"If you take another trip up the river, people will be calling you Show Boat!" That clever line of dialog, from one shady character to another, is one of the few surprising moments in this static crime drama from PRC, a "Z" grade studio that couldn't compare to the sizzling fast-moving programmers over at Monogram. The story surrounds the shooting of an ex-con, the former boyfriend of a prosecutor's girlfriend, and her brother, accused of the crime. In retrospect, as I got into the courtroom drama (with a surprisingly good ending), I realized that this was almost like a radio soap opera, minus the organ music of course.
3 Reviews
Very badly written, even for a PRC cheapie.
planktonrules21 October 2013
Warning: Spoilers
"Secret Evidence" is a bad film and I am shocked its overall score is as high as it is. It's bad not so much because of the acting but because the script is absolutely ludicrous and often makes little sense. Again and again and again, folks behave in ways that defy common sense and if they'd ever made NORMAL choices, the plot would have completely unraveled.
The film begins with one of the strangest courtships in movie history. A guy is leaving his job to work for the district attorney's office and his current secretary is concerned that he might not take her with him. However, completely out of the blue, he asks her to marry him! And, she accepts! Weird. But what is so much weirder and completely unbelievable is what happens next. That EXACT SAME NIGHT, he old boyfriend is unexpectedly released from prison and he will NOT take no for an answer! He insists that she MUST take him back and behaves very threatening towards her and the family. Now, common sense would dictate that you call the police--after all, this crook is on parole. PLUS, her fiancé works for the DA as a prosecuting attorney. Wouldn't you think she'd tell him about the guy?! But inexplicably, she doesn't--and even agrees to meet the crook ex-boyfriend later.
When the dumb lady arrives at the ex's house, her brother also shows up to shoot the guy! But, at the exact same time, another killer shows up and shoots the crook! The police put the pieces of evidence together and they think her brother did it! Now all she needed to do was explain what happened...but she doesn't.
What the fiancé does is really goofy and stupid as well. Despite the defendant being his future brother-in-law, he does NOT recuse himself from the case!! Then, late in the film, he learns for a fact that the brother did NOT shoot the man--but prosecutes him anyways in order to get the REAL shooter to reveal himself!! Huh?!?! The bottom line is that even for a low-budget B, this is a terribly written and utterly illogical film. Not worth your time...seriously. Trust me on this one.
The film begins with one of the strangest courtships in movie history. A guy is leaving his job to work for the district attorney's office and his current secretary is concerned that he might not take her with him. However, completely out of the blue, he asks her to marry him! And, she accepts! Weird. But what is so much weirder and completely unbelievable is what happens next. That EXACT SAME NIGHT, he old boyfriend is unexpectedly released from prison and he will NOT take no for an answer! He insists that she MUST take him back and behaves very threatening towards her and the family. Now, common sense would dictate that you call the police--after all, this crook is on parole. PLUS, her fiancé works for the DA as a prosecuting attorney. Wouldn't you think she'd tell him about the guy?! But inexplicably, she doesn't--and even agrees to meet the crook ex-boyfriend later.
When the dumb lady arrives at the ex's house, her brother also shows up to shoot the guy! But, at the exact same time, another killer shows up and shoots the crook! The police put the pieces of evidence together and they think her brother did it! Now all she needed to do was explain what happened...but she doesn't.
What the fiancé does is really goofy and stupid as well. Despite the defendant being his future brother-in-law, he does NOT recuse himself from the case!! Then, late in the film, he learns for a fact that the brother did NOT shoot the man--but prosecutes him anyways in order to get the REAL shooter to reveal himself!! Huh?!?! The bottom line is that even for a low-budget B, this is a terribly written and utterly illogical film. Not worth your time...seriously. Trust me on this one.
Sacrifice
boblipton6 May 2008
This is a pretty good PRC cheapie about how Marjorie Reynolds is about to marry her boss, a lawyer about to become an Assistant District Attorney, when her old boyfriend shows up after four years in prison, ready to collect her and the loot from the job he went to prison for, a job done with Marjorie's brother.
It's a spiffy screenplay and the actors are all good, but the piece is directed without much in the way of flair. The dp, little-known Arthur Martinell, had his best-known work in the 1920s, particularly the comedy ELLA CINDERS. But while he does his best with a set of classical compositions and camera moves and some moderately interesting use of the cheap PRC style of lighting, old-time director Willam Nigh never does much to make this more than adequate.
It's a spiffy screenplay and the actors are all good, but the piece is directed without much in the way of flair. The dp, little-known Arthur Martinell, had his best-known work in the 1920s, particularly the comedy ELLA CINDERS. But while he does his best with a set of classical compositions and camera moves and some moderately interesting use of the cheap PRC style of lighting, old-time director Willam Nigh never does much to make this more than adequate.
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