User reviews

This is a pretty standard Warner's Who Done It, one that gives up the goods about 2/3rds of the way through. What puts this Stanwyck vehicle a notch or two above average is the fluid camera work employed--- Dieterle isn't afraid to employ some unusual overhead camera angles (or was Busby Berkeley hanging around the set?) and tracking shots. It's also obvious that Warner's wasn't afraid to spend more on their productions in 1934 than just a year or two before. The production values show where it counts, right down to the Orry-Kelly gowns on Ms. Stanwyck--- one in particular looked like it wiped out half the fox population in Depression-era California. Some of the motivations in the plot are fuzzy: Glenda Farrell's relationship with her boyfriend (is it just me or does Douglass Dumbrille look like he and Lionel Atwill were separated at birth?) is about as unclear as her reaction to his... errh, that'd give away too much. I give this a 10 for production values and a 4 for plot.

Barbara Stanwyck (the governor's daughter) and Warren (the District Attorney) get married when the film begins. But before they can spring it on her father, a bribery scandal unfolds and the two lovers decide to investigate--withholding key evidence and allowing an innocent woman to almost be convicted of murder along the way!

While this little film stars Barbara Stanwyck and Warren William (both stars at the time), this film seems like it was beneath their status at the studio. Considering their box office power, this film seemed amazingly ordinary and could have easily been made as a B-movie. Much of the problem with the plot isn't just the ordinariness but also how utterly hard to believe it all was. However, if you turn off your brain and simply see it on a very superficial level, it's worth seeing as a time-passer but not much more.

This sounds like a weepie but isn't. I wonder how many people were misled by the title when it was first on screens.

The two leads are good, as always. Grant Mitchell, though, is especially compelling.

It's a political suspense movie. There were many in this time, many not up to the consistent entertainment value of "The Secret Bride."

Secret Bride, The (1934)

*** (out of 4)

The governor's daughter (Barbara Stanwyck) secretly weds the D.A. (Warren William) but hours after the wedding he receives information that the governor has been taking bribes for paroles. This is your typical, fast paced drama from Warner that has a decent story but works mainly to the star power. William was born to play these types of roles and he steals the film delivering a very strong performance. William has such a calm, cool and collective way to deliver these types of performances and most of them are always worth watching. Stanwyck is also very good, although she delivers a few truly campy moments including one scene where she gets upset and punches a table. You'll know the scene when it happens. The two of them work well together and really carry the story which isn't the strongest in the world but it makes for a fun 64-minutes.

Barbara Stanwyck is "The Secret Bride" in this 1934 film that also stars Warren William, Glenda Farrell, and Douglas Dumbrille. William is a DA who marries Stanwyck and then learns that her governor father may have taken a bribe to pardon a man, Holstock. Holstock's secretary is caught at the bank depositing $10,000, and later the man commits suicide. The couple decide not to announce they're married or it will look as if the DA is prejudiced.

Okay Warner Brothers story with a top cast and excellent camera work by William Dieterle. Most of the budget went for Stanwyck's clothes, which are gorgeous.

Stanwyck and William are two favorites of mine and make a fine couple. As the DA's secretary, Glenda Farrell does a good job as a woman who finds herself in a real pickle.

By today's standards - actually by most standards, this is a short film, but entertaining.

The Secret Bride is one of those films with a completely artificial issue. If only Warren William and Barbara Stanwyck were completely open about their marriage this whole plot wouldn't have happened. But he's the state attorney general and she's the daughter of Governor Arthur Aylesworth. The two are married secretly and keep it that way thinking it helps Aylesworth avoid charges of impropriety.

In fact Aylesworth is facing charges of improprieties, taking bribes and kickbacks. William has to investigate. But the investigation blows up when his own man Douglass Dumbrille is killed and his girl friend Glenda Farrell is arrested for his murder. Barbara knows something that can clear Farrell, but is also concerned about her father's fate as well.

The real story of Dumbrille's death and the charges against Aylesworth is a rather intricately connected set of circumstances that only make sense in the end. I don't want to go into any of it lest I spoil your appetite for the rest of the story.

Glenda is quite good as the street smart dame who in reality turns out to be a true innocent. In fact there is a master villain who is a real puppetmaster in this whole affair.

