One of John Huston's lesser known works. This was made off the back of all those 50s adaptations of Broadway hits where a shrink got to the bottom of the Secret: Suddenly Last Summer, Three Faces of Eve, Home of the Brave, etc. They have the most famous shrink of all time getting to the bottom of the Secret involving Susannah York.
There's not a murder or something at stake though. It doesn't quite work and the film is too long but this is a stimulating, thought provoking movie. There's superb black and white photography and atmospheric Jerry Goldsmith score. It reminded me of the Corman Poe pictures.
I think dramatically the big issue is too much of the film consists of questions and answers as opposed to bringing the drama on its feet. We see flashbacks in terms of images rather than scenes and don't really get to know friends/family of York. I recognise that was probably a deliberate choice from Huston but don't feel it entirely works.
David McCallum is excellent as another patient. Larry Parks randomly pops up as a colleague of Freud - he isn't very good. Susan Kohner is superb as Freud's worried wife, as is York in a gift part. Best of all is Montgomery Clift whose crazy eyes, nervous intensity, intelligence and aura of self destruction makes him a perfect Freud... along with the fact you sense he is Hiding Secrets. It's a showy role and extremely good work.
Production on the film was very difficult. The budget blew out, Huston and Clift did not have an easy collaboration. The resulting film isn't a classic but is absolutely worth watching.
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