The Secret Heart

Last updated
The Secret Heart
Secretposternew.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Robert Z. Leonard
Screenplay by Whitfield Cook
Anne Morrison Chapin
Story by Rose Franken
William Brown Meloney
Produced by Edwin H. Knopf
Starring Claudette Colbert
Walter Pidgeon
June Allyson
Cinematography George J. Folsey
Edited by Adrienne Fazan
Music by Bronislau Kaper
Production
company
Distributed by Loew's Inc.
Release date
  • December 25, 1946 (1946-12-25)
Running time
97 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1,735,000 [1]
Box office$2,657,000 [1]

The Secret Heart is a 1946 American drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and starring Claudette Colbert, Walter Pidgeon and June Allyson.

Contents

Plot

Lee (Claudette Colbert) is engaged to marry Larry Addams (Richard Derr), a spendthrift widower with two children, son Chase (Robert Sterling) and daughter Penny (June Allyson). Lee had been living in England with her guardian aunt, who didn't approve of the match since Larry was an alcoholic, and while returning to America on an ocean liner, she meets Chris Matthews (Walter Pidgeon), a close friend of Larry's. Despite her loving feelings for Chris, she marries Larry, and moves to his farm in Rhode Island. Larry's talent is playing the piano, which he teaches Penny, but he gave up this ambition to work in a bank, to please his father. This frustrated ambition has ruined his life, and over the next two years Lee tries to confront his alcoholism, while trying to win Penny's confidence. While Lee is out for the night with Chris, Larry dies, his body found at the bottom of a cliff. He had committed suicide after two years of marriage, and on his death, it is reported that Larry had embezzled money from his clients. Lee sends Chris away and moves the family away from the farm, to New York where she takes a job to pay off Larry's debts, and withholds the truth from Penny, wanting to shield her from the stigma of scandal. Penny makes a hero out of Larry, who she believes died of a heart attack, and is unable to embrace Lee, who is now left to look after them alone.

Ten years later, Penny, who behaves strangely, has dropped out of school and plays the piano incessantly for her father's memory when nobody else is around, is the patient of psychiatrist Dr. Rossiger. Lee goes to see him, concerned about Penny's behaviour, and the story up to this point is recalled in flashback. The doctor advises that they move back to the farm for the summer, since that is where the death occurred, and he believes that confronting the past will help cure Penny. Chase returns from the navy after three years and seeks a job with Chris, who now owns a shipyard. He introduces Penny to his navy friend Brandon Reynolds. They all move to the farm, together with Chase's friend Kay Burns, where Chris reenters Lee's life after a ten-year absence, and Lee realizes that it was Chris she loved all along and let get away. Once at the farm, Penny becomes disenchanted with her father's memory when Chase tells her the truth, and becomes despondent, feeling that Chris is the only person she can confide in. Although Brandon is interested in Penny, she loves Chris, and is devastated when she finds him in Lee's arms. Penny then tries to kill herself by jumping off a cliff, as Larry had done, but Lee intervenes in time to prevent it. The healing process begins and when Lee tells Penny the complete story of her father's life, Penny is finally able to embrace Lee. At the end Penny graduates, having adopted Chris as her father, and resumes her romance with Brandon.

Cast

Reception

The film earned $2,591,000 in the US and Canada and $1,309,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $891,000. [1] [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claudette Colbert</span> American actress (1903–1996)

Émilie Chauchoin, professionally known as Claudette Colbert, was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the late 1920s and progressed to films with the advent of talking pictures. Initially contracted to Paramount Pictures, Colbert became one of the few major actresses of the period who worked freelance, independent of the studio system.

<i>Mrs. Parkington</i> 1944 film by Tay Garnett

Mrs. Parkington is a 1944 drama film. It tells the story of a woman's life, told via flashbacks, from boarding house maid to society matron. The movie was adapted by Polly James and Robert Thoeren from the novel by Louis Bromfield. It was directed by Tay Garnett and starred Greer Garson and Walter Pidgeon appearing together as husband and wife for the fourth time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">June Allyson</span> American actress (1917–2006)

June Allyson was an American stage, film, and television actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebecca Pidgeon</span> American actress, singer, and songwriter (born 1965)

Rebecca Pidgeon is an American actress who has appeared on stage and in feature films, and a singer, songwriter and recording artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Becker</span> American musician, songwriter, and record producer

Walter Carl Becker was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was the co-founder, guitarist, bassist, and co-songwriter of the jazz rock band Steely Dan.

<i>North Shore</i> (2004 TV series) American TV series or program

North Shore is an American prime-time soap opera that aired on Fox on Mondays at 8 p.m. EST for seven months in 2004 and 2005. It centered on the staff and guests of the fictional Grand Waimea Hotel and Resort on Oahu's North Shore in Hawaii.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dwayne Hickman</span> American actor (1934–2022)

Dwayne Bernard Hickman was an American actor and television executive, producer and director, who worked as an executive at CBS and had also briefly recorded as a vocalist. Hickman portrayed Chuck MacDonald, Bob Collins' girl-crazy teenaged nephew, in the 1950s The Bob Cummings Show and the title character in the 1960s sitcom The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. He was the younger brother of actor Darryl Hickman, with whom he appeared on screen. After retirement, he devoted his time to painting personalized paintings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patrick Trueman</span> Fictional character from EastEnders

Patrick Trueman is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Rudolph Walker. He made his first appearance on 13 September 2001. His storylines include being the possible father of Denise Fox, to whom he is a father figure, his marriage to Yolande Trueman, an affair with Pat Evans, the death of his adoptive son Paul Trueman, being assaulted by an unknown assailant in his own shop, Ben Mitchell and his father Phil Mitchell starting a vendetta against him, a relationship with Cora Cross, being injured after falling from a ladder, discovering that Denise's fiancé Ian Beale had sex with prostitute Rainie Cross, suffering two strokes, a relationship with Claudette Hubbard, becoming embroiled in Claudette's feud with her son Vincent Hubbard, marrying his childhood sweetheart Sheree Trueman and discovering he fathered her son, Isaac Baptiste. On 7 December 2015, Walker filmed his 1,000th episode as Patrick.

