Voice in the Mirror

1958
Approved
1h 43min

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Richard Egan and Julie London in Voice in the Mirror (1958)

Añade un argumento en tu idiomaJim Burton has become a chronic alcoholic since the death of his young daughter, and is cared for by his hard-working wife. A doctor's warning that Jim could become mentally ill strikes enou... Leer todoJim Burton has become a chronic alcoholic since the death of his young daughter, and is cared for by his hard-working wife. A doctor's warning that Jim could become mentally ill strikes enough fear into him that he really wants to cure himself, but he can't. One night, he meets f... Leer todoJim Burton has become a chronic alcoholic since the death of his young daughter, and is cared for by his hard-working wife. A doctor's warning that Jim could become mentally ill strikes enough fear into him that he really wants to cure himself, but he can't. One night, he meets fellow alcoholic William Tobin and discovers that he helps himself by trying to help Tobin.... Leer todo

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PUNTUACIÓN EN IMDb

6,7/10

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Reseñas destacadas

10serafindeocampo-74352

Unjustly obscure

It's rather curious that this film is not as famous as it deserves to be. It is a very well made film with outstanding performances by Richard Egan, Julie London, Arthur O'Connell and Walter Matthau. The Henry Mancini score is also noteworthy. I also appreciated that the main focus of the film was finding a solution to the problem of alcoholism. Richard Egan gives one of the best perfomances of his career. I just read in the AFI page that Universal International reissued the film in 1958 with the hopes that Mr. Egan would get an Oscar nonimation for his role. He certainly deserved one for this.

10clanciai

Straight from the gutter

This is realism at its best. Billy Wilder's "The Lost Weekend" with Ray Milland starring in practically the same story was also quite excellent and rewarded with an Oscar for its staggering sincerity, but this is more convincing. There are no stars here,. unless Julie London can be reckoned as such, who makes a performance that lights up the whole film in all its hopeless gloom of darkness - most scenes are nocturnal - but all the other characters are like picked up directly from the gutter and drunk tank and perform the better for not being stars. The story takes quite a few very upsetting turns, but also takes some surprising turns for the better, hope is always there, although it looks thoroughly hopeless from the beginning and for some while, until Jim meets a fellow drunk who is worse off than himself, and they find something together that somehow seems to work some miracle. Additional weight and impressing quality is added to the film by Henry Mancini's music, which always works miracles to any film. To cut short all the praises and qualities, this is a film that should be seen by everyone, for learning something about real life in the gutter.

8Handlinghandel

This movie -- in a theater, almost new -- started my life-long love of film noir!

My father used to take me to a third-run theater on Saturday afternoons. We'd see what then was considered action fare for boys. Well, on the lower half of the bill with some Technicolor undersea drama, on came this dark, black and white movie. I wanted to stay but my father said it was too frown-up for me. I hadn't seen it since then! And, it was worth the wait. This is an excellent movie. It's very dark indeed: Though "The Lost Weekend" is a superb movie -- technically far superior to this -- "A Voice In The Mirror is harder-hitting.

We really believe that Richard Egan is an alcoholic. I have friends who are alcoholics and they still act just as this character did almost 50 years ago: They lie, throw pity parties, steal.

I love the exchange between Egan and acerbic family doctor Walter Matthau. Egan says he has needed to drink since his wife (the gorgeous Julie London) and he lost their young daughter. Matthau tells him he's been using that excuse for too long. "One of these days," he says, "you would have broken a shoelace and that would have set you off if Laura's death hadn't." It's an illness. It's a terrible illness, frightening to everyone concerned. Matthau sees through the poor-me story, though, which is what people need.

My point is not to preach. I am no expert. But this movie (now preserved in letterbox) is undeservedly obscure. It's a fine work on its own. And, I will be forever grateful to it for introducing me at a very tender age to the world of film noir.

4macataque

Alcoholics Anonymous, the Hollywood treatment

i saw this film before i got sober, remembered it & got another chance to see it after i got sober; i recall distinctly Richard Egan, after slipping into alcoholic despair again miraculously sobering up, seemingly instantly cured of drink & sober -- even after having drank! The director, Harry Keller, is the hack Universal's producers gave "Touch of Evil" to after they threw Orson Welles off the project; anyway, "Voice in the Mirror" just doesn't smack of real, coming across as if Nancy Davis Reagan had directed -- "Just say 'No'"; it is NOT how AA began, only a gussied-up version, the way Hollywood does things; i don't think it was made to help people, for drunks to get sober; it was made to make money in 1958, and must have given people odd ideas about AA & alcoholism; today, it is rarely screened & rightly so being a very mediocre oddity, solely for the curious -- i'd like to waste another coupla hours seeing it again.

9rollo_tomaso

An overlooked slice-of-life movie about alcoholism

Richard Egan and Julie London are so realistic together, and Arthur O'Connell merely devastating in this excellent depiction of the struggles of an American alcoholic. The pressures are realistically depicted, and the struggles vividly felt. The excellent performances never hit a false note. I give it 9 out of 10.

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Argumento

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Curiosidades
At about the 36-to-38-minute mark Harry Dean Stanton has a bit part as a hysterical mental patient.

Citas
Dr. Leon Karnes: Why does Ellen keep bringing you around here? What does she expect a few cc's of vitamins to do?
Jim Burton: Ellen's a girl that lives by faith.
Dr. Leon Karnes: And you?
[he scoffs]
Jim Burton: I miss your bedside manner, Leon.
Dr. Leon Karnes: Well make a payment on the bill and I'll see what I can do.
Dr. Leon Karnes: I didn't mean that. Boy, what you do to me. You know I'm really a very nice fella. You should hear me on the phone at three o'clock in the morning soothing some poor old hypochondriac; gentle, kindly, understanding. But you?
Dr. Leon Karnes: The Case history of the two Jim Burtons. Hey, do you know you've been coming to see me for over six years now? Your first visit was with Ellen. The two of you were wondering if she might be pregnant.
[-?-]
Dr. Leon Karnes: was quite sure. After that the usual things; a little sinus trouble, head colds, in-grown toenail. Then a few years ago, the first Jim Burton went away. And the other one - brother; hospitals, sanitariums, rest homes, all down the drain. Chronic Alcoholism.
Dr. Leon Karnes: Prognosis? There's an old Spanish proverb; the only cure for the drunkard is death.
Jim Burton: Those Spaniards have a way with words.
Dr. Leon Karnes: The proverb is true. Alright, why even bother trying to figure you out?
Jim Burton: And do you still have that other chart? Isn't there a page or two somewhere on someone called Laura Burton? Just a few modest entries. Born, lived and died, all in three years - with a fancy Latin phrase explaining why.
Dr. Leon Karnes: Ellen lost a child too but she didn't become a drunk.
Jim Burton: She didn't have to; I gave her a new child to look after. A little boy. Me.
Dr. Leon Karnes: If it hadn't been Laura's death, you'd have found another excuse.
Jim Burton: Oh, can the lecture.
Dr. Leon Karnes: One day, you would have broken a shoelace and that would have been your excuse. You were drinking before the child died.
Jim Burton: I earned my own living. I didn't steal from my wife's purse and could have stopped drinking any time I wanted to.

Créditos adicionales
FOREWORD: This is the true account of an overwhelming terror and one man's struggle to survive it. Real names cannot be used for reasons that will become obvious.