Secrets

Director: Frank Borzage Frank Borzage

Overview

In this film, Mary Edgerton plays a 19th-century New England belle who accompanies her husband Leslie Howard to California. Pickford's first baby is killed when her cabin is besieged by desperadoes. Howard's reaction to the tragedy is to play around with other women, but Pickford stands steadfastly by her husband.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/29/2008
UPC:	0029502200893
Original Release:	1933
Source:	TELEVISTA
Region Code:	A
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	1:23:00
Sales rank:	51,446

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Mary Pickford	Mary Marlow/Mary Carlton
Leslie Howard	John Carlton
C. Aubrey Smith	Mr. Marlowe
Herbert Evans	Lord Hurley
Blanche Frederici	Mrs. Marlowe
Doris Lloyd	Susan Channing
Ned Sparks	`Sunshine'
Allan Sears	Jake Houser
Mona Maris	Senora Martinez
Lyman Williams	William Carlton as a Child
Huntley Gordon	William Carlton as an Adult,William Carlton as an Adult
Virginia Grey	Audrey Carlton as a Child
Ethel Clayton	Audrey Carlton as an Adult
Ellen Johnson	Susan Carlton as a Child
Bessie Barriscale	Susan Carlton as an Adult
Randolph Connolly	Robert Carlton as a Child
Theodore von Eltz	Robert Carlton as an Adult
King Baggot	Actor
Francis Ford	Actor
Florence Lawrence	Actor
Randolph Connelly	Actor
Jerry Stewart	Actor
Paul Panzer	Actor

Technical Credits

Frank Borzage	Director
Mary Pickford	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Secrets is a curious misfire, meaning that it doesn't really work as a film but has more than enough interesting things about it to make it worth watching. For one thing, it's Mary Pickford's last film and one of the few talkies that the vibrant silent star made. Pickford never really made the transition from silent to sound, although a number of her talking pictures were popular. She was capable of being a fine talkie actress; the talent was clearly there, but she needed to put a great deal of effort into re-learning how to act in front of a camera with a microphone, and she apparently didn't want to do so. As a result, some of her scenes come across as stilted or disjointed; others, however, are magical and demonstrate what could have been. Indeed, her scene following the death of her child is pure gold. Leslie Howard was more at ease with dialogue, and his performance is a big help to Secrets, but there's also a problem here: Howard is very convincing as the lover, not quite as convincing as a rough Western hero type. Frank Borzage works some magic of his own in his direction; despite some credibility problems in the script, Borzage directs as if he believes in every wild moment, every truth-stretching bit turn of events.