<i>Texas Lady</i> 1955 film

Texas Lady is a 1955 color American Western film directed by Tim Whelan in his final film before his death in 1957, and distributed by RKO Radio Pictures. It stars Claudette Colbert, Barry Sullivan and Ray Collins. The film tells the story of a female publisher who encounters injustice and violence in a Texas town.

<i>Guest Wife</i> 1945 film by Sam Wood

Guest Wife is a 1945 American comedy film directed by Sam Wood, written by Bruce Manning and John Klorer, and starring Claudette Colbert, Don Ameche, and Dick Foran. It is also known as What Every Woman Wants.

<i>No Time for Love</i> (1943 film) 1943 film by Mitchell Leisen

No Time for Love is a 1943 American romantic comedy film produced and directed by Mitchell Leisen and starring Claudette Colbert and Fred MacMurray. Written by Claude Binyon, Robert Lees, and Frederic I. Rinaldo, the film is about a sophisticated female photographer assigned to photograph the tough "sandhog" construction workers at a tunnel project site. After saving one of the sandhogs from a fatal accident, she becomes attracted to this cocky well-built man they call Superman. Unsettled by her feelings, she hires the man as her assistant, believing that her attraction to him will diminish if she spends time with him. Their time together, however, leads to feelings of love, and she struggles to overcome her haughtiness and make her true feelings known.

<i>Skylark</i> (1941 film) 1941 film directed by Mark Sandrich

Skylark is a 1941 American comedy film starring Claudette Colbert, Ray Milland and Brian Aherne and directed by Mark Sandrich. Film historian James H. Farmer described Skylark as "light-hearted fluff" with the story of a woman on her fifth wedding anniversary, realizing that she is fed up with always coming in second to her husband's advertising business. Just at that moment, she meets a handsome attorney, and their innocent flirtation begins to turn into something more serious.

<i>For the Love of Mike</i> (1927 film) 1927 film by Frank Capra

For the Love of Mike is a 1927 American silent romantic drama film. Directed by Frank Capra, it starred Claudette Colbert and Ben Lyon. It is now considered to be a lost film.

<i>Saratoga</i> (film) 1937 film by Jack Conway

Saratoga is a 1937 American romantic comedy film starring Clark Gable and Jean Harlow and directed by Jack Conway. The screenplay was written by Anita Loos. Lionel Barrymore, Frank Morgan, Walter Pidgeon, and Una Merkel appear as featured players; Hattie McDaniel and Margaret Hamilton appear in support. It was the sixth and final film collaboration of Gable and Harlow.

<i>The Good Witch</i> 2008 Canadian film

The Good Witch is a television film that aired on the Hallmark Channel on January 19, 2008. It stars Catherine Bell as Cassandra "Cassie" Nightingale and Chris Potter as chief of police Jake Russell. The film has spawned a franchise of six followup television films and the television series Good Witch.

<i>If Winter Comes</i> 1947 film by Victor Saville

If Winter Comes is a 1947 American drama film directed by Victor Saville and starring Walter Pidgeon, Deborah Kerr and Angela Lansbury. Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, it is based on the 1921 novel by A.S.M. Hutchinson. The film tells the story of an English textbook writer who takes in a pregnant girl. The novel had previously been made into the 1923 silent film If Winter Comes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edith Fellows</span> American actress

Edith Marilyn Fellows was an American actress who became a child star in the 1930s. Best known for playing orphans and street urchins, Fellows was an expressive actress with a good singing voice. She made her screen debut at the age of five in Charley Chase's film short Movie Night (1929). Her first credited role in a feature film was The Rider of Death Valley (1932). By 1935, she had appeared in over twenty films. Her performance opposite Claudette Colbert and Melvyn Douglas in She Married Her Boss (1935) won her a seven-year contract with Columbia Pictures, the first such contract offered to a child.

Letters from Three Lovers is a 1973 made-for-television drama film directed by John Erman. An ABC Movie of the Week and a sequel to The Letters (1973), the film is co-produced by Aaron Spelling, written by Ann Marcus and stars Martin Sheen, Belinda Montgomery, Robert Sterling, June Allyson, Ken Berry and Juliet Mills, among others.

<i>Together</i> (Jerry Lee Lewis album) 1969 studio album by Jerry Lee Lewis and Linda Gail Lewis

Together is a duet album by Jerry Lee Lewis and his sister Linda Gail Lewis. The album was released in 1969 on the Smash record label.

<i>Fear No More</i> (film) 1961 American film by Bernard Wiesen

Fear No More is a 1961 American thriller film directed by Bernard Wiesen and starring Mala Powers, Jacques Bergerac and Anna Lee Carroll. It was based on a 1946 novel of the same name by Leslie Edgley.

References

  1. 1 2 3 The Eddie Mannix Ledger, Los Angeles: Margaret Herrick Library, Center for Motion Picture Study.
  2. "Top Grossers of 1947", Variety, 7 January 1948 p 63