A Woman’s Secret *** (1949, Maureen O’Hara, Melvyn Douglas, Gloria Grahame, Victor Jory, Bill Williams) – Classic Movie Review 6,076

Director Nicholas Ray’s intriguing and unusual 1949 film noir-style mystery melodrama A Woman’s Secret, with hints of Mildred Pierce and All About Eve, is based on a 1946 novel called Mortgage on Life by Vicki Baum, the author of Grand Hotel.

The big question is, why did benefactress Marian Washburn (Maureen O’Hara) tell police that she gunned down her singing protégé Susan Caldwell (Gloria Grahame) with a bullet near the heart?

And O’Hara’s character tells why in a complex series of flashbacks fashionable in the Forties. It turns out she lost own her singing voice and groomed the tarty and ungrateful Grahame character to take over.

Melvyn Douglas plays Luke Jordan, who thinks Marian was not capable of shooting Susan and hopes Police Detective Inspector Fowler (Jay C Flippen) can uncover the truth to be able to free Marian.

The movie gives the star spotlight to two women, O’Hara and Grahame, who, defying their odd casting, grab their chances to shine in this weird and fascinating blend of bitchery and malice.

Grahame’s then husband, Ray, directs the flashbacks with considerable style and crisp clarity, working from an intricate and effective screenplay by the film’s producer Herman J Mankiewicz.

Also in the cast are Bill Williams, Victor Jory, Mary Phillips, Robert Warwick, Curt Conway, Ann Shoemaker, Virginia Farmer, Ellen Corby and Emory Parnell.

It was released on 7 February 1949 in the US. But, alas, it was a box-office flop for RKO, recording a loss of $760,000, damaging Gloria Grahame’s rising popularity.

The cast are Maureen O’Hara as Marian Washburn, Melvyn Douglas as Luke Jordan, Gloria Grahame as Susan Caldwell / Estrellita, Bill Williams as Lee Crenshaw, Victor Jory as Brook Matthews, Mary Philips as Mrs Mary Fowler, Jay C Flippen as Police Inspector Jim Fowler, Robert Warwick as Assistant District Attorney Roberts, Curt Conway as Doctor, Ann Shoemaker as Brook’s mother Mrs Matthews, Virginia Farmer as Mollie the Washburn maid, Ellen Corby as the nurse who reads paper to Susan, and Emory Parnell as Police Lieutenant at desk.

On June 23, 1947, Ray began shooting his first film, They Live by Night. Filming was completed in October 1947. But new RKO studio boss Howard Hughes shelved the film for two years, showing it in one UK cinema to enthusiastic reviews in August 1948 in London under the title The Twisted Road, before it was finally released in the US as They Live by Night in November 1949.

So, though made before Ray’s They Live by Night, A Woman’s Secret was released after it.

A Woman’s Secret is directed by Nicholas Ray, runs 84 minutes, is made and released by RKO Radio Pictures, is written by Herman J Mankiewicz, based on the novel Mortgage on Life by Vicki Baum, is shot by George E Diskant, is produced by Herman J Mankiewicz, is scored by Friedrich Hollaender.

© Derek Winnert 2017 Classic Movie Review 6,076

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