The Secret Heart

source: The Secret Heart

This film has all the ingredients that make me tend to like a movie. And while I do like this film, I'm only going to give it my "basic" "7" rating -- good but not great. June Allyson, playing a teenager here, was actually about 30 years old when making this film. However, that aspect of the film does work well enough, although I found that her change in the ten years the film covers not so believable. She does well here. So what are the ingredients here that I like? A good story -- a teen hates her stepmother, and later finds out that her father committed suicide. Meanwhile, the girl falls in love with her stepmothers middle-aged male friend. For a while that bothered me, but after thinking about it, she is mentally ill and feels comfortable with him...so yes, I guess that's believable, too. The other good thing about this film is the cast: Claudette Colbert, Walter Pidgeon, June Allyson, Lionel Barrymore, a young Marshall Thompson, and wonderful character actress Elizabeth Patterson. To be honest, almost any film with Claudette Colbert is worth watching, and this is no exception. And Walter Pidgeon is just right for his part, as well. Robert Sterling does nicely here, as well. A good film. Not a great film.

Allyson was the miscast role here in "Secret Heart" In all those ww II flicks, she was the "wide-eyed, innocent, perfect, little wife left at home while soldier is off at war", but i wish they had chosen someone else for this role. There are so many other strong, versatile actors in this one, it's a shame they don't show it more often. "Penny" (June Allyson) THINKS she knows the truth about her dead father, and is living in her own world when reality hits her head on. With Walter Pidgeon, Claudette Colbert, Lionel Barrymore, and Robert Sterling, it's a showcase of so many strong actors. All charismatic, versatile personalities. There isn't room here to describe the strengths and history of most of them, so maybe it'll be easier to describe the film's weakness - Allyson. She is still playing the wide-eyed, innocent, but way-off-base-daughter, ignorant to the realities of life, and the dark side of it. Claudette Colbert (Lee Addams) could play ANY part, and also showed up in so many ww II flicks. My favorite Colbert film is, of course, Imitation of Life, the first (Better) version. Pidgeon, who appeared in SO many big films, had just been nominated for his role in "Madame Curie". Here, he is Chris Matthews, friend to Lee, in a smaller role. Still a great film, but could have been even better, with that casting change. Just my little opinion.

Soap opera at its best. Claudette Colbert is wonderful as usual again in a role of sacrifice for step-children nonetheless. Marrying a widower who subsequently commits suicide, she takes them away to avoid scandal and becomes highly successful in the real estate industry. Fast forward 10 years later. Robert Sterling, the son, returns from navy service to find his sister, wonderfully played by June Allyson, to be emotionally distraught. Sterling knew the circumstances of his father's death whereas the Allison character didn't. To complicate matters, Walter Pidgeon was the best friend to the father. He was the man that Colbert should have wed but did not. When psychiatrist Lionel Barrymore tells Colbert to return to the farm where all this occurred, this opens up a can of worms as Allison falls for Pidgeon herself. When she learns the truth about her father and that Colbert is the woman for Pidgeon, this results in near tragedy. This picture was well done. It is a story of sacrifice, understanding of the heart and of good people caught in the tragedy of yesterday.

This is a glossy psycho-soap with a fine cast and enough offbeat occasions to keep one interested. The mental illness of the young daughter, suffering from the early death of her father, is not handled too heavily and the film suffers somewhat from this shallow interpretation. The creepiness really starts when she falls for her Mother's lover and things start to get stirred to the breaking point. This happens late in the film and maybe just a little too late for this to be a top notch thriller. It is intriguing enough but lacks the depth of character study and is a bit light for this type of psychological picture, so it comes off more as a slick family drama than the study of a sick mind and its effect on the family.

After World War II, Hollywood embarked upon making many films with psychological themes. The war had changed a lot of things, and people who came back from it were not the same. In "The Secret Heart" from 1946, we learn the tragic story of a gifted pianist, Larry Addams, who wasn't able to pursue music as a career. After his wife dies, he marries Lee (Claudette Colbert), which also means she takes on his two young children, Penny (June Allyson) and Chase (Robert Sterling). Larry turns to alcohol and also steals from his company. One night, he refuses to attend a party with Lee, content to drink and play the piano at home. Lee has a great time, dancing with their mutual friend Chris (Walter Pidgeon), whom Lee met while she was engaged to Larry. Chris fell for her, but Lee went ahead and married Larry, though everyone stayed friends. When she gets home from the party and a visit to a nightclub, Larry is dead, a suicide. Lee keeps the headlines about his embezzlement from the children and tells them that their father died in a car accident. She then sets out to work and repay all of his debts. Because of Penny's resentment of her, Lee tells Chris that he needs to keep away from them, and she devotes herself to the children. Penny as a teenager is quite disturbed, still upset about her father's death and feeling that she is a lot like him. Lee seeks psychiatric help for her. The psychiatrist tells Lee that Penny should know the truth about her father. Lee's first move is to re-open their old farm, which is right near Chris', which will make Penny happy. Her brother Chase, home from the service, introduces her to a young soldier friend (Marshall Thompson), and he becomes very interested in Penny. Chris starts coming around. It looks as though everything is going in the right direction. Except no one realizes that Penny has another interest. This is a good movie, a little on the noir side, and it's a chance to see June Allyson do something besides enthusiasm. I had seen her dramatic side before and knew she had a wider range, but I imagine it is a surprise for some. Colbert is absolutely beautiful and does well as a lovely, sympathetic woman who only wants what is best for Larry's children. Robert Sterling is amiable and attractive, as is Marshall Thompson. Both of them found success in television a few years later. There's an aura of suspense around the film, as well as a warmth, thanks to Colbert and Pidgeon. It's an interesting story of how one man's deeds affect the next generation and the woman and friend he leaves behind.