The one thing that struck me in this whole affair is that if a special prosecutor law had been in place, one would have been appointed and there would be no film. This is why there are such laws. Also if like in New York, the Attorney General was an independent elected official, Warren and Barbara would have been free to keep the marriage open.

And there would be no need for Barbara to be The Secret Bride.

That such a piece of written garbage can come off as a competent and very entertaining film is something of a miracle. Energetically directed, fast-paced as to avoid anyone thinking of the many imbecilities of the script, and acted with conviction by all the cast, specially the supporting players.

Ruth and Robert have just gotten married. But things are complicated by the fact that she's the daughter of the (recently accused) governor. Robert is the attorney general. Barb Stanwyck and Warren William are the happy but confused couple who aren't sure what to do. They need to stay out of the spotlight, while helping her father, and trying not to make things worse. Co-stars Grant Mitchell, Glenda Farrell, Douglass Dumbrille. It's very good. Interesting legal angles. Stanwyck still has the un-polished, young girl appearance and movements. She doesn't have the knowing, dark edge to her that she will show so well in Double Indemnity. This was years before some of Stanwyck's even bigger roles. William was known for playing Perry Mason, Philo Vance, and the lone wolf, but sadly would die at 53. Directed by Bill Dieterle. Based on Leonard Ide's play "Concealment". Can this group get things all straightened out before it all hits the fan?

Fairly standard murder melodrama (you wouldn't want to call it a whodunnit; it's too painfully obvious who did it). Stanwyck and her husband (the D.A.) must hide the fact that they are married until they find the evidence to clear her dad (the governor) from charges of accepting a bribe. The more they try to hide their involvement, the more they seem to implicate themselves and her father in an expanding list of crimes.

The cast is good, but the material is a bit too dry, lacks polish, and the pace is slow. Involving, but not intriguing, nor particularly memorable.

... for at least awhile. This one was released six months after its adoption. In this case the code manages to neuter the precode bite of witty Warren William and the boldness of Barbara Stanwyck.

The premise is that Ruth Vincent (Barbara Stanwyck) and Attorney General Robert Sheldon (Warren William) must keep their marriage secret so that Sheldon can look into possible exculpatory evidence regarding bribery charges against Ruths' dad, the governor (Arthur Byron). To complicate matters, Sheldon's secretary (Glenda Farrell) is accused of a murder, To complicate matters even further, Ruth saw what happened and that the secretary did not shoot the other person. But she was in Sheldon's apartment in the middle of the night when she saw it, and either way - revealing the marriage or not - it would cause a scandal for her dad to come forward and absolve the girl because of where she was.

There are so many furtive glances, guilty whispers, shootings, suicides, and trials going on it is hard to keep up. But one thing is for sure. Babs is relegated almost to a supporting role in a part that is not worthy of her. What is very noticeable is that they have her traipsing about as a clothes horse in this one, almost in Kay Francis territory.

If you can keep up with the serpentine plot it is worth your while, but that plot absolutely overpowers the wonderful performers. Not much is done with Glenda Farrell as she is definitely between the precode and Torchy Blane portions of her career.

"The Secret Bride" is a quintessential early 1930's Warner Brothers film. It starts quickly, and never slows a step. Not a second is wasted, as the plot relentlessly pushes forward, never pausing to take a breath. Though Barbara Stanwyck is the nominal star, the lines are spread out quite nicely, giving many other actors quite a lot of screen time and dialogue.

Warren William is one of my favorite actors from this era. Tall and darkly handsome, he seems to be permanently smarmy and manipulative. In fact, in the movies I have seen him in, his characters are so deliciously sleazy and disingenuous that it took me a while to accept the idea that he is a genuine good guy here.

Douglas Dumbrille has a meaty role also as Warren's assistant in the Attorney General's office. He too is often corrupt and sleazy (one of my favorite movie scenes ever is the climax of "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town", when Gary Cooper punches him and good). And was Grant Mitchell born looking old? He never appears young in any film ever (and with good reason - he was born in 1874 - and was 58 when his film career took off!)

One really funny moment occurs when Barbara Stanwyck goes to Mitchell's offices to find him. After being told he is not there, Stanwyck asks the receptionist for his home address - which she joyfully gives him without a thought - street address and apartment number! Things sure have changed.

