SLOW STARTING IN MY OPINION, BUT GATHERS MOMENTUM ONCE WE'RE AT THE HOUSE. I LOVE MADGE BELLAMY, SHE'S A DOLL. ZASU PITTS LIGHTENS THE MOOD WITH COMEDY, ESPECIALLY HER FALL DOWN THE STAIRS WITH A TEA TRAY. SHE SPILLS NOTHING! I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS FILM TO OTHER SILENT MOVIE BUFFS.
5 Reviews
Offending Whodunnit
Cineanalyst3 March 2021
As much as I'd like to say that I liked a silent film that was only rediscovered in a 16mm print from a Canadian basement in 2017, I'm not going to lie, but neither does that change my belief that all found lost films is cause for celebration--the good, the bad and the offensive. And so I was happy to view "Secrets of the Night" over a Zoom conference via the University of Toronto. Plus, even if a lackluster entry, it's part of a genre or two that I've had particular interest for in the past, mystery fiction and the more cinematically-precise subgenre of old-dark-house pictures. Basically, "Secrets of the Night" is a whodunnit with horror-comedy, as well as melodrama, elements. It's adapted from some play I'm unfamiliar with, but it seems as though it was likely one of the many imitations of "The Bat," staged in 1920 and adapted to film in 1926, 1930 and 1959 (at least one of the first two films of which have been credited as inspiration for the creation of Batman, by the way, so it's a genre worth understanding in today's age of superhero movies if you want to know their history). One of the first such films, at least of American features, was D.W. Griffith's "One Exciting Night" (1922) and followed by more-enjoyable flicks by the likes of Roland West, Paul Leni, Benjamin Christensen and James Whale, "The Monster" (1925), "The Cat and the Canary" (1927), "The Last Warning" (1928), "Seven Footprints to Satan" (1929) and the trope-namer "The Old Dark House" (1932).
Whatever its genre, "Secrets of the Night" is a poor example. As a comedy, its best part is played by a glasses-wearing ZaSu Pitts, right before going to work on "Greed" (1924), scaring herself silly, but even that is largely ruined by her spending most of her time on screen with an offensive stereotypical servant played in blackface. As romance, I think the filmmakers overestimated the appeal of audiences becoming emotionally involved in the love lives of corrupt bankers. There are no secret passages or storms, such as the one that rescued Griffith's otherwise intolerable "One Exciting Night," which, predictably, also included blackface. Wind appears to blow a curtain at one point, but then the film cuts to a calm exterior scene. There are mysterious figures running around in the night, though, and whom may hold the answer to the murder mystery.
As a whodunnit, though, and despite ZaSu being introduced reading the granddaddy of detective stories, Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," the mystery of "Secrets of the Night" violates at least a half dozen, if not more, of the "Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories" by S.S. Van Dine. 3) There must be no love interest, but "Secrets of the Night" wastes at least half an hour preceding a corpse establishing its melodramatic love triangle plus time thereafter on it. 5) "The culprit must not be determined by accident or coincidence or unmotivated confession," but that's what happens here. 6) The detective must detect, but that's not something we see them doing here. 9) "There must be but one detective," and this one makes a gag out of its having three. 16) "...No long descriptive passages, no literary dallying with side-issues, no subtly worked-out character analyses, no 'atmospheric' preoccupations." Guilty. And the other violations I shan't list without spoiling the resolution, of which I don't actually have a problem with, relatively.
Point is, "Secrets of the Night" isn't much good at being anything. After 36 minutes of a banker attempting to get people to murder him so that his life insurance policy will rescue his bank for the bad loan he made and berating those people for not having the courage to kill him, I was ready to grab Chekhov's gun to put the scenario out of its misery.
I'm glad to see a film from director Herbert Blaché, though, most of whose films remain lost. Today, he's best known as the one-time (and no "two-timing" jokes... oops) husband of Alice Guy(-Blaché), celebrated as the world's first female director, head producer, studio owner, etc. Hard to judge Mr. Blaché's direction based on what was likely an unusual genre for him and for a scenario of which he may've not had much input. Technically, the film appears competent enough, and I did enjoy the constant shifting of tinting/toning between amber and blue in the crosscutting between interior and exterior views. Perhaps, I'll get a chance to see more of his oeuvre someday. In the meantime and picking up on finishing her Gaumont work last year, for this year's Women's History Month, I'm going to get into Guy's productions for Solax, the studio her and her husband founded after leaving France for the U.S and including "A Fool and His Money" (1912), credited as one of the first films to feature an all-African-American cast, a dozen years before "Secrets of the Night" didn't even at least hire one.
Whatever its genre, "Secrets of the Night" is a poor example. As a comedy, its best part is played by a glasses-wearing ZaSu Pitts, right before going to work on "Greed" (1924), scaring herself silly, but even that is largely ruined by her spending most of her time on screen with an offensive stereotypical servant played in blackface. As romance, I think the filmmakers overestimated the appeal of audiences becoming emotionally involved in the love lives of corrupt bankers. There are no secret passages or storms, such as the one that rescued Griffith's otherwise intolerable "One Exciting Night," which, predictably, also included blackface. Wind appears to blow a curtain at one point, but then the film cuts to a calm exterior scene. There are mysterious figures running around in the night, though, and whom may hold the answer to the murder mystery.
