The Secret Bride (1934)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

William Dieterle

Writers:

Tom Buckingham (writer)
F. Hugh Herbert (writer)

Release Date:

22 December 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Before Ruth Vincent, daughter of a state governor, and state attorney general Robert Sheldon can announce their marriage...

Plot Keywords:

Trial | Suicide | Secret Marriage | Frame Up | Political Corruption

Cast

Barbara Stanwyck	...	Ruth Vincent
Warren William	...	Robert 'Bob' Sheldon
Glenda Farrell	...	Hazel Normandie
Grant Mitchell	...	Willis H. Martin
Arthur Byron	...	Gov. Walter H. Vincent
Henry O'Neill	...	Jim Lansdale
Douglass Dumbrille	...	Daniel Breeden (as Douglas Dumbrille)
Arthur Aylesworth	...	Lt. Tom Nigard
Willard Robertson	...	Representative Grosvenor
William B. Davidson	...	Representative McPherson (as William Davidson)
Russell Hicks	...	John F. Holdstock
Vince Barnett	...	Drunk in Diner

Also Known As:

Concealment
His Secret Bride (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

64 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #384)

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Nothing too special here; contrived drama with a dry style

Fairly standard murder melodrama (you wouldn't want to call it a whodunnit; it's too painfully obvious who did it). Stanwyck and her husband (the D.A.) must hide the fact that they are married until they find the evidence to clear her dad (the governor) from charges of accepting a bribe. The more they try to hide their involvement, the more they seem to implicate themselves and her father in an expanding list of crimes.

The cast is good, but the material is a bit too dry, lacks polish, and the pace is slow. Involving, but not intriguing, nor particularly memorable.