I have seen a few pre Columbia movies of Jean Arthur's and she was simply not good ( especially in The Greene Murder Case), but here she was outstanding ( including outdoing Fay Wray (Kay Roberts), and this from a Wray fan). Her character ( Beatrice ( Bea) Stephens) does whatever is necessary to keep her sailor sweetie Joe Hart ( Richard Arlen) from being executed for a murder he did not commit. What the Lawyer's Secret refers to is an attorney named Drake Norris knows who was involved in the murder. It turns out to be Kay's brother Laurie ( Charles Buddy Rogers). So Drake had to wrestle with letting an innocent man die or violating his oath not to tell about Laurie. It gets even harder when Kay finds out and naturally she does not want her brother to die. Spoilers ahead: Joe is saved because of the efforts of Bea and a couple of sailors in capturing the real killer, and Laurie finally tells the truth and he gets prison but only 1-3 years because he testified against the killer. Once again an outstanding Jean Arthur performance and a must for her fans. I give it 10/10 stars.
Review of The Lawyer's Secret
