Personal Maid's Secret

Not a bad little film with the fabulous Ruth Donnelly in the title role of the maid. One has to suspend a sense of realism to think that even those people living in a small apartment had maid service!! I mean, to look at the apartment of Margaret Lindsay and Warren Hull, you would think that they don't have two nickles to rub together--let alone afford a maid!! But if you can overlook that fact, then this is a nice little movie that keeps your attention throughout. Also, it is another treat to watch Margaret Lindsay--one of the best actresses ever. But it is the great Ruth Donnelly that keeps the film going--she is another character actress never given her due and it is so nice to see her headline a film on her own. Like a certain IMDBer has said "Pass the popcorn"--you will enjoy this film a lot, I think.

Lizzie (Ruth Donnelly) worked for the Bentleys on Park Avenue. She quits in frustration and goes to the employment agency. When she encounters working middle class Joan Smith (Margaret Lindsay), she decides to work for her even at a lower pay. She starts helping the Smith family climb up until they even take over the Bentley estate.

I almost died when little Bobby says, "Mommy. Please buy this one." It's the only laugh in the movie and an outlier in many different ways. That needs to be a meme. The story is rather odd. For most of it, Lizzie never explains why she doing what she's doing. Then the movie does a big reveal and it comes out of left field. It's a soap opera move.

Not even Hazel working for the Baxters in the comic strip or on television did as much good as Ruth Donnelly does for nominal stars Warren Hull and Margaret Lindsay in Personal Maid's Secret. With her offhanded suggestions thie couple manages to rise several notches on the social scale.

Donnelly should have gotten top billing, she has the title role and the film does revolve around her. As per the title she does have a secret and it''s a beaut. She has to reconcile with her past as well and does.

for you Arthur Treacher fans he's once again a butler and something happens to him that you won't see in any of his other films.

A nice product from Warner Brothers B picture unit and for fans of donnelly and Treacher.

Fourth-billed Ruth Donnelly is the subject of this ultra-short Warner B, as she ditches her old job - they never pay - for young couple Warren Hull and Margaret Lindsay. As a good household servant, she knows all the secrets but would never tell, except to fellow servant Arthur Treacher. By the end of the movie, we find out she has a couple of her own. She also pushes her employers to what seem to be extravagance, but turns out to be good advertising.

It times in at less than an hour and amuses, thanks to Warner Brother's fine stock company. It never sparkles; the dialogue is never more than sarcastic, and the direction by Arthur Grenville Collins in his first time handling the megaphone looks to maximize efficiency.

Ruth Donnelly was a longtime member of the Warner's stock company. Earlier she had been a favorite of George M. Cohan on stage. She played in some movie shorts in 1914, but didn't begin that phase of her career until 1931. Over the next 26 years, she appeared in almost ninety features. She died in 1982, aged 86.

In the 1930s and 40s, thousands and thousands of B-movies were made in Hollywood. These films were meant to be the lesser film on a double feature---a lower budgeted film that was churned out very quickly. Not surprisingly, these films also featured lesser-named actors. Now many of them were rather poor BUT many were actually as good or better than the accompanying feature! So, B didn't necessarily mean bad or inferior. A great example of this is "Personal Maid's Secret". Despite only clocking in at 58 minutes (and most Bs were between 55 and 65 minutes), it's a dandy film for many reasons. To me, the biggest reason was that it starred Ruth Donnelly. Donnelly was a wonderful actress but was never a starring actress--mostly because she was not beautiful and was usually cast as a supporting player. She was fine in these roles, but "Personal Maid's Secret" showed she COULD carry a film--though, oddly, she did not receive top billing. This was given to Margaret Lindsay--who clearly was NOT the lead in the film. The other reason is that the film was well written from start to finish--and especially good near the end of the film, where it took some nice twists. All in all, a very satisfying B--one you should see if you have a chance.

By the way, some might blanch at the comments the little boy makes in the film about 'colored people', though I think he was adorable and the comments UNUSUAL, not racist. See the film and see what I mean.