The Third Day

Director: Jack Smight Jack Smight

Overview

This quirky melodrama opens with an automobile crash. The driver, Steve Mallory (George Peppard), comes out of unconsciousness with amnesia. As his memory slowly returns, he learns that he is a wealthy manufacturer of table china. His wife Alexandria (Elizabeth Ashley) wants to leave him, and his cousin Oliver Parsons (Roddy McDowall) wants Steve to sell him the family business. He also learns that the passenger in his car, a cocktail waitress named Holly Mitchell (Sally Kellerman), was killed in the accident. Her husband Lester (Arte Johnson) joins forces with Parsons to frame Steve and blame him for the accident, and Steve is arrested. Lester then kidnaps Alexandria and threatens to kill her in revenge for Holly's death. The film is based on a novel by Joseph Hayes. ~ Michael Betzold

Product Details

Release Date:	03/02/2010
UPC:	0883316236499
Original Release:	1965
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Mono]
Language:	English
Time:	1:59:00
Sales rank:	33,837

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

George Peppard	Steve Mallory
Elizabeth Ashley	Alexandria Mallory
Arthur O'Connell	Dr. Wheeler
Roddy McDowall	Oliver Parsons
Mona Washbourne	Catherine Parsons
Herbert Marshall	Austin Parsons
Robert Webber	Dom Guardiano
Charles Drake	Lawrence Conway
Sally Kellerman	Holly Mitchell
Arte Johnson	Lester Aldrich
Bill Walker	Logan
Vincent Gardenia	Preston
Janine Gray	Totti
Percy Faith	Composer

Technical Credits

Jack Smight

Director,Producer

Editorial Reviews

The Third Day is a moderately entertaining suspense melodrama, one of many films that seem to have been made with the goal of being "Hitchcock-ian" without having a real understanding of what Hitchcock did to make his better films so memorable. The basic set-up is one that Mr. H. would have had fun with -- an accident, amnesia, people with secrets and personal ambitions -- but in Day the ingredients don't come together satisfyingly. Much of the screenplay is implausible and the amnesia angle needs to have been given a fresher treatment so that it didn't remind the viewer of its use in so many other films. That said, Day does offer some very effective set pieces, which director Jack Smight handles with skill. While no Hitchcock, Smight does keep things moving at a good pace, and he "misdirects" the audience's attention to good effect. Arte Johnson is a bit hard to believe as the bad guy, but George Peppard and Elizabeth Ashley do quite well as the protagonist and his wife. Even better is Mona Washbourne in a supporting performance that is really quite fine. There's also a good Percy Faith score and some excellent Robert Surtees lensing.

All Movie Guide - Craig Butler