The Secret Bride * (1934, Barbara Stanwyck, Warren William, Glenda Farrell) – Classic Movie Review 6774

Director William Dieterle’s 1935 Warner Bros drama is interesting and short (at 64 minutes) but wordy, plodding and slow, and very disappointing considering the talent involved. The talky screenplay by Tom Buckingham, F Hugh Herbert and Mary McCall Jr is all to obviously based on a stage work – Leonard Ide’s play Concealment. It is, however, a smart looking movie, nicely shot in black and white by Ernest Haller.

Warren William stars as state attorney general Robert Sheldon who keeps his marriage to the apparently corrupt state governor W.H. Vincent (Arthur Byron)’s daughter Ruth (Barbara Stanwyck) secret so that he can pursue his bribe-taking case against the father.

The father may have taken a bribe to pardon John F Holdstock (Russell Hicks), whose secretary is caught depositing $10,000 at the bank. Afterwards, Holdstock commits suicide.

Also in the cast are Grant Mitchell, Arthur Byron, Henry O’Neill, Douglass Dumbrille, Arthur Aylesworth, Willard Robertson, Russell Hicks, Vince Barnett, Frank Darlen, Charles C Wilson, Selmer Jackson, Howard C Hickman, Purnell Pratt, Joseph Crehan, Lester Dorr, Spencer Charters, Frederick Burton, and Bill Elliott.

The Secret Bride is directed by William Dieterle, runs 64 minutes, is released by Warner Bros, is written by Tom Buckingham, F Hugh Herbert and Mary McCall Jr, is shot in black and white by Ernest Haller, is produced by Henry Blanke, is scored by Bernhard Kaun, and designed by Anton Grot.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 6774

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com