Stubs - The Secret Bride

The Secret Bride (1934) Starring Barbara Stanwyck, Warren William, Glenda Farrell, Grant Mitchell, Arthur Byron, Henry O'Neill, Douglas Dumbrille. Directed by William Dieterle. Screenplay by Tom Buckingham, F. Hugh Herbert, Mary McCall Jr. Produced by Henry Blanke. Run time: 63 minutes. Black and White. USA Political, Drama

By 1934, Barbara Stanwyck’s time at Warner Bros. was coming to an end. While it started with such films as Night Nurse (1931), So Big! (1932), Ladies They Talk About (1933), and Baby Face (1933), she was growing tired of the films the studio was placing her in. Director William Dieterle wasn’t happy with the film and was surprised Stanwyck wasn’t more upset about the project. For Stanwyck, she saw it as a means to an end, anything to get her out of her contract. After one more film at the studio, The Woman in Red (1935), she would go on to a very successful career as a freelance actress.

Barbara Stanwyck

The Secret Bride, like many of the films Stanwyck was being cast in, was a slightly elevated programmer. The difference was the cast that she had around her. Warren William was immensely popular in the early 1930s, later earning the nickname the "King of Pre-Code". He developed a reputation for portraying ruthless and amoral businessmen in films like The Match King (1932), crafty lawyers, and outright charlatans. He had also appeared in Frank Capra’s Lady For a Day (1933), Three on a Match (1932), Golddiggers of 1933 (1933), and Cecil B. DeMille's Cleopatra (1934).

Glenda Farrell was no slouch either, having appeared in seventeen films in two years including Little Caesar (1931), I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang (1932), and Lady for a Day. She would go on to star in a series of nine Torchy Blane films for Warner Brothers from 1937 to 1939. Her portrayal in these films was credited by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel as the inspiration for the Daily Planet reporter Lois Lane.

Grant Mitchell was well-known as a character actor, appearing in more than 125 films between 1930 and 1948. Prior to The Secret Bride, he would appear in such films as Three on a Match, Dinner at Eight (1933), and Wild Boys of the Road (1933). His is a face that if you’ve watched classic films you’ve seen many times. He would also appear in such films as A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), The Grapes of Wrath (1940), The Man Who Came to Dinner (1942), and It Happened on 5th Avenue (1947).

Attorney General Robert Sheldon (Warren William) and Ruth Vincent
 (Barbara Stanwyck) get married at the beginning of The Secret Bride.

The film opens with a couple getting married. But it turns out to be Attorney General Robert Sheldon (Warren William) and Ruth (Barbara Stanwyck), the daughter of Governor W.H. Vincent. They are called back to work when investigator Daniel Breeden (Douglass Dumbrille) uncovers evidence that may show that the governor took a bribe from John F. Holdstock, an embezzling financier he pardoned. 

Willis Martin (Grant Mitchell) is John F. Holdstock's private secretary.

John's private secretary, Willis Martin (Grant Mitchell), is arrested when he deposits the bribe money, $10,000, in the governor's private bank account. When questioned, he tells Robert and Daniel that he knows of no business between John and the governor that would explain the money.

Since Robert is in charge of the investigation, Ruth feels they should keep their marriage a secret so that no one will think he is a prejudiced investigator.

Robert goes to the Governor's Residence to tell Ruth about the situation and that he is obligated to present the evidence to a legislative investigation committee. Ruth is certain that her father did not take a bribe, and that John can explain everything, but they learn by phone from Daniel that John has committed suicide.

The Governor (Arthur Byron) is obviously concerned about the allegations, but his financial backer, Jim Lansdale (Henry O'Neill), calms him down and takes him to lunch. Before he does, he makes a phone call in which he learns that Sheldon is at the Governor's residence, but he does not tell the Governor this.

Trying to help with the investigation, Willis turns over papers to Robert that used to belong to Holdstock. In them, Robert finds a typed note which apparently provides a motive for the bribe: "My dear friend John ... the expense of maintaining my stock farm has exceeded the income during the year ... the time for the matter we discussed has come. W.H.V."

Ruth and Robert test the governor's personal typewriter.

Robert rushes to show the note to Ruth and they decide to take it to police headquarters to be compared with a sample from the governor's personal typewriter, which Ruth types out. Lt. Tom Nigard (Arthur Aylesworth) shows them that both samples are definitely from the same machine.

That night, Daniel goes to John's office, where a very spooked Willis is still working. Daniel tries to calm him down, telling him "You have nothing to worry about, it's almost over. I've seen you through today as I promised, haven't I? ... You were splendid today in Robert's office. You just stick to your story and remember that I'm taking care of you."

Hazel Normandie (Glenda Farrell) is waiting for her boyfriend, Daniel (Douglass Dumbrille).

