The Secret 6 (1931)

After rising bootlegger Slaughterhouse Scorpio eliminates his gangland competition, two reporters and a cabal of six businessmen work to expose him.

Director:

George W. Hill (as George Hill)

Writer:

Frances Marion (story and dialogue)

Stars:

Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Johnny Mack Brown

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Wallace Beery	...	Louis Scorpio
Lewis Stone	...	Richard Newton - Attorney at Law
Johnny Mack Brown	...	Hank Rogers (as John Mack Brown)
Jean Harlow	...	Anne Courtland
Marjorie Rambeau	...	Peaches
Paul Hurst	...	Nick Mizoski - the Gouger
Clark Gable	...	Carl Luckner
Ralph Bellamy	...	Johnny Franks
John Miljan	...	Joe Colimo
DeWitt Jennings	...	Chief of Police Donlin
Murray Kinnell	...	Metz - the Dummy
Fletcher Norton	...	Jimmy Delano
Louis Natheaux	...	Eddie
Frank McGlynn Sr.	...	Judge (as Frank McGlynn)
Theodore von Eltz	...	District Attorney Keeler (as Theodore Von Eltz)

Storyline

Bootlegger/cafe owner Ralph Bellamy recruits crude working man Wallace Beery to join his gang which is masterminded by crooked criminal defense lawyer Lewis Stone. Beery eventually takes over Bellamy's operation, beats a rival gang, becomes wealthy and dominates the city for several years until a secret group of 6 masked businessmen have him prosecuted and sent to the electric chair with the help of rival crusading newspapermen Clark Gable and Johnny Mack Brown. Waitress Jean Harlow is torn between her love for the honest newsman Brown and her financial dependence on her generous boss, Beery.

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Plot Keywords:

shot in the arm | slaughterhouse | reporter | bootlegger | death row | 

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

18 April 1931 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Secret Six

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$494,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

83 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The $20,000 per year Ann states that she pays for rent on her apartment would equal about $312,000 in 2016.

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Goofs

When 'Slaughterhouse' Scorpio (Wallace Beery) shoots Johnny Franks (Ralph Bellamy), the view is of Franks from behind and only the gun smoke and sound of an automatic weapon firing from just off-screen. When Scorpio is shown immediately afterward, he is holding a revolver and not an automatic weapon, so obviously the two scenes were shot separately and patched together.

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Quotes

Carl: Hi, baby!
Anne: Hello!
Carl: How's business?

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Connections

Referenced in Boardwalk Empire: Cuanto (2014)

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Soundtracks

For He's a Jolly Good Fellow
(uncredited)
Traditional
Played at the party for Scorpio

User Reviews

One of the earliest "Talkie" gangster movies

I saw this recently on TCM and was quite impressed. This film came before the better known gangster movies of that era-- "Little Caesar," "Public Enemy," and, the greatest of them all-- "Scarface." It was also made at a time when sound recording technology for motion pictures was very new and still in development. The first talkie gangster movie, which happened to be the first all-talkie movie, was "Lights of New York," made in 1928. In that film the equipment was so clunky that the actors had to speak loud and slow and stay close to the microphone. By 1931, several improvements had come along, but it was still a difficult technical achievement to make a film like this.

There is a scene towards the beginning where Ralph Belamy, who does a great job as a sinister hood, fires a tommy-gun in a night club and kills a guy. Then, he and his cohorts run out and jump in a car. The rival gang pursues them, firing their own tommy-gun. Finally, the rivals crash. But during the chase scene, we are taken through city streets, with the cars running fast and the machine guns blazing. Granted, this was done much better a year or so later in "Scarface," but this film set the precedent.

The film is also worth seeing for the Clark Gable role. He shows the charm that made him a star. Harlow is also great as the moll. For a film made that long ago-- at the very beginning of the sound era-- it is well worth viewing whenever it appears again on Turner or any other channel.