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The Secret 6

  • 1931
  • Passed
  • 1h 23m
IMDb RATING
6.3/10
925
YOUR RATING
Wallace Beery and Jean Harlow in The Secret 6 (1931)
CrimeDrama

After rising bootlegger Slaughterhouse Scorpio eliminates his gangland competition, two reporters and a cabal of six businessmen work to expose him.After rising bootlegger Slaughterhouse Scorpio eliminates his gangland competition, two reporters and a cabal of six businessmen work to expose him.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
  • Writer
    • Frances Marion
  • Stars
    • Wallace Beery
    • Lewis Stone
    • Johnny Mack Brown
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.3/10
    925
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • George W. Hill
    • Writer
      • Frances Marion
    • Stars
      • Wallace Beery
      • Lewis Stone
      • Johnny Mack Brown
    • 36User reviews
    • 16Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos46

    Wallace Beery and Jean Harlow in The Secret 6 (1931)
    Jean Harlow in The Secret 6 (1931)
    Clark Gable and Jean Harlow in The Secret 6 (1931)
    Ralph Bellamy and Lewis Stone in The Secret 6 (1931)
    Jean Harlow and Louis Natheaux in The Secret 6 (1931)
    Wallace Beery and Marjorie Rambeau in The Secret 6 (1931)
    Ralph Bellamy in The Secret 6 (1931)
    The Secret 6 (1931)
    Murray Kinnell in The Secret 6 (1931)
    Louis Natheaux in The Secret 6 (1931)
    Clark Gable and Johnny Mack Brown in The Secret 6 (1931)
    Clark Gable and Jean Harlow in The Secret 6 (1931)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Wallace Beery
    Wallace Beery
    • Louis Scorpio
    Lewis Stone
    Lewis Stone
    • Richard Newton - Attorney at Law
    Johnny Mack Brown
    Johnny Mack Brown
    • Hank Rogers
    • (as John Mack Brown)
    Jean Harlow
    Jean Harlow
    • Anne Courtland
    Marjorie Rambeau
    Marjorie Rambeau
    • Peaches
    Paul Hurst
    Paul Hurst
    • Nick Mizoski - the Gouger
    Clark Gable
    Clark Gable
    • Carl Luckner
    Ralph Bellamy
    Ralph Bellamy
    • Johnny Franks
    John Miljan
    John Miljan
    • Joe Colimo
    DeWitt Jennings
    DeWitt Jennings
    • Chief of Police Donlin
    Murray Kinnell
    Murray Kinnell
    • Metz - the Dummy
    Fletcher Norton
    Fletcher Norton
    • Jimmy Delano
    Louis Natheaux
    Louis Natheaux
    • Eddie
    Frank McGlynn Sr.
    Frank McGlynn Sr.
    • Judge
    • (as Frank McGlynn)
    Theodore von Eltz
    Theodore von Eltz
    • District Attorney Keeler
    • (as Theodore Von Eltz)
    Lynton Brent
    Lynton Brent
    • Reporter
    • (uncredited)
    Mary Carlisle
    Mary Carlisle
    • Girl
    • (uncredited)
    Charles Giblyn
    • Mr. Simms - Ballistics Expert
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • George W. Hill
    • Writer
      • Frances Marion
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      During the filming, Irving Thalberg had scenes added to bolster Clark Gable's part, making it three times larger than in the original script, and he was given an MGM contract after shooting was completed.
    • Goofs
      Although supposedly set in Chicago, after the shoot-out in the bar, as the gangs drive off on the rear-projection in the background can be seen the large vertical sign for the Metropolitan Theater in Los Angeles (at the corner of 6th and Hill Streets). That footage was also shot in 1929 or before as during that year Paramount bought the theater and renamed it "The Paramount). The distinctive 5-globe Llewellyn Iron Works streetlights are also a giveaway those shots were done in L.A.
    • Quotes

      Donlin: [Noticing Slaughterhouse's bloody arm] Where'd you get these wounds, Slaughterhouse?

      Scorpio: A bee stung me.

      Donlin: Yeah?

      Scorpio: Yeah!

      Donlin: You're gonna have a whole hive on you before I get through with yuh.

      Scorpio: Yeah?

      Donlin: Yeah!

    • Connections
      Referenced in Hollywood Hist-o-Rama: Jean Harlow (1962)
    • Soundtracks
      For He's a Jolly Good Fellow
      (uncredited)

      Traditional

      Played at the party for Scorpio

    User reviews36

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    Good cast really makes this early crime drama
    While not on the level of the work being done in Warners crime films during the same period ("The Public Enemy," "Little Caesar"), "The Secret Six" is a fine picture with a lot to recommend it.

    Primarily, this comes from the cast. Wallace Beery, then at the height of his fame, makes for a good central figure as Louis "Slaughterhouse" Scorpio, as the name implies, a former slaughterhouse worker turned bootlegger and murderer. His ordering "a hunk o'steak" after spending all day crushing animals heads with a sledgehammer suggests, right at the beginning, that killing means nothing to this huge primate of a man. Lewis Stone, on the wrong side of the law for once, is Newton, the dandyish crooked lawyer and head of the gang, giving an understated, sinister performance and making every scene count. Ralph Bellamy, one of the movies' perennial nice guys, plays a very, very bad guy here, as the gangster who brings Scorpio into the gang, to his later regret. And veteran Marjorie Rambeau, while she has little to do overall, is good as Bellamy's blowsy mistress, Peaches, a far cry from the society matrons she would specialize in later in her career.

    But the big surprise, and one of the main reasons for watching this picture, are the solid early performances of Jean Harlow and a young, sans-mustache Clark Gable. Both were free-lancers who were hired for this film on a one-time basis. MGM was so impressed with their work as, respectively, Anne, the cigarette girl who loves and loses reporter Johnny Mack Brown, and Carl, the crusading reporter who aids the Secret Six of the title in bringing down Stone and Beery's criminal organization, that they were hired to long-term contracts right after the picture was completed. Both turn in solid performances. Those who think Harlow couldn't act should see her in the last third of the film, particularly the trial scene. And the sheer mile-a-minute energy Gable brings to his role makes his every scene watchable. Within the next few years, these two would establish themselves as the stuff of Hollywood legend.

    Directed by the excellent, underrated George Hill ("Tell It To the Marines," "Min and Bill," "Hell Divers"), scripted by the great Frances Marion, and with the aforementioned solid cast and the usual MGM gloss, "The Secret Six" makes for a very enjoyable film, for historians, crime film buffs, fans of the stars, and just those of us who appreciate a good, involving story.
    helpful•23
    0
    • BobLib
    • Nov 11, 2003

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    FAQ3

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 18, 1931 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • Italian
    • Also known as
      • Los seis misterios
    • Filming locations
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Cosmopolitan Productions
      • Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Budget
      • $494,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      1 hour 23 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White

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