Secret Sinners

Sue Carol and Cecilia Parker are chorus girls, rooming together. They're being courted by rich Jack Mulhall, and aspiring songwriter/publisher Nick Stuart. Mulhall is married to Natalie Moorhead, which is a mistake in any movie, but he's trying to get rid of her without it costing everything, so he can be with Miss Carol, which is a good idea in any movie and Alan Ladd out of one.

All this makes sense, but the title of this movie doesn't. There's little untoward going on in this movie, except a scene where the girl's lingerie are drying on a clothesline in their room. Perhaps it refers to Miss Moorhead's gigolo, Paul Ellis, whose character is named Travers but seems to be doing a Spanish accent.

There's little of interest in this movie except for a pair of night club acts. One is a flamenco dancer. The other is a woman who does contortion tricks.

"Secret Sinners" is a pre-code film with definite pre-code sensibilities....and deals with things you simply won't see in films from mid-1934 to about 1960 (more or less). If it had been made a bit better, i'd probably have liked it better...but it isn't bad and is reasonably enjoyable.

The story is about a struggling young lady who loses her job, through no real fault of her own, at a boarding house. A lady befriends her and offers to let her stay with her and she helps Margie get a job as a chorus girl...and fortunately she really does want to help Margie...with no strings attached. Soon after she begins working there, she meets a really nice guy who you can't help but like. However, here is the problem and why the film is clearly pre-code....he is married and doesn't tell her. It's not that he's a sleaze-bag...but his wife is a vicious woman who cheats on him and lives to spend his money! How does all this work out....see the film.

The bottom line is that despite the name, "Secret Sinners", is NOT a sleazy exploitation film....though the way it was sometimes marketed made is seem like it was! In other words, you can watch this with your kids, your mother or Father Flannagan without them assuming you are some sort of perv. It's NOT dirty by any stretch and offers some interesting dilemmas and situations.