JohnHowardReid Although it wasn't planned that way at the time, Secrets (1933) turned out to be Mary Pickford's last film. An odd choice for her, since the male role is the main one. Although not a total write-off, the film's more than a bit disappointing. Most movies adapted from stage plays do their best to disguise that fact. This one doesn't! The action falls into three very distinct Acts. The first is played mainly for comedy with Leslie Howard (of all people) enacting a clownish young man on an idiotic penny farthing bicycle - and playing it most unconvincingly. I suspect that Marshal Neilan directed most of this rubbish before producer Pickford woke up to his incompetence and fired him. His replacement, Frank Borzage handled the night garden scene with pictorial finesse, but didn't do much with the rest of the movie, although the Second Act turned out as actually the most interesting of the three. It's a western, would you believe, with Leslie Howard as a gunslinger? He's more convincing than you might expect, but we have to wait for Act Three before we encounter really charismatic acting - and it doesn't come from either the stars or the main support players, but from Mona Maris who plays her one scene with presence and style. The aim of the stage play was obviously to show the main male character through three stages of his life - young, unsure romantic, then reluctant hero, and finally discredited heel. This sort of stagey device can work well in a theater where the Acts are conspicuously separated by long Intervals while the stage-hands change the set. In a movie, where the Acts are divided by no more than an insert title, the device seems both jarring and artificial - here especially as neither Howard nor Pickford can muster enough gusto to bring it off. No wonder Pickford never returned to the screen! You might have the main role, but even an incompetent male lead - or a really jazzy also-in-the-cast whom the director, the photographer and the dress designer wish to indulge - can muscle you right off the screen and put you in the shadows!

jjnxn-1 Pickford's screen swan song is her best talkie, admittedly not a high bar, that moves at breakneck speed through its tale of the romance, marriage, struggles and ultimate success of its main couple. It crams too much into its 83 minute running time but as early sound films go it's not bad.At 42 she's unconvincing as a young belle at the beginning of the film but after about ten minutes she's out of that guise and from then on her performance is quite good. Unsurprisingly her strongest moments, as well as the film's, are the one's without dialog. It gives a peek at why she was one of the queens of silents and it seems regretful that just as she was adjusting to sound she chose to withdraw. The film wasn't a hit on release and Mary, nothing if not canny, sensed that though the parade had not passed her by as of yet it was just around the corner. So she retired, enormously wealthy and a power broker behind the scenes.

sdave7596 "Secrets" released in 1933, stars Mary Pickford and Leslie Howard as two people who meet and marry and spend over 50 years together. Mary Pickford was 40 when she made this film, but she looks great -- although certainly her playing a young New England girl at the beginning is a little tough to believe. Mary's parents do not consider John (Leslie Howard) a good match for her, so she elopes with him, and the two move to a rugged California ranch. Oddly, there is never any mention of her parents nor do they appear again in the film. Together, they tame the western front, fight cattle ranchers, and lose an infant son. Then the picture just suddenly shifts to many years later, and John is running for Governor of California, and they have children who are now young adults. John's future could be jeopardized because of his infidelities (hence the title "Secrets). This film, while not bad, is full of holes and unfinished business. The script jumps around a bit, and it is never fully explained how the couple managed to go from living in a modest ranch (almost resembling a log cabin) to living in wealth and luxury. But the best part of the picture is Mary herself. Pickford delivers a fine performance, as does Leslie Howard -- although listening to Howard and his upper-class British accent while playing a wild west cowboy was a bit much to take. Mary Pickford made the transition to sound films just fine, and she should have had a career ahead of her -- but by now she had been around so long it is likely audiences of that era had just grown tired of her. But what a legacy she left!

whpratt1 Just recently viewed this film and was pleasantly surprised to enjoy Mary Pickford's last film. Apparently this film was not reviewed very well in the public's eye in 1933 and this film turned into a bomb which was completely financed by Mary Picford at a great loss. This story deals with Mary Carlton, (Mary Pickford) who came from a rich family and her father was intending for her to marry a man she does not love. Mary runs off with a young man who wants to go to California named John Carlton, (Leslie Howard) and Mary gives up a soft way of living for a very hard struggle to the West and the loss of family members. This is a nice loving film with a great ending. Enjoy.