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Secrets

1933, Movie, NR, 90 mins

Secrets: Review

Mary Pickford's last movie, which her company also produced, was a great disappointment. After the first version was edited, she tossed it into the round file and re-shot the whole thing. It wasn't much better. Norma Talmadge had already made a silent version of the play whence this sprung, and that was a bit more pleasing. Pickford is a New England miss in love with handsome Howard, but her domineering father, Smith, does not approve of Howard and wants her to marry Evans, a peer of the realm in England and a man for whom boredom is a step up in excitement. Rather than be trapped in a loveless marriage, Pickford and Howard leave the East and jump aboard a wagon train to California where they will be far enough away from Smith's anger to begin their lives anew. They arrive, show their mettle, and in no time at all are wealthy cattle ranchers. They become so successful at getting their little dogies along that Howard is thought to be gubernatorial fodder. It looks as though everything is going smoothly; then the truth comes out: Howard, who has appeared to be a solid husband, has been dallying with temptress Lloyd for several years. Once that's uncovered, it marks the end of his political plans. As it turns out, Pickford has been aware of Howard's peccadillos and turned the other cheek because she loved him so much. In the end, she takes him back and all is forgiven. It's a mixed bag and suffers from miscasting. Howard, who had been known for his effete drawing-room types, is not quite right as the sturdy rancher. Pickford and Howard were both the same age, 40, when they made the movie and might have been a good team, given the right material. Half of this is urban, the other half is frontier, and the two genres don't seem to blend well. The picture opened on a dismal day for the U.S., as it was on that morning that Roosevelt declared a "bank holiday" and people were not allowed to remove their money for a short time. In the atmosphere of gloom and doom, not many people wanted to see this kind of melodrama and the picture was one of the biggest secrets of the year. A couple of action scenes, including one with Howard, Pickford, and hired hand Sparks holding off a passel of desperate crooks who want to take over their spread. Other than that, it's fairly static. leave a comment