Coeur secret

Greer Garson must have been on holiday or working on another film at MGM when The Secret Heart was being cast. Claudette Colbert stepped into her shoes to play the female lead in another film that by all rights should be on the list of Walter Pidgeon/Greer Garson films.

The Secret Heart concerns stepmother Claudette Colbert concerned for the welfare of her two stepchildren, Robert Sterling and June Allyson, particularly Allyson. June is a talented pianist but she's increasingly withdrawing from the world citing a heart condition that cardiologists can't find a reason for. When Claudette sees psychologist Lionel Barrymore, she tells Barrymore about her marriage with their late father, Richard Derr and the tragic circumstances and gossip that surrounded his death.

The cure prescribes Dr. Barrymore is to be found at their New England coastal farm where Derr died and this might unlock Allyson's psychosis. Of course a whole lot of the family's dirty linen gets an airing before the film concludes.

Walter Pidgeon has not all that much to do, but be the tower of strength as the best friend of Derr and the man Colbert was really secretly in love with. The film is carried by the leading women of the cast, Colbert and Allyson. The two play well off each other, especially Allyson. This was quite a change from the usual goody-goody girl next door types she was always cast.

I should also single out Richard Derr who in the few scenes he has suggested a brooding melancholy that you will remember throughout the film. His performance has to be good in order to understand why Allyson is the way she is.

The Secret Heart is a nice psychological soap opera with Claudette Colbert standing in nicely for Greer Garson.

I was very young when I first viewed this film in 1946 and never dreamed that this film would still be viewed and commented about in this 21st Century. All the stars in this film were great actors and gave fantastic performances and it is great to see films like this being shown and enjoyed by future generations in America and around the world. Claudette Colbert,(Leola 'Lee' Addams),"So Proudly We Hail," '43, played a very strong mother who lost her husband suddenly and found herself very much in debt and having a daughter, June Allyson,(Penny Addams),"The Glenn Miller Story",'53, who seemed to have mental problems dealing with past experiences of her father. Lionel Barrymore,(Dr. Rossiger),"Duel In The Sun",'46, was the doctor treating Penny Addams and also her mother Leola. Walter Pigeon,(Chris Matthews),"Funny Girl",'68, was a very good friend of the family and stood in the background and gave the family all his support to bring happiness to the family. This is a great Classic drama with a very haunting piano selection which is played through out the picture and adds to the deep secrets hidden in Penny Addams mind and soul. Enjoy. "

This is not a review; it's a personal experience only.

I saw this film on TV in the late 1950's (at around age ten) and, for years, have been wanting to see it again and regretting the fact that it's not available on home video. I was thrilled to learn it was going to be shown on Turner Movie Classics the other night.

I had correctly remembered the story, including some dialog (Dr. Rossiger: "Your daughter is in love with a ghost, which means she's on the brink of disaster!"), and the central role of the music. The composer, Bronislau Kaper, skillfully used the Liszt Piano Concerto #1 throughout the film, including during the climax scenes. I had actually studied and performed this piece with a symphony orchestra at the age of 19; how stunning to hear the orchestra's opening chords under the MGM lion, followed by the piano's imposing solo entrance as the film's title appears. The Chopin Nocturne in Db, my personal favorite, is the romantic piece played in the film by both Penny and her father; Kaper also used its theme creatively in his underscoring. (I'm unable to identify the other, more mournful piece that runs through the film.)

I remember being smitten with June Allyson when seeing this film as a child. The other night, it was interesting to realize that, 45 years ago, I hadn't noticed the stunning Claudette Colbert!

Thanks for sharing my reminiscences. Here's hoping that MGM might see fit to release "The Secret Heart" on DVD.

This was obviously a Claudette Colbert vehicle. "The Secret Heart" is not shown often these days, and it's a good melodrama, typical of the era. Robert Z. Leonard directs with panache this story about a woman's sacrifice and decency.

If you haven't seen the film, perhaps you should not read further.

We first meet Leola (Lee) aboard a luxury liner with Chris Matthews, who is obviously in love with her. Lee has been asked to marry Chris' best friend Larry, and Lee feels her duty to go ahead with her plans to marry this troubled man, a widower with two small children. What Lee gets from that union is much more than what she bargained for. Larry turns out to be an embezzler at the bank he works for. His guilt will make him commit suicide.

Lee decides the right thing to do is to repay Larry's debts and hide from the young children the fact about their father's suicide. Chase, the boy, is a grounded person and he goes on with his life. Young and fragile Penny, who adored her father and the music he played, never recovers and retreats into a cocoon; she becomes a troubled girl that only finds comfort in playing the piano just to imitate her father.

Claudette Colbert does wonders playing the courageous Lee. She caters to the children and becomes a successful real estate agent. Of course, as the stereotypical step-mother of all dramas, she is not appreciated by Penny, the girl that carries a grudge toward Lee. Walter Pigeon is the man who has loved Lee forever, but he is too decent to even come close to her. June Allyson is perfect as Penny, the neurotic girl who will find the truth about her father's fate at the end. In minor roles we see Robert Sterling, Patricia Medina, Richard Derr and Lionel Barrymore.

This film is well crafted and acted under Mr. Leonard's ti

JUNE ALLYSON is really irritating in this one. She's got the petulance down pat, pouting throughout what is supposed to be her great dramatic role (musicals being her forte). MGM obviously hoped that this would prove to be a turning point in the way of future dramatics for the usually sunny June.

Seems she's supposed to be despondent over losing her dead father at an early age, unable to accept his death and unwilling to depart from his memory (like him, she plays piano constantly), unable to accept her step-mother, CLAUDETTE COLBERT, who is concerned about Allyson's psychosis--especially when Allyson starts imagining that Claudette's love interest (WALTER PIDGEON) is in love with her.

To give it class, MGM made sure they used some classical music for Allyson to play, gave it elegant sets and an overall polished look that might have worked well on a better film. But this is so obviously supposed to be a psychological tear-jerker to give Colbert and Allyson strong dramatic roles. Unfortunately, the contrivances are so pat and the overall effect so absurdly superficial that all you can do is hope JUNE ALLYSON will get over her dramatic ambitions and do the things she does best.

Nice cast, including ROBERT STERLING (as Allyson's more sensible brother), PATRICIA MEDINA, MARSHALL THOMPSON and LIONEL BARRYMORE (as a crusty old doctor), helps somewhat, but nothing can disguise the fact that they're all wasting their time in a phoney melodrama adrift in the usual Hollywood psycho-babble meant to be taken seriously.