''The 3rd Voice'' (also known as ''The Third Voice'') is a 1960 American neo noir thriller crime

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

film directed and written by

Hubert Cornfield Hubert Cornfield (February 9, 1929 — June 18, 2006) was an American film director in Hollywood. He was born in Istanbul, Turkey, and died in Los Angeles. Billy Wilder, William Wyler and Joseph L. Mankiewicz all signed his Directors Guild of Amer ...

, who also produced the film with

Maury Dexter Maury Dexter (born Morris Gene Poindexter; June 12, 1927 – May 28, 2017) was an American producer and director of film and TV. He worked several times for Robert Lippert and American International Pictures. Life and career Dexter was born in P ...

. It is based on the novel ''All the Way'' by Charles Williams and stars

Edmond O'Brien Eamon Joseph O'Brien (September 10, 1915 – May 9, 1985) was an American actor and film director. His career spanned almost 40 years, and he won one Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. O'Brien w ...

Laraine Day Laraine Day (born La Raine Johnson, October 13, 1920 – November 10, 2007) was an American actress, radio and television commentator, and former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) contract star. As a leading lady, she was paired opposite major film sta ...

(in her final film), and

Julie London Julie London (née Peck; September 26, 1926 – October 18, 2000) was an American singer and actress whose career spanned more than 40 years. A torch singer noted for her sultry, languid contralto vocals, London recorded over thirty albums ...

Premise

The Man is the accomplice of Marian Forbes, the spurned mistress of a tycoon. She coaches The Man in impersonating the voice and appearance and habits of the intended victim. The Man begins his masquerade in a Mexican resort, where he meets Corey Scott and moves on to contemplating the murder of his tutor, but things begin to go awry.

Cast

List of the actors in the film: *

– The Man *

– Marian Forbes *

– Corey Scott *

Edward Colmans Edward Colmans (August 31, 1908 – May 25, 1977) was a Dutch American actor. Early life Colmans was born on August 31, 1908. Born Adolph Edward Colmans in London, England, he was the son of Louis Colmans (1883-1964), a Dutch violinist who had ac ...

– Carreras *

Shirley O'Hara Shirley O'Hara (born Shirley Har; August 15, 1924 – December 13, 2002) was an American actress. She appeared in numerous films from the 1940s to the 1980s. Biography O'Hara was born in Rochester, Minnesota in 1924 and graduated from Roch ...

– Carreras' Secretary * Ralph Brooks – Harris Chapman * Abel Franco – Police Inspector *

George Eldredge George Edwin Eldredge (September 10, 1898 – March 12, 1977) was an American actor who appeared in over 180 movies during a career that stretched from the 1930s to the early 1960s. He also had a prolific television career during the 1950 ...

– Judge Kendall * Roque Ybarra – 1st Fisherman * Ruben Moreno – 2nd Fisherman * Raoul De Leon – Bank Official * Francisco Ortega – Bank Cashier * John Garrett – Bank Clerk * Henry Delgado – Desk Clerk – Palacio * Andre Oropeza – Desk Clerk – Miramar * Sylvia Ray – Hotel Miramar Cashier *

Tom Hernández Domingo Tomás Hernández Bethencourt (October 9, 1915 – June 2, 1984), known professionally as Tom Hernández (or Tommy Hernandez), was an American theater, films, and television actor, who played supporting roles, usually Hispanics, throughou ...

– Other Desk Clerk *

Olga San Juan Olga San Juan (March 16, 1927January 3, 2009) was an American actress. Born in Brooklyn, she began her brief film career with Paramount Pictures after being scouted at Copacabana. She performed in several Hollywood musicals in the 1940s and on ...

– Blonde * George Trevino – Captain Camos * Lucille Curtis – Mrs. Kendall * Tom Daly – Tourist at Bar * Mario Armenta – Orchestra Leader * Robert Hernandez – Bellhop * Eddie Le Baron – Carlos * Manuel Serrano – Headwaiter * Francis Ravel – Waiter * Alberto Monte – Photographer

Production

The film was produced by Robert L. Lippert's Associated Producers Incorporated, which produced lower-budget films for

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

. Lippert bought the rights to the book and arranged for

to adapt and direct. Lippert and Fox president

Spyros Skouras Spyros Panagiotis Skouras (; gr, Σπύρος Σκούρας; March 28, 1893 – August 16, 1971) was a Greek-American motion picture pioneer and film executive who was the president of 20th Century-Fox from 1942 to 1962. He resigned June 27, 19 ...

increased the budget to a level that co-producer

described as a "nervous A class" of film. The film was shot in and around

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and Malibu in October 1959. According to Dexter, during filming, Cornfield accused O'Brien of not knowing his lines and O'Brien threatened to punch Cornfield on the last day of filming, though this may not have happened.

Reception

Dexter claims that the film received positive reviews and "did fairly well at the box office." In a contemporary review for the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', critic

A. H. Weiler Abraham H. Weiler (December 10, 1908 – January 22, 2002) was an American writer and critic best known for being a film critic and motion picture editor for ''The New York Times''. He also served a term as chairman of the New York Film Critics ...

called the film "... taut, complex and eerily fascinating for only about three-quarters of the way. A dénouement that seems telegraphed and contrived and some situations that are overly garrulous and static keep 'The Third Voice' from reaching a high pitch of excitement." The ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' called the film an "interesting thriller."

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:3rd Voice 1960 films 1960 crime drama films 1960s crime thriller films 1960s English-language films 20th Century Fox films American black-and-white films American crime drama films American crime thriller films Films based on American novels Films directed by Hubert Cornfield Films scored by Johnny Mandel 1960s Spanish-language films American neo-noir films 1960s American films