The Secret Bride

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.

"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.

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.

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."

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.