The Secret of My Success (1965)

Arthur Tate rose to his fame, wealth and respectability quickly from humble beginnings as a naive and somewhat bumbling police constable in a small English town. He attributes this rise to ... See full summary »

Director:

Andrew L. Stone

Writer:

Andrew L. Stone

Stars:

Shirley Jones, Stella Stevens, Honor Blackman

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Shirley Jones	...	Marigold Marado
Stella Stevens	...	Violet Lawson
Honor Blackman	...	Lily, Baroness von Lukenberg
James Booth	...	Arthur Tate
Lionel Jeffries	...	Insp. Hobart / Baron von Lukenberg / The Earl of Aldershot / President Esteda
Richard Vernon	...	Lord Hetherby
Amy Dalby	...	Mrs. Tate
David Davenport	...	Dr. Adams
Peadar Lamb	...	Superintendent Henderson
Ann Lancaster	...	Angela Pringle
Martin Benson	...	Rex Mansard
Reginald Beckwith	...	Gen. Ferdinand Velez
Nicolau Breyner	...	Pallazio
Ernest Clark	...	Earl of Aldershot's solicitor
Bob Harris

Storyline

Arthur Tate rose to his fame, wealth and respectability quickly from humble beginnings as a naive and somewhat bumbling police constable in a small English town. He attributes this rise to his mantra: "believe in people, have faith in mankind, and never search for evil", which was instilled in him by his mother. Although the tenets of this mantra did help, his rise was also due to his romantic affection for three women: dressmaker Violet Lawson whose husband went missing and was presumed murdered; Lily, the Baroness von Lukenberg, whose husband had a seeming affinity for the issues of selective breeding and spiders; and movie producer Marigold Marado, who wanted to make a realistic film of a political revolution. His rise was also due to Mrs. Tate, who always seemed to have an extra piece of information which would make her suggest to the people in power that her son Arthur be provided a position where he could do more good. Perhaps Mrs. Tate had a grander plan for herself.

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Plot Keywords:

spider | revolution | mother | husband wife relationship | murder | 

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Taglines:

How three beautiful girls love for fun - and murder for profit.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 December 1965 (UK)

Also Known As:

O Segredo do Meu Sucesso

Filming Locations:

Blenheim Palace, Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min 99 min (TCM print)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

No Secrets
By Derek New

User Reviews

There's Only One Secret Here …

…and that's, "How did this inane project ever get greenlighted?" It's a particularly peculiar secret, considering the largely topnotch cast (Shirley Jones, Honor Blackmun, Stella Stevens and Lionel Jeffries) and sensational production values (art direction, costuming, set decoration and special effects) provided by MGM. Why lavish such professional sheen on an inane script, listless direction and a colorless leading man. Sadly, in fact, James Booth deserves most of the blame. He gives such a bland performance, Jones, Blackmun, Stevens and Jeffries are forced to shamelessly overact just to pump some life into the scenes. Given the script, even the best of funnymen couldn't have made much out of "Secret …". However, just imagine how much better it would have been were the leading man Benny Hill.

I have to mention this. Those who only saw Honor Blackmun in "Goldfinger" cannot appreciate how genuinely beautiful she is. Blackmun has never looked better, even when one is distracted by the question, "Is she, or is she not going to fall out of her blouse?" I give "The Secret of My Success" a "4".