A young singer named Susan Caldwell is shot and seriously injured in an altercation with her flatmate, Marian Washburn. When the police arrive, Marian confesses to the shooting, but much remains unanswered, especially as Marian did not seem to have a motive.
The past history of Marian and Susan's relationship is revealed in a series of flashbacks, mostly as related by Marian's friend, a musician named Luke Jordan, and Jim Fowler, the police officer investigating the incident. We learn that Marian was at one time a singer herself, but had to retire after losing her voice. Marian and Luke discovered aspiring singer Susan and took her under their wing, Marian becoming a mentor to Susan's career. Susan, however, has doubts about her talent and threatens to quit the business, something which appalls Marian, who has come to see Susan as a second self. There is also a tangled web of emotional relationships involving Marian, Susan, Luke, an attorney named Brook Matthews and Lee Crenshaw, a crude and ruffianly ex-soldier.
For much of its length "A Woman's Secret" is an engaging film noir. We instinctively know that Marian is innocent, despite her confession, but cannot quite put our finger on the solution to the mystery. It is adeptly directed by Nicholas Ray, in only his third feature film, in classic expressionist noir style and the acting is of a reasonable standard. Yet even in the early scenes there are things that do not ring true. Why, for example, does Matthews, Susan's former fiance, agree to defend Marian? Surely legal etiquette would prevent a lawyer who had had so close a relationship with the alleged victim of a crime from acting for the alleged perpetrator.
It is, however, the ending which really lets the film down and prevents it from getting a higher mark. Fowler's interfering wife Mary, whose knowledge of crime and police procedure is almost entirely gleaned from the pulp detective novels she reads, has previously functioned as the film's rather annoying comic relief, but she suddenly emerges as a major character with an important role in solving the mystery. The solution, however, only raises more unanswered questions. Instead of asking ourselves "Is Marian really guilty?", we now have to ask "Why did Marian confess to a crime she did not commit?", and never get an answer. The answer cannot be guilt feelings, as what she was trying to do- preventing Susan from committing suicide with a gun given to her by Lee, who turns out to be her estranged husband- was entirely laudable.
Susan's lack of self-confidence, understandable in an inexperienced young beginner, also becomes more difficult to understand when we learn that she has had immense success in showbiz, even seeing her name (or rather her stage name Estrellita) up in lights on Broadway. The film just about does enough in its early stages to keep an above-average mark, but it is really let down by a badly thought-out ending. 6/10.
The past history of Marian and Susan's relationship is revealed in a series of flashbacks, mostly as related by Marian's friend, a musician named Luke Jordan, and Jim Fowler, the police officer investigating the incident. We learn that Marian was at one time a singer herself, but had to retire after losing her voice. Marian and Luke discovered aspiring singer Susan and took her under their wing, Marian becoming a mentor to Susan's career. Susan, however, has doubts about her talent and threatens to quit the business, something which appalls Marian, who has come to see Susan as a second self. There is also a tangled web of emotional relationships involving Marian, Susan, Luke, an attorney named Brook Matthews and Lee Crenshaw, a crude and ruffianly ex-soldier.
For much of its length "A Woman's Secret" is an engaging film noir. We instinctively know that Marian is innocent, despite her confession, but cannot quite put our finger on the solution to the mystery. It is adeptly directed by Nicholas Ray, in only his third feature film, in classic expressionist noir style and the acting is of a reasonable standard. Yet even in the early scenes there are things that do not ring true. Why, for example, does Matthews, Susan's former fiance, agree to defend Marian? Surely legal etiquette would prevent a lawyer who had had so close a relationship with the alleged victim of a crime from acting for the alleged perpetrator.
It is, however, the ending which really lets the film down and prevents it from getting a higher mark. Fowler's interfering wife Mary, whose knowledge of crime and police procedure is almost entirely gleaned from the pulp detective novels she reads, has previously functioned as the film's rather annoying comic relief, but she suddenly emerges as a major character with an important role in solving the mystery. The solution, however, only raises more unanswered questions. Instead of asking ourselves "Is Marian really guilty?", we now have to ask "Why did Marian confess to a crime she did not commit?", and never get an answer. The answer cannot be guilt feelings, as what she was trying to do- preventing Susan from committing suicide with a gun given to her by Lee, who turns out to be her estranged husband- was entirely laudable.
Susan's lack of self-confidence, understandable in an inexperienced young beginner, also becomes more difficult to understand when we learn that she has had immense success in showbiz, even seeing her name (or rather her stage name Estrellita) up in lights on Broadway. The film just about does enough in its early stages to keep an above-average mark, but it is really let down by a badly thought-out ending. 6/10.