Pluskylang Great Film overall

MoPoshy Absolutely brilliant

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Spikeopath A Woman's Secret is directed by Nicholas Ray and adapted to screenplay by Herman J. Mankiewicz from the novel "Mortgage on Life" written by Vicki Baum. It stars Maureen O'Hara, Melvyn Douglas, Gloria Grahame, Victor Jory and Jay C. Flippen. Music is by Friedrich Hollaender and cinematography by George E. Diskant.When young singer Susan Caldwell (Grahame) is shot, Marian Washburn (O'Hara) takes the blame and is promptly charged. But something isn't right and those closest to Marian decide to dig a little deeper...If the Lord wanted you to have a bullet in you - you would have been born with one!A big mix of noir/mystery/melodrama conventions here as this RKO production ultimately holds its head just above water. The major problem that brings frustration is that the resolution just renders the whole story as sort of pointless, it does at times feel like they made it up as they went along, a jumbled collections of ideas.On the plus side there are some choice characterisations, a flashback structure and decent tech credits on show. Story is packed with angry lawyers, sarcastic coppers and sultry dames. Some of the dialogue spouted is noir gold, particularly when coming from the mouth of Flippen's (stealing the film but sadly under used) grizzled copper, while Ray and Diskant know their noir visuals as they tone down the contrasts and utilise closed in space for the more serious scenes in the story. Grahame is full of sexual and world wise innocence, teasing away like a good un', Jory gives a show of fidgety anger, while Douglas gets the tongue in cheek role and works well as a romantic prop feeding off of O'Hara's (actually under written considering it's the lead) more sternly sexy performance. This is not essential noir for the the noir lovers, and certainly not prime stuff from noir legend Nicholas Ray. Yet it's better than its maligned reputation suggests. But only just mind you... 6/10

wes-connors After preforming for a New York City radio station, popular singer Gloria Grahame (as Susan "Estrellita" Caldwell) goes back to the apartment she shares with roommate-manager Maureen O'Hara (as Marian Washburn) and threatens to give up her lucrative singing career. As we watch a maid perform her duties, a gunshot rings out – then, Ms. Grahame is found on the floor with Ms. O'Hara kneeling over her body. Through flashbacks, we learn what led up to the unfortunate opening. "A Woman's Secret" begins with intrigue, but falters as the flashbacks are confusing and the main characters become increasingly awkward. We are left to wonder why O'Hara "suddenly lost" her singing voice, due to a rare laryngitis, and how the voice is transferred to Grahame; moreover, O'Hara, both intelligent and uncommonly beautiful, decides to devote her life to the dim-witted perfume clerk from Azusa...The top-billed men involved with O'Hara and Grahame are pianist Melvyn Douglas (as Luke Jordan) and angry Bill Williams (Lee Crenshaw). They don't seem to know how to make sense of what is going on, which is understandable. Putting some life into the on-screen proceedings are police inspector Jay C. Flippen (as Fowler) and his wife Mary Philips (an amateur detective). Off-screen, director Nicholas Ray took Grahame over the threshold. While interesting in spots, Mr. Ray starts off the climactic O'Hara-Grahame confrontation with a fail – apparently, as evident in the scene where O'Hara walks in on Grahame burning a "Western Union" telegram, O'Hara lost her sense of smell along with her singing voice. She should have asked, "What did you burn, Susan?" Adding to the confusion, the beginning flashbacks don't match later events – maybe this was intended to make it all more interesting.**** A Woman's Secret (3/5/49) Nicholas Ray ~ Maureen O'Hara, Gloria Grahame, Melvyn Douglas, Bill Williams

MartinHafer The film begins with a shooting. While Maureen O'Hara tells the police she shot her protégé, Gloria Graham, her boyfriend (Melvin Douglas) is sure she couldn't have done such a thing. Both tell their side of the story from their perspective and the police wait until Graham recovers from surgery to get at the truth.This is an okay idea for a film--not great, but it sure could have been a lot better. The main problem is that although this was meant to be a serious suspense/mystery film, there were some characters who were poorly written--mostly the women in the cast. The worst, of course, was the detective's nosy wife. I assume someone thought it would be cute to include her in the story, but frankly she seemed all wrong for the overall mood of the film. On one hand, it was supposed to be a mystery and was rather interesting but on the other, they stuck this obnoxious ditz into the film for comic relief! Comic relief in a film like this just made very little sense. Having this obnoxious lady blundering about was akin to putting Pee Wee Herman in an opera. The other problem is that it simply made little sense to have O'Hara taking responsibility for the shooting--especially once you learn the truth. It just made no sense at all. The final problem, though not as serious, was that the character Graham played was frankly too dumb and flighty. Had they made her more ruthless or just less stupid, the film would have clicked much better. It all seemed as if the writers just couldn't write women's parts well.Had they worked out these problems, the film might have been very watchable. However, because of these factors, it's only a minor time-passer and not a film to rush to see.

Neil Doyle A WOMAN'S SECRET is a melodramatic noir style mystery based on a Vicki Baum story, played in florid fashion by MAUREEN O'HARA, MELVYN DOUGLAS and GLORIA GRAHAME, all of whom are a bit over-the-top under Nichols Ray's direction.O'Hara is the tough ex-singer promoter of the singing career of Grahame, and plays some of her argumentative moments as though she's Joan Crawford brandishing a gun in "Mildred Pierce". She gives the whole part a surface temperament of angry emotions that doesn't quite ring true, alternating with sweeter moments. She does get a chance to demonstrate her pleasant singing voice, unlike Grahame who is dubbed.After confessing to shooting Grahame during a heated argument over Gloria's decision to quit her career, she tells her story in flashback. Her good friend, MELVYN DOUGLAS, also fills in some of her background with another flashback, a la "Mildred Pierce" and "Laura" techniques.Douglas is a piano accompanist who refers to Grahame's singing voice as "a voice with hormones". He has some clever lines and plays the film's most believable character. BILL WILLIAMS shows up midway through the story as Grahame's friend (in a wasted role) who's anxious to see that O'Hara gets punishment for shooting Grahame. "I hope they hang her!" Unfortunately, it's also at the midway point that the story starts to lose interest, as the mystery is slow to clear up and the story rambles on with still another flashback full of exposition by Douglas about past events.A tighter script without all the flashbacks and a more direct way of telling the story might have made for improvements. As it is, it has a promising start but loses its way, stumbling in a strand of back stories long before any final explanation is given.