Secrets of an Actress

Secrets of an Actress never reveals any secrets worth knowing.

Two men who are very good friends are in love with the same star (Kay Francis). The story treats Ms. Francis like a yo-yo, tearing her from one man's arms, then from the other's.

She is the "prize" in this film. It centers on her, making the two men appear not so valuable, as love objects. And, as a result, it makes Ms. Francis's decision feel somewhat unimportant, though it is what the film revolves around. Their little courtship dances grow wearisome by the end of the film.

You might wonder why Kay doesn't just choose the man she truly loves. The story sets up a "straw man" of an argument to keep the lovers apart just so it can later knock it down. I couldn't invest much emotion in the issues of our three protagonists.

Kay Francis stars as a minor actress who wants to make it on Broadway. She meets a bored architect (Ian Hunter) who has always wanted to produce a play. She has one. They team up and she becomes the toast of the Great White Way. But Hunter also has a partner (George Brent)and it's love at first sight. But he has a grasping wife (Gloria Dickson)....

Fast-paced with a lot of one liners, this little Warners film is fun from the getgo. Francis is, as always, a delight to watch. Brent and Hunter are solid. Dickson is suitably vile as the shrew wife. Isabel Jeans is very funny as Marion, playing a combination of Alice Brady and Eric Blore. The 2 secretaries are nicely played by Dennie Moore and Penny Singleton.

This was one of Kay's final film for Warners, and you'll note they had already demoted her to first billing but beneath the title. Her legal battles with the studio were front-page news in the late 30s. The studio put her in B films and then blamed her for slipping at the box office. Still, Francis had the last laugh; she turned in great performances even in the drek Warners gave her (while handing the plums to the new Warners queen, Bette Davis).

In 1934, a newer strengthened Production Code was put in place. Hollywood had agreed to clean up its act--removing nudity, adultery, bawdy language and excessively violent behavior from its films. During the rest of the 30s, divorce, for example, was hardly ever mentioned. In light of this, it was very surprising that SECRETS OF AN ACTRESS got the go ahead light. This film is about a new Broadway star (Kay Francis) and the men who love her (Ian Hunter and George Brent). In particular, she loves Brent, though she doesn't realize he's already married. To make this more palatable to the censors, they pointed out that Brent's wife didn't love him, was holding on to him for his money and that they'd been separated for several years. This was perhaps the only way the divorce angle could enter the film, though it also tended to make the film seem a bit contrived and impossible.

Overall, the film is entertaining though also very predictable. The stars do a decent enough job, though the less than outstanding plot and the god-awful character of Miss Plantagenet (who was like a walking migraine every time she appeared on screen) did a lot to sink this film to the mediocre level.

It's nice to report that once in awhile KAY FRANCIS actually got to emote in a fairly decent script. This one benefits from the participation of Julius J. Epstein, a writer at Warner Bros. who wrote many fine scripts for that studio and others. This one is a formula story that benefits from some clever lines and amusing dialog, factors often missing in Miss Francis' films.

GEORGE BRENT and IAN HUNTER are her romantic co-stars, as architects who become involved in her show business aspirations. There's never much doubt as to which male will win her in the final reel, but getting there is pleasant enough with everyone getting a turn at some good quips thanks to a better than average script.

PENNY SINGLETON (who later became "Blondie") is almost unrecognizable as a brunette secretary with eyeglasses, but the chief femme roles go to GLORIA DICKSON as a gold-digger and ISABEL JEANS as Francis' flighty roommate who is a bit annoying in her overacted role.

Francis gives a smooth performance and it's a shame she never got a chance at scripts of this caliber during most of her early days at Warner Bros., the studio that had Bette Davis waiting in the wings to replace Francis as the number one dramatic star.

"Secrets Of An Actress" is pretty much a routine soaper without much to recommend it - except that this one has a stellar cast trying bravely to put it over. The odds are stacked against them as the plot is hackneyed and predictable right up to the ending. There is nothing exceptional to the story, no real highs or lows and the best part of this trudge through the landscape is the background music.

In a review above, blanche-2 explains why Kay Francis, one of Hollywood's more glamorous and sophisticated 30's stars, found herself in this exercise in tedium. Ian Hunter and George Brent also must have been at loose ends and looking for something to do, but between the two of them and Kay Francis they are able to keep the lightweight story afloat. For my money the website has this picture very overrated.