Secrets

SECRETS was the last movie Mary Pickford would appear in as an actress. In it she displays a much greater ease with the microphone than she did in her earlier talkies. Her performance is really quite superb, and should have paved the way for a long career as a character actress. She was 40 when she made this film, and it does stretch credulity a little to see her playing a virginal debutante in the early scenes - however, as the film goes on, and her character ages, she displays a tremendous range as an actress. And she's beautifully matched by Leslie Howard, who gives a very charming performance as her lover/husband.

Under the skilful direction of Frank Borzage, Mary is allowed many moments to do what a silent screen actor could do better than any other actor - express emotion without words. There is one scene, involving the death of a child, that is amongst the most moving scenes I have ever witnessed - and it is virtually a silent scene. All the emotion comes from Mary. All actors should watch this scene and learn what great screen acting is all about.

The screenplay is a little meandering, and peculiarly episodic. Based on a stage play, I get the impression that the film follows the three act play structure - First Act:light romantic comedy, Second Act:Western melodrama, Third Act:relationship drama - and finally an epilogue to tie-up all the loose ends. It's not an unentertaining structure, but it does seem a little odd. Through it all Pickford, Howard and Borzage stride with great skill, to create a memorable film, and a triumphant farewell to one of Hollywood's greatest stars.

For reasons best known to posterity this thoroughly delightful comedy-drama has been almost totally forgotten despite starring none other than Mary Pickford, (it was her last film), and a young Leslie Howard, (before he grew stiff). It was directed by the great Frank Borzage who already had two best director Oscars under his belt and it was written by Francis Marion who also had two Oscars under her belt by the time this came along. Everyone is at their best here, whether it's in the full-blown comedy of the early sequences or in the melodramatics that follow as the somewhat over-egged plot progresses. Something of an undervalued gem and a well-kept secret.

Today ,I'm still wondering how Frank Borzage could make so many wonderful movies for so many years !Think of it!"Secrets" came after "A farewell to the arms" and just before "a man's castle" followed by "no greater glory" and "little man what now?"!And there were plenty of masterpieces in the silent era and there were so many to come afterward.Who can compete with him?I'd like to know! "Secrets" is more of the same : the lovers against the hostile world,two lovers who will "see it through for their love is true".It is composed of three parts ,apparently disparate ,but when the movie is over ,you feel it's a seamless whole ,mainly after the old folks want to be alone to share their secrets .

First part displays echoes of Romeo and Juliet ,complete with ladder ,a bourgeois family and a romantic escape;in the second part ,Borzage shows us the heroine in a less comfortable house where drama gives way to tragedy:this scene in which Mary Pickford is holding her dead child is one of these heartrending moments which abound in Borzage's canon : other examples can be found in "no greater glory" when they carry the dead little soldier home or in "the mortal storm" ,when James Stewart holds Margaret Sullavan's body or in "young America" this drawing which shows the two boys flying.The last third can seem weaker by comparison but further acquaintance shows this: Borzage had already anticipated the future and its great sagas/serials which appeared in the fifties :and he made this in about 40 minutes whereas the others would take two or three hours.

Borzage was certainly equaled,but never surpassed.

There is a certain old-fashioned charm to this strangely truncated historical epic. Running just 83 minutes, this 1933 film offers the last performance given by silent screen legend Mary Pickford, and one feels conflicted about her performance here. On one hand, she produces some poignant moments and surprising comic ones with her character - a headstrong, late-19th-century debutante named Mary Marlow intent on marrying John Carlton who heads west in a covered wagon to raise cattle. On the other, Pickford is over forty and looks it - playing first a teenager and then a young bride and mother. Gauzy lenses aside, she never quite convinces, especially since her accentuated acting style is so reflective of the silent era.

Even with revered director Frank Borzage ("Seventh Heaven") at the helm and a script co-written by Frances Marion ("Dinner at Eight", "Camille"), there is no getting around the fact that it feels like a vanity production for Pickford to present her as relevant in the sound era. By all accounts, the effort failed. The plot follows Mary and John's courtship in New England under the suspicious glare of her tyrannical father. They head west where they face cattle rustlers and a rather lugubrious shootout at their ranch with tragic consequences. The disjointed story abruptly flashes forward years later where they now have four grown children and John becomes a contender for Governor of California. A nasty senorita shows up at a formal reception threatening to expose John's infidelities – an odd plot development since we are given no hint of this character flaw before. The movie flashes forward again where John and Mary are now elderly and facing a life without obligations.

The irony with casting Pickford (whose voice bears a striking resemblance to Jean Arthur's) is that as Mary ages, she looks more physically appropriate, but she gradually loses much of the on screen vitality for which she was known. That's why the early scenes are far more entertaining even if she looks too mature for them. There is an extended, wordless scene in the cabin with her baby that does showcase why she was a fine silent screen actress. Cast against type as rowdy John, Leslie Howard comes across as much younger than Pickford even though they were almost the same age. C. Aubrey Smith ("Wee Willie Winkie") is great in the early scenes as Mary's father, while sour-voiced Ned Sparks ("Imitation of Life") shows up for typical comic relief. When the camera shows Pickford as an old lady in the Model T, there is a genuine feeling of finality to her career. The 2008 DVD is a welcome reminder of Pickford's legacy, but her earlier work will provide you with a better indication of her onscren talent.

An odd film, but it has several terrific moments thanks to the great Mary Pickford.

She plays a sheltered New England girl who runs off with Leslie Howard rather than marry the stuffy Englishman her father has picked out for her. We see the couple trek across the country in a covered wagon and set up ranching in California, and finally we see Howard run for political office. The film covers 50 years of their lives together, all in 3 acts (as was done on the Broadway stage).

The film is uneven but Pickford gives a tremendous performance in her final film. She's very funny in the undressing scene before the elopement and she has an Oscar-worthy moment in the final scene where they are being attacked by cattle rustlers. Truly remarkable. Howard is also very good.

Co-stars include C. Aubrey Smith, Ned Sparks, Blanche Frederici, Doris Lloyd, and Mona Maris.

Pickford's talkie career was brief and not very successful despite her Oscar win for COQUETTE. But she is excellent in this film and also in KIKI.