): second assistant director Kits Browning recalls the making of The Third Secret Mr Slocombe’s Mattress (2019, 6:30): focus puller Robin Vidgeon discusses the work of Douglas Slocombe • Lost Souls (2019, 23 mins): an in-depth appreciation by author and film historian Neil Sinyard • Isolated Score • Theatrical trailer (2:32) • Image gallery: on-set and promotional photography • Limited edition exclusive booklet exclusive 32-page booklet with a new essay by Robert Murphy, an archival interview with Stephen Boyd, Robert L Joseph on The Third Secret, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits Blu-ray Release Date: February 25th, 2019 Transparent Blu-ray Case Chapters 12

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

Indicator bring The Third Secret to a new, stacked Blu-ray edition. It's on a dual-layered disc in 1080P with a max'ed-out bitrate. It seems a strong replication of the source used with no major flaws, some pleasing contrast and it looked excellent on my system (better than the still captures). It is in the original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and looks clean in-motion with texture and a small amont of depth. I thought the presentation was film-like.

The audio transfer is via a linear PCM mono track (24-bit). The mostly dialogue driven audio is flat with only minor effects utilized in The Third Secret. The film features an unusual and mysterious score Richard Arnell that is available as an isolated option. I liked it. The audio quality is consistent and clean - a function of the source. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles on this Region 'B' Blu-ray.

There is an audio commentary with film historians Dean Brandum, PhD (author ReFocus: The Films of Elaine May) and actress Eloise Ross. They work well together and I enjoyed the discussion. There are also two archival 'British Entertainment History Project' audio interviews that play to the running of the film; the first is with Charles Crichton from 1988 in conversation with Sidney Cole and the second, also from 1988, with Douglas Slocombe entitled "Part One, The Early Years" featuring the renowned cinematographer, again, in conversation with Sidney Cole. Crichton on Crichton is a new 8-minute personal account by filmmaker David Crichton who gives a fascinating biographical overview of his father's life and work. An Unconscionable Thing is a new 5-minute with second assistant director Kits Browning who recalls the making of The Third Secret. Mr Slocombe’s Mattress spends 7-minutes with focus puller Robin Vidgeon who discusses the work of Douglas Slocombe. Lost Souls is in-depth appreciation by author and film historian Neil Sinyard running 23-minutes detailing facets of the film. There is a theatrical trailer and an extensive image gallery showing on-set and promotional photography and the package has a limited edition exclusive booklet exclusive 32-page booklet with a new essay by Robert Murphy, an archival interview with Stephen Boyd, Robert L Joseph on The Third Secret, an overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits.

The Third Secret is a fascinating psychological film. I appreciate the discussion in the commentary and it's a film I would like to revisit - hopefully deciphering more of the narrative and filmmaking details. The Region 'B' Blu-ray is at Indicator's usual stratospheric quality level. The strongest and authentic video and audio plus a host of supplements. Strongly recommended!