Third Man Out *** (2005, Chad Allen, Sebastian Spence, Jack Wetherall, Woody Jeffreys, Sean Young) – Classic Movie Review 12,823

The poster for Third Man Out.

Chad Allen stars as a gay detective who always gets his man, in the excellent 2005 mystery film Third Man Out, the first of four films featuring Richard Stevenson’s private eye Donald Strachey.

A gay detective who always gets his man.

Director Ron Oliver’s 2005 gay-themed mystery film Third Man Out is the excellent first film adaptation of a Richard Stevenson novel featuring fictional gay detective Donald Strachey. Chad Allen stars as private eye Donald Strachey with Sebastian Spence as his partner Tim Callahan. They share the confident, relaxed quiet chemistry of an old married couple, bantering wittily in between Martinis and mysteries.

Gay detective Donald Strachey lives in Albany, New York, with his life partner Timothy Callahan. Strachey is commissioned to protect sleazy, aggressive gay activist John Rutka (Jack Wetherall), who is known for outing prominent local closeted homophobe citizens via his web channel The Rutka Report. But Strachey quits his bodyguard duty when he feels that Rutka is staging the threats against himself. Then Rutka turns up dead and Strachey probes the extensive list of enemies with motives to kill.

Both in the mystery and the gay-themed departments, Third Man Out is very good, a good job well done. It is pleasantly old fashioned, as planned, with a smart retro style. Chad Allen stars as private eye Donald Strachey with Sebastian Spence are tremendous, giving the most spirited performances, like gay versions of William Powell and Myrna Loy in The Thin Man. John Rutka is splendidly awful, Daryl Shuttleworth is notable as series regular Detective Sean ‘Bub’ Bailey, and it is a pleasure to have the enigmatically alluring Sean Young aboard as Ann Rutka.

Donald Strachey is billed on the poster as America’s gay detective, but it took the Canadians to bring him to the screen, thanks to Canadian film and TV producer James Shavick (born 1950), CEO of Shavick Entertainment.

Third Man Out is written by Mark Saltzman and Richard Stevenson, based on the 1992 novel Third Man Out by Richard Stevenson, the fourth in his 16 book series.

Third Man Out (2005, Chad Allen).

The main cast are Chad Allen, Sebastian Spence, Jack Wetherall, Woody Jeffreys, Sean Young, Brittney Wilson, Sebastien Roberts, Nelson Wong, Daryl Shuttleworth, and Sherry Miller.

Release date: 7 July 2005.

Country of origin: Canada.

Running time: 98 minutes.

Canadian film and TV production company Shavick Entertainment has adapted four of the Donald Strachey books into films. The Donald Strachey films are Third Man Out (2005), Shock to the System (2006), On the Other Hand, Death (2008), and Ice Blues (2008).

Kenny Kwon, played by Nelson Wong, is an original character developed for the films. Strachey first meets him at the Parmalee Plaza Hotel, and trashes Kwon’s boss’s office while working on the case to find out who killed Rutka.

American journalist and mystery author Richard Stevenson Lipez (November 30, 1938 – March 16, 2022), known by his pen name Richard Stevenson, married his husband Joe Wheaton in 2004. 

The cast are Chad Allen as Donald Strachey, Sebastian Spence as Timmy Callahan, Jack Wetherall as John Rutka, Woody Jeffreys as Eddie Santin, Sean Young as Ann Rutka, April Telek as Alice Savage, John Moore as Bishop McFee, Alf Humphries as Father Morgan, P Lynn Johnson as Senator Dianne Glassman, Guy Fauchon as Newspaper Photographer, James Michalopolous as Dark Glasses, Moneca Delain as Nurse, Kirsten Williamson as Meredith David Palffy as Bruno Slinger, Colin Lawrence as Cole, Mary Belle McDonald as Eleanor, Anthony O’Clery as Redd Koontz, Daryl Shuttleworth as Detective Sean ‘Bub’ Bailey, Andrew Moxham as Dark Figure #1 Warren Takeuchi as Dark Figure #2, Sean Carey as Ronnie Linklater, Claudine Grant as Newscaster, Matthew Rush as Dik Steele, Mark Acheson as Fake Dik Steele Male, Lisa Dahling Fake Dik Steele Female, Nelson Wong as Kenny Kwon, Kevin Blatch as Nathan Zenck, and Richard Cox as Howie Glade.

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 12,823

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Chad Allen stars in Third Man Out (2005).