A Woman's Secret (1949)

Susan is in the hospital with a bullet near her heart. Marian has told the police that she shot Susan in a rage as Susan was giving up singing. Marian and Luke found Susan when she was a ... See full summary »

Director:

Nicholas Ray

Writers:

Vicki Baum (novel), Herman J. Mankiewicz (screenplay)

Stars:

Maureen O'Hara, Melvyn Douglas, Gloria Grahame

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Maureen O'Hara	...	Marian Washburn
Melvyn Douglas	...	Luke Jordan
Gloria Grahame	...	Susan Caldwell / Estrellita
Bill Williams	...	Lee Crenshaw
Victor Jory	...	Brook Matthews
Mary Philips	...	Mrs. Mary Fowler
Jay C. Flippen	...	Police Insp. Jim Fowler
Robert Warwick	...	Assistant District Attorney Roberts
Curt Conway	...	Doctor
Ann Shoemaker	...	Mrs. Matthews, Brook's Mother
Virginia Farmer	...	Mollie the Washburn Maid
Ellen Corby	...	Nurse who reads paper to Susan
Emory Parnell	...	Police Lieutenant at Desk

Storyline

Susan is in the hospital with a bullet near her heart. Marian has told the police that she shot Susan in a rage as Susan was giving up singing. Marian and Luke found Susan when she was a failure. A singer with a limited range, she was a diamond in the rough which Marian and Luke taught how to walk, dress and talk. With the singing lessons, Marian had hoped that she would have the career that Marian would have had if she had not lost her voice. Even though Susan is a scatterbrain girl, Luke does not believe that Marian would have been capable of shooting her. Luke hopes that Detective Fowler will be able to find out the truth and free Marian.

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Plot Keywords:

singer | friend | murder | flashback | piano player | 

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 March 1949 (USA)

Also Known As:

Mortgage on Life

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

84 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Nicholas Ray and Gloria Grahame met while shooting this film. They were married in Las Vegas shortly after completing the film. They chose Las Vegas because Ray loved to gamble and to allow Grahame to get a quickie divorce (after the required six weeks of residency in Nevada) from actor Stanley Clements. The day the divorced was granted, the two married.

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Quotes

Luke Jordan: Where do you come from?
Susan Caldwell aka Estrellita: Azusa. Azusa, California.
Luke Jordan: Azusa?
Susan Caldwell aka Estrellita: It's kind of a made-up word. Different letters. They put them together - that's how they got the name. Everything from A to Z, USA. A-ZU-SA.

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Soundtracks

"Paradise"
Music by Nacio Herb Brown
Lyrics by Gordon Clifford
Sung by Maureen O'Hara on the phonograph
Also sung by Gloria Grahame (dubbed by Kaye Lorraine)

User Reviews

An Imperfect Why Done It?

I'm not going to bother with the silly story behind this farce. There are several other reviews with that info. The film is full of great actors and Maureen O'Hara is stunningly beautiful. Although there's enough talent to keep you entertained up to the end, my main concern is what this film is not.

It is not a whodunit, although Jay C. Flippen as police inspector Jim Fowler at one point says it is. It is not Film Noir, although one flashback scene looks very noirish. Finally, it is certainly not an "All About Eve" as the film is actually all about nobody. In fact, it was impossible for me to figure out why most of the characters do what they do -- but, maybe you can.

Why does the police inspector sit and listen to Melvyn Douglas drone on for hours about what a great gal the Maureen O'Hara character is? Why does Maureen O'Hara insist that she is guilty? Why does Gloria Grahame have a German Luger in her purse? Why does the police inspector's wife suddenly turn into a detective? Why is Bill Williams even in the movie?

There are many more inexplicable questions that I felt were never answered, but I guess it's just A Woman's Secret.