O Segredo

If you really want to expose a bad actor's badness then put him or her up against a great actor. Like Ava Gardner opposite Bogie in "Contessa". Or Natalie Trundy juxtaposed with Dean Stockwell in "Careless Years". Or John Derek, in this snorer, next to Juror #3.

David Clark is in trouble. He had killed his best friend in self-defense. He confesses to his lawyer father Howard Clark (Lee J. Cobb). They are set to come clean to the D. A. but another man gets arrested for murder. It's the dead man's bookie and Howard gets the job to defend him.

I like the starting premise but I don't like David. It's a complicated role and the actor doesn't seem to be up to the task. He has to play both innocent and guilt. Mostly, he's playing snarky and cold which leaves me a bit cold. He should be running around and changing the evidence. The plot needs twists and turns. This could have centered around Lee J. Cobb instead. He's the veteran actor and the more capable one. I would also get rid of the narration. When done well, this premise has generated plenty of good tense shows. There is so much potential but I don't see it being maximized. The final turn is more a morality play than a surprise twist. The opening premise is full noir but the movie turns into a bland 50's morality lesson.

The beginning of The Family Secret immediately hooks you in: John Derek, the teenage son of Lee J. Cobb and Erin O'Brien-Moore, comes home early from a night on the town. He washes mud off his tires and changes his clothes before greeting his parents and their dinner guests. We find out soon why he's so morose and cryptic: he's just killed his childhood friend. It was self-defense and accidental, but he still fled from the scene and tampered with evidence. Lee, an upstanding citizen and prominent lawyer, knows his son will do the right thing and confess immediately. Erin wants to cover it up. John's entire life would be ruined, she argues, and it wouldn't bring the dead boy back. As you can tell from the title, John decides to take his mother's advice.

With exception to the jazz music played in some scenes, this feels like a noir from the 1940s. There's a lot of voice-over narration explaining things that don't need explaining, and the scene construction and direction feel very much a part of the silver screen rather than the golden age. Plus with solid character actors from that era like Whit Bissell (who will tug win your sympathy as he struggles with his weak heart), Henry O'Neill, Carl Benton Reid, and Harry Cheshire, it sets the mood of the late 1940s. I rented it to see a solid, fatherly performance from Lee (but I didn't mind the eye candy of John either) and it was nice to see him in a good-guy role, unlike On the Waterfront and The Trap. If you like this one, check out a similarly themed drama also starring John Derek, Knock on Any Door.

It's an honest well to do family, where the father is a retired lawyer and the only son is studying law with great future prospects. One night however he accidentally happens to cause the death of his best friend in a drunken brawl which totally shatters his self respect. He confides in his father who advises him to immediately make a clean breast of it to the police, but the mother has second thoughts and advises him to wait and sleep on it. Matters get more complicated when a married innocent man without children gets charged with the homicide, and he begs the retired lawyer to defend him at court. The father finds it a clear case for acqittal and accepts the case, but during the trial the charged innocent who has a heart condition has a heartstroke and dies. The case is dismissed, but the perpetrator feels very bad about it and is getting nervous. The film is remarkable for its excellent acting, especially by the father (Lee J. Cobb) playing his part with admirable restraint, and by the son (John Derek) adding another impersonation of a very sensitive and nervous young man, and by his sensible girl (Jody Lawrance) who adds a great deal of cold good sense to the film. It's a great family drama posing many questions of moral resposibility.

Taut Indie Produced by Bogart's Short-Lived "Santana-Studio".

An Intimate Family Conflict Brought On by John Derrick (at 25 playing young) and his Revelation to HIs Family of a "Self-Defense" Killing (a friend) and Subsequent Fleeing the Scene.

The Drama Heats Up When Lee J. Cobb (in a very unusual laid-back mode), the Father, and an Attorney, Advises His Son to Turn Him-Self In, while the Mother (Erin Moore) Thinks He Should Lay-Low and Forget it, even though the Victim is Her Best Friend's Son.

A Fever-Pitch is Reached when an Innocent Man (Whit Bissell) is Arrested and Put on Trial for the Crime.

Then There's a Big Twist.

A Brooding, Simmering Story that is Familiar but Given Enough Gravitas from the Players and some Surprises.

John Derrick Plays the "Playboy" Girl-Magnet with Ease, and Reaches Deep for some Angst, Regret, Conflict, and His "Better Angels".

Overall, Somewhat Compelling "Little" Movie with "Big" Life-Lessons on its Mind.

Directed by the Prolific but Inconsistent Henry Levin.

It Succeeds with some Melodramatic Ways that Makes it a Borderline Film-Noir and...

Worth a Watch.