I also enjoy how these early films never actually mention what state the movie takes place in, even though the governor plays a large role in the story; nor are specific political parties ever mentioned - a nice approach.

Don't start watching this unless you are prepared to sit for the whole 64 minutes - with your seatbelt on. A quick, fun ride indeed.

Despite the outstanding cast, including the incomparable Barbara Stanwyck, this is a definite step or two below mediocre. The suspense is destroyed - especially in one very early telephone scene - leaving a bare courtroom drama where the law is nothing more than the handmaiden of the film's plot.

The conspiracy is clear throughout the film. Two of the 3 conspirators are disappointingly obvious, ruining the suspense. The exact involvement of the "puppet" is not completely foreseeable, but results in a very poorly contrived chain of events. His story to tie up all the loose ends at the end is just hokey.

In consistent, glaring lapses of judgment the attorney general (Warren William) deems that the interests of justice would be served best by not only hiding his marriage to the embattled governor's daughter (Stanwyck), but also by concealing evidence! As is typical of poor courtroom drama, police procedure is completely ignored by police officers who contaminate a crime scene and haul evidence back to police headquarters in their pockets. Legal procedure is similarly ignored in court scenes. But the most laughable scene depicts an impeachment hearing conducted around a conference table! Unsubstantiated oral testimony is the basis on which all the legal proceedings are resolved, bringing this unsatisfying fictional mess to an equally unsatisfying fictional end.

Pure cinematic contrivance, this melodrama is so remote from actual human behavior and actual events, and the end is so predictable that I recommend you skip it.

Attorney General Robert Sheldon (Warren William) marries Ruth Vincent (Barbara Stanwyck) without telling anyone. He hasn't even asked permission from her father, Governor W. H. Vincent. When they return back in the city, they're shocked to find the governor entangled in a new bribery case under suspicious circumstances.

Of course, this is an obvious conflict of interest case. In reality, he would declare it and excuse himself from the case. Eventually, the marriage would be discovered on a later date anyways. So the core of this story does not hold water. He should come clean and work for the governor out in the open. I'm not an expert on laws of that era but this movie does not feel right. It feels like a contrived story meant to be a paranoid thriller.

Barbara Stanwyck was my main reason for seeing 'The Secret Bride' (the working title being 'Concealment'). Warren William is very good in the right role and he did have enough of those. Grant Mitchell and Glenda Farrell were always worth watching. William Dieterle is not one of my favourite directors, to me he varied somewhat depending on the material given to work with, but there are films he did that are great. One of the prime examples being one of the best versions of 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'.

'The Secret Bride' is a mildly interesting curio, but to me it wasn't a great film. Or particularly good even. A case of being promising to begin with but became routine and completely nonsense too early. Stanwyck and William both come off well, though Stanwyck certainly had better films and performances (in terms of William performances-wise his here is towards being one of his better ones). In Dieterle's case 'The Secret Bride' is to be seen namely for completest sake, but it leans towards being one of his near-misfires from a directing standpoint.

Will start with the good. 'The Secret Bride' looks great, especially the photography which is beautiful and atmospheric. Stanwyck has some lovely clothes here too. It's nicely scored without being inappropriately jaunty or over-powering, a danger for the type of film it is. The film actually starts off very well and the early stages of Farrell's subplot really does intrigue.

Dieterle has brilliant moments visually that just about stop his direction from being completely weak. All the cast do a great job, with steely Stanwyck and cool William being strong leads and Mitchell and Farrell are both also delights.

Sadly, there are two big things that particularly spoil 'The Secret Bride' to a significant degree. The script is even drier than out of date bread and is quite flabby, some of the dialogue even induces unintentional laughter which was unlikely to have been the intent. The story started off promisingly but too early loses momentum (badly) and interest. It becomes dull and very routine, with too much being too obvious prematurely which really took away from any unpredictability or suspense. The last quarter especially also gets truly nonsensical to a near-insulting degree.

Culminating in a cop-out, last minute-feeling ending. Despite brilliant moments visually, the direction is very undistinguished and struggles to keep the material staying afloat (overall failing by the film's end). By the final quarter, it felt like Dieterle no longer had trust in the material and had given up.

All in all, watchable for the cast and visuals but the script and story failures prevent it from being above curiosity value level. 5/10