I jumped into this movie with both feet because of the stars. I like all of them for different reasons. Walter Pigeon, Claudette Colbert, June Allyson, Lyle Barrymore. Heck, they even have Mrs. Trumble (Lucky and Ricky Ricardo's upstairs neighbor)as the housekeeper on the farm. What I wasn't ready for was June Allyson as a teenager when she was just on the sunny side of thirty. That certainly did NOT work for me. If she had been Colbert's step SISTER, instead of stepdaughter that would have worked for me just dandy. But, having said that, I want to point out it was the best performance June has turned in so far and I thought I had seen them all. She was wonderful. She did her best while being cast totally against type and age range. And, she pulled it off with aplomb. The sets, the costumes, the choice of the other characters all worked and so I am sure you will have a nice rainy afternoon if you choose to watch this on AMC or TCM. But, I would NOT suggest buying or renting this movie. It is simply not worth the expense when there are so many much better movies out there.

I won't rehash the plot as many viewers before me have already done that for us. I will say that I enjoyed the film, as I have always liked the work of June Allyson and Claudette Colbert. It was a nice change to see June in a different kind of a role for her. I also liked her in The Shrike. In that one, she also turned in a very different type of role expected of her. The problem for some viewers is that they don't want to see June in anything else except Little Miss Sunshine. Now June may not have been Meryl Streep, but she was a good actress. I think the whole cast was fine, and Robert Sterling as Claudette's adult son was very good. He and Claudette as stepson and stepmother exhibited a loving and believable relationship. It was also fun to see Elizabeth Patterson (Mrs. Trumble from I Love Lucy) as the housekeeper/cook. As for Miss Colbert, I had the privilege of seeing her in two Broadway shows (The Kingfisher and A Talent for Murder). She gave me an autograph and we enjoyed a brief chat at the stage door. She was gracious, sweet, and still beautiful. As for the film, she was very strong and believable as the determined mother to take on all she needed to in order to provide for her children and to clean up her husband's mistakes. The Secret Heart maybe a bit melodramatic at times, but as a product of the 1940's, it is an interesting film and well made.

An oddity that comes closest, I think, to a noirish family drama. Troubled Penny (Allyson) is obsessed with her dead father, causing problems with her stepmom (Colbert) especially when they become rivals over affections of family friend Chris (Pidgeon). It's a June Allyson seldom seen and a long way from her usual bubbly roles. Still, she handles the disturbed daughter's antics in effective fashion. Those scenes at cliff's edge bordering an eternal sea are eerily enchanting and a tribute to the production crew. This was a period following the war when movies with strong Freudian themes were popular, including Bewitched (1945) and The Snake Pit (1948). . The acting is first-rate, and I especially like Sterling as the upbeat Chase who furnishes a counterpoint of normality to the moody family atmosphere. Pidgeon too is suavely effective, though his Chris seems a little dense about Penny's obvious designs on him. The version I saw (TMC) didn't include the narration by Hume Cronyn listed in the credits. Perhaps it's just as well since the movie works well enough without a voice-over. The ending is about what you'd expect from this Code enforced period and is way too pat for what's gone before. Nonetheless, it's an effective little exercise that manages a shade of difference from other programmers of the period.

The psychological drama is dated and simplistic in the analysis of the depression suffered by Allysion. But the dance scene with Walter Pigeon and Claudette Colbert is classic, both humorous and very real. Both are such hams and obviously enjoyed making fun of themselves. The piano was excellent, classical piano goes well with deranged minds. In a way it was reminiscent of Rebecca. The use of flash backs was done nicely, integrating the story. Colbert is ageless as always, playing both the young stepmother and the older widow. The movie gave a very real depiction of how an enabling wife struggles with an alcoholic husband.