SECRETS OF A SECRETARY is a pre-code starring Claudette Colbert a bit before she became a major box office star. Claudette stars as a young heiress who enjoys frivolous parties with the young moneyed set and the film opens at a costume party (where half the guests don't bother with a costume, Claudette's merely being a blonde wig). Also attending is a man half the society debs swoon over, Georges Metaxa, a rather creepy member of the group who unbeknownst to almost everyone, was disinherited by his father three years ago for his decadent and dishonest ways. He pursues Claudette, who is amused by him but keeps rejecting his frequent proposals (unaware he really just wants to marry a heiress to keep a place in society). He's also having an affair with another young socialite (Betty Lawford) who has the hots big time for him even as she is engaged to British lord Herbert Marshall, though it's little more than a business arrangement.
Claudette and George party hard with another couple and after that night of club hopping, the foursome impulsively decide to get married at the justice of the peace around 5 am. They return to Claudette's home where to her horror she finds that her ill father has taken a turn for the worse and he dies just moments after her return. Claudette is devastated and sobers up from her frivolousness but soon gets more bad news the next morning: she learns from family friend Berton Churchill (Betty's father) that her father has been living on credit and is deep in debt and there is nothing left for her to inherit after the bills get paid. New husband George is outraged to learn he has married a pauper and storms out of the house and out of her life. Claudette asks Berton to find her a job, so he hires her as a personal secretary for his wife Mary Boland as well as all-around help in their mansion. Betty is very condescending to Claudette and treats her poorly now that she is "the help." Claudette's estranged husband is hired by a gangster who knows the truth about him to work in his mob-run nightclub where he is to steal jewelry from female guests and give the goods to the boss. Despite being warned, sleazeball George can't help but keep some of the stolen goods all to himself. Meanwhile, Claudette at long last meets Betty's fiancée Herbert Marshall (who enters the picture quite late). They are clearly attracted to each other but repress their affection given his engagement though Betty has no such scruples and is still having an affair with George. It all leads to murder on the wedding day.
This movie takes a bit of time before it becomes interesting but once it does, it's a pretty good melodrama. The print I viewed didn't help matters with an occasionally muffled soundtrack making a few lines difficult to understand. It's easy to tell though this was directed by a stage director (the legendary George Abbott), some of the early shots are seem flat and stage-bound and a few actors, particularly Betty Lawford, occasionally deliver their lines in that severe, artificial manner one frequently finds in (bad) stage acting. This is one of those early talkies where you find rather obscure actors (Lawford and Metexa) in key roles, their mediocre performances here making it easy to understand why they didn't work more in Hollywood.
Claudette Colbert gives a typically expert performance. One of film's greatest actresses, she's believable in both frivolous and virtuous moments, unlike many of her famous contemporaries. I've never been much of a Herbert Marshall fan but he's surprisingly appealing here as the modest and kind hero of the film. This was one of the great Mary Boland's first appearances under her Paramount contract; given it's a melodrama, the film doesn't really make use of her superb comedic talent but she's very good in a fairly straight role.
The movie is loaded with improbable moments and has one of those absurdly quick resolutions where an innocent woman is accused of murder, the press is alerted, everyone in the building knows, the police track down the real killer, and the case is resolved and the woman reunited with her true love all before she can even change out of her blood-stained dress but the acting is generally very good and the star couple so sympathetic you can't help but enjoy it.
Claudette and George party hard with another couple and after that night of club hopping, the foursome impulsively decide to get married at the justice of the peace around 5 am. They return to Claudette's home where to her horror she finds that her ill father has taken a turn for the worse and he dies just moments after her return. Claudette is devastated and sobers up from her frivolousness but soon gets more bad news the next morning: she learns from family friend Berton Churchill (Betty's father) that her father has been living on credit and is deep in debt and there is nothing left for her to inherit after the bills get paid. New husband George is outraged to learn he has married a pauper and storms out of the house and out of her life. Claudette asks Berton to find her a job, so he hires her as a personal secretary for his wife Mary Boland as well as all-around help in their mansion. Betty is very condescending to Claudette and treats her poorly now that she is "the help." Claudette's estranged husband is hired by a gangster who knows the truth about him to work in his mob-run nightclub where he is to steal jewelry from female guests and give the goods to the boss. Despite being warned, sleazeball George can't help but keep some of the stolen goods all to himself. Meanwhile, Claudette at long last meets Betty's fiancée Herbert Marshall (who enters the picture quite late). They are clearly attracted to each other but repress their affection given his engagement though Betty has no such scruples and is still having an affair with George. It all leads to murder on the wedding day.
This movie takes a bit of time before it becomes interesting but once it does, it's a pretty good melodrama. The print I viewed didn't help matters with an occasionally muffled soundtrack making a few lines difficult to understand. It's easy to tell though this was directed by a stage director (the legendary George Abbott), some of the early shots are seem flat and stage-bound and a few actors, particularly Betty Lawford, occasionally deliver their lines in that severe, artificial manner one frequently finds in (bad) stage acting. This is one of those early talkies where you find rather obscure actors (Lawford and Metexa) in key roles, their mediocre performances here making it easy to understand why they didn't work more in Hollywood.
Claudette Colbert gives a typically expert performance. One of film's greatest actresses, she's believable in both frivolous and virtuous moments, unlike many of her famous contemporaries. I've never been much of a Herbert Marshall fan but he's surprisingly appealing here as the modest and kind hero of the film. This was one of the great Mary Boland's first appearances under her Paramount contract; given it's a melodrama, the film doesn't really make use of her superb comedic talent but she's very good in a fairly straight role.
The movie is loaded with improbable moments and has one of those absurdly quick resolutions where an innocent woman is accused of murder, the press is alerted, everyone in the building knows, the police track down the real killer, and the case is resolved and the woman reunited with her true love all before she can even change out of her blood-stained dress but the acting is generally very good and the star couple so sympathetic you can't help but enjoy it.