The Secret Bride

Barbara Stanwyck is "The Secret Bride" in this 1934 film that also stars Warren William, Glenda Farrell, and Douglas Dumbrille. William is a DA who marries Stanwyck and then learns that her governor father may have taken a bribe to pardon a man, Holstock. Holstock's secretary is caught at the bank depositing $10,000, and later the man commits suicide. The couple decide not to announce they're married or it will look as if the DA is prejudiced.

Okay Warner Brothers story with a top cast and excellent camera work by William Dieterle. Most of the budget went for Stanwyck's clothes, which are gorgeous.

Stanwyck and William are two favorites of mine and make a fine couple. As the DA's secretary, Glenda Farrell does a good job as a woman who finds herself in a real pickle.

By today's standards - actually by most standards, this is a short film, but entertaining.

Fairly standard murder melodrama (you wouldn't want to call it a whodunnit; it's too painfully obvious who did it). Stanwyck and her husband (the D.A.) must hide the fact that they are married until they find the evidence to clear her dad (the governor) from charges of accepting a bribe. The more they try to hide their involvement, the more they seem to implicate themselves and her father in an expanding list of crimes.

The cast is good, but the material is a bit too dry, lacks polish, and the pace is slow. Involving, but not intriguing, nor particularly memorable.

This is a pretty standard Warner's Who Done It, one that gives up the goods about 2/3rds of the way through. What puts this Stanwyck vehicle a notch or two above average is the fluid camera work employed--- Dieterle isn't afraid to employ some unusual overhead camera angles (or was Busby Berkeley hanging around the set?) and tracking shots. It's also obvious that Warner's wasn't afraid to spend more on their productions in 1934 than just a year or two before. The production values show where it counts, right down to the Orry-Kelly gowns on Ms. Stanwyck--- one in particular looked like it wiped out half the fox population in Depression-era California. Some of the motivations in the plot are fuzzy: Glenda Farrell's relationship with her boyfriend (is it just me or does Douglass Dumbrille look like he and Lionel Atwill were separated at birth?) is about as unclear as her reaction to his... errh, that'd give away too much. I give this a 10 for production values and a 4 for plot.

This sounds like a weepie but isn't. I wonder how many people were misled by the title when it was first on screens.

The two leads are good, as always. Grant Mitchell, though, is especially compelling.

It's a political suspense movie. There were many in this time, many not up to the consistent entertainment value of "The Secret Bride."

Secret Bride, The (1934)

*** (out of 4)

The governor's daughter (Barbara Stanwyck) secretly weds the D.A. (Warren William) but hours after the wedding he receives information that the governor has been taking bribes for paroles. This is your typical, fast paced drama from Warner that has a decent story but works mainly to the star power. William was born to play these types of roles and he steals the film delivering a very strong performance. William has such a calm, cool and collective way to deliver these types of performances and most of them are always worth watching. Stanwyck is also very good, although she delivers a few truly campy moments including one scene where she gets upset and punches a table. You'll know the scene when it happens. The two of them work well together and really carry the story which isn't the strongest in the world but it makes for a fun 64-minutes.