Ruth goes to Robert's apartment to tell him that she's absolutely certain her father is innocent. While she is there, Sheldon's secretary, Hazel Normandie (Glenda Farrell), leaves for the day, planning to meet Daniel, her boyfriend, outside the building.

As soon as he steps outside, Daniel is shot dead.

Outside as he walks up to her, Daniel is shot dead. Hazel is taken into custody and arrested when it is proven that the gun that fired the shot that killed Daniel came from a gun she owns. It is also the same gun that Daniel took from her earlier in the day, saying that he was all the protection she needed.

Ruth, who happened to be looking out the window, has seen everything and knows that Hazel didn't fire the shot. But she tells Robert she cannot tell the police what she saw because she would have to reveal her marriage to him in order to explain her presence in his apartment late at night.

The Governor's impeachment hearing.

At a raucous session of the legislature, Representative McPherson (William Davidson), from the party opposing the Governor, accuses both the governor and the Attorney General of withholding evidence from the investigative committee. They are staunchly defended by Representative Grosvenor (Willard Robertson), but McPherson demands articles of impeachment against the governor and intensive investigation of Robert. Ruth observes it all from the gallery.

Hazel is on trial for Daniel's murder.

Hazel is standing trial for the murder of Daniel, with the case about to go to the jury, but Ruth still refuses to testify, knowing that the revelation of her secret marriage with Robert would end his career. With little time to waste, Ruth goes to Willis’ apartment. It is obvious that Willis is cracking up. He admits to her that John didn't commit suicide, he was murdered and says that he is willing to tell Robert so, but once at Robert's office, he pretends to faint and then escapes down the fire escape.

Ruth refuses to testify at Hazel's trial.

Sheldon puts out an alert for the police to pick him up. Now, with no other choice, he and Ruth head to the courthouse, where the jury is voting, and find Hazel's attorney. The judge refuses to hear the attorney until in open court, he allows Ruth to testify. With this new evidence, Hazel is acquitted.

The next morning, Governor Vincent finally learns about the marriage and is annoyed that Ruth didn't tell him sooner, but understands that the circumstances necessitated it. With the governor's impeachment trial due to start soon, Jim Lansdale counsels the governor to resign, but he refuses.

Meanwhile, the legislature demands that Attorney General Sheldon resign, but he, too, refuses.

The police find Willis and bring him to Robert. Representative McPherson issues subpoenas for Willis and Robert to testify before the committee, where the existence of the typed letter, apparently from the governor to John, comes out.

Willis admits that Daniel made him put the letter into John's files and then sent him to John to demand the money he lost in John's financial crash. When John denied he had any money, Willis shot and killed him, and Daniel fixed it to look like a suicide. The whole frame-up, according to Willis, is the work of Jim Lansdale, supposedly the governor's friend and financial backer: ever since the governor vetoed a highway bill that would have made him millions, Lansdale had been working behind the scenes to bring down his old friend. It was Lansdale who typed the letter on the typewriter in the governor's study.

As the committee votes to drop the charges against the governor, Lansdale slowly leaves the room and kills himself. Afterward, the governor gives his blessing to the marriage of his daughter and Robert, and they kiss.

At only 62-64 minutes, this is a fast-moving story with very little downtime to spare. There seemed to be a premium on keeping things moving forward and if that leaves a few holes along the way, so be it. While it seems inconceivable that a woman would let another be convicted of a murder she knows they didn’t commit just to keep a secret, we’re supposed to believe that the Attorney General of a state would go along with that for as long as he does.

There is also the unexplained bits surrounding Daniel’s murder, which does play a small role in the plot. We never know who actually killed him or why; there is no time to examine that any further in a film with this runtime. And there is the fact that he just happens to be killed with a gun that is in his possession, the one he took off of Hazel. Someone would have had to shoot him from close range but no one sees the person; not Hazel who is facing him nor Ruth who only sees where the shot came from. And if that’s not confusing enough, the gun is conveniently left at the scene of the crime and right where the police say Hazel was standing when they arrived.

Some things have to be forgiven with films from this time period. They don’t always ring true with how we might see things today and I wonder if they are all that true for the time they were made. I’m guessing that the average viewer at the time wasn’t looking for a realistic political drama, so if things seem a little squishy around the edges they probably didn’t care all that much. I’m not sure how close to an actual impeachment proceeding the movie depicts. I’m pretty sure its courtroom sequences are a little fast and loose.

Warner Bros. may have insisted that the film be made but they dumped it into a few theaters on December 22, 1934. In the New York Times review, written by Andre Sennwald, The Secret Bride is referred to as a “dashing homicide melodrama which seeks, with only minimum success, to conceal its frailties by the violence of its pace.”  The film is also described as, “A rather minor product of the racy Warner studios.”

None of that criticism is unfair. Still, the film is pretty easy to sit through despite the fact that there is little to distinguish it from other programmers of the day.