As a whodunnit, though, and despite ZaSu being introduced reading the granddaddy of detective stories, Edgar Allan Poe's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," the mystery of "Secrets of the Night" violates at least a half dozen, if not more, of the "Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories" by S.S. Van Dine. 3) There must be no love interest, but "Secrets of the Night" wastes at least half an hour preceding a corpse establishing its melodramatic love triangle plus time thereafter on it. 5) "The culprit must not be determined by accident or coincidence or unmotivated confession," but that's what happens here. 6) The detective must detect, but that's not something we see them doing here. 9) "There must be but one detective," and this one makes a gag out of its having three. 16) "...No long descriptive passages, no literary dallying with side-issues, no subtly worked-out character analyses, no 'atmospheric' preoccupations." Guilty. And the other violations I shan't list without spoiling the resolution, of which I don't actually have a problem with, relatively.
Point is, "Secrets of the Night" isn't much good at being anything. After 36 minutes of a banker attempting to get people to murder him so that his life insurance policy will rescue his bank for the bad loan he made and berating those people for not having the courage to kill him, I was ready to grab Chekhov's gun to put the scenario out of its misery.
I'm glad to see a film from director Herbert Blaché, though, most of whose films remain lost. Today, he's best known as the one-time (and no "two-timing" jokes... oops) husband of Alice Guy(-Blaché), celebrated as the world's first female director, head producer, studio owner, etc. Hard to judge Mr. Blaché's direction based on what was likely an unusual genre for him and for a scenario of which he may've not had much input. Technically, the film appears competent enough, and I did enjoy the constant shifting of tinting/toning between amber and blue in the crosscutting between interior and exterior views. Perhaps, I'll get a chance to see more of his oeuvre someday. In the meantime and picking up on finishing her Gaumont work last year, for this year's Women's History Month, I'm going to get into Guy's productions for Solax, the studio her and her husband founded after leaving France for the U.S and including "A Fool and His Money" (1912), credited as one of the first films to feature an all-African-American cast, a dozen years before "Secrets of the Night" didn't even at least hire one.
Stage play brought to life on the screen!
JohnHowardReid10 May 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I'm surprised this movie is not better known. I loved it so much, I watched it three times! Admittedly, I'm watching the excellent Alpha pressing. I would guess that even this beautiful print has been at least slightly condensed as it unhurls at an astonishingly fast pace, even though the excellent lead actor, James Kirkwood disappears from the running for at least 20 minutes. In fact, I'd almost forgotten him by the time he reappears. His absence is admirably filled in by Zasu Pitts doing her usual shtick as a frightened, dopey spinster and Tom Wilson (who amassed no fewer than 294 credits in his 1914-1963 acting career) as the equally frightened and almost as brainless major- do-mo. Although he makes a late entrance, another long-running actor, Otto Hoffman (297 credits 1914-1944) has a great time as the abrasive coroner. In fact, all the players are perfect in their roles, although I will admit that the stage does tend to get a bit overcrowded at times. Still, it adds to the fun. Incidentally, the Alpha version runs 72 minutes and even at that length, the movie shows signs that it was actually released in a longer version. Even this Alpha version zooms through the plot at such a vast speed that its a little difficult to follow what's happening, let alone who's who in what is a very large cast in these somewhat confined quarters. That the movie was based on a stage play is often very obvious. But as said above, I really enjoyed it!
Quirky Plot!!
kidboots23 May 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Universal "Jewels" were meant to represent the studio's top prestigious
films (most of the Lon Chaney movies etc) but as the 1920s progressed
the "Jewel" name also was linked to any bigger budget movie in the hopes
of luring people to the cinema and also justifying higher priced tickets but
patrons soon wised up and by the end of the 1920s Universal's film rating
system had been scrapped.
Based on the "sensational hit play" (so the lobby card said) "Night Cap", the big selling point for the movie would have to be Madge Bellamy, although she didn't have much to do, just being one of several guests stuck in a luxury mansion where strange doings are afoot. Starts off with an intriguing plotline involving James Kirkwood as Robert Andrews who is facing fraud charges along with other bank directors because someone they trusted seems to have disappeared!! And wouldn't you know it - along comes an auditor very keen to get on with the job!! Impulsively Andrews invites him to a gathering at his luxurious mansion, hoping that the flirtatious wife (Rosemary Theby) of one of the directors will work her charms on him but if that fails there is always Plan B - an elaborate hoax involving Robert faking his own death!!
Forget the synopsis on the back of the Alpha box - about mysterious deaths, bodies piling up, it's nothing like that. Once the scene shifts to the manor, it becomes a mystery with a big emphasis on comedy. Zasu Pitts plays Celia, Ann's loopy friend and it's clear that even though Von Stroheim felt she could have been a major dramatic actress, by 1924, she had her fluttery mannerisms down pat and she is the one who propels the narrative. Starting off with a shot of her wide eyes eagerly devouring "Murders in the Rue Morgue" - she is keen to believe any fluttering curtain, slammed door etc. There are almost two plots - the old dark house with every shadow sinister and the more conventional involving Andrew's love of his "ward" Ann (Madge Bellamy) - a love that's reciprocated but unfortunately when a young gentleman's proposal is rejected, a scene follows. Talk then turns to the attempted murder of Robert a week or so before and how Ann's unstable brother was probably responsible and the plot thickens.....
An excellent light hearted mystery with all revealed at the end and also no loose ends which is amazing in movies of this kind, where characters appear and then disappear without any explanation - not so here!! Also pretty good is Otto Hoffman as the coroner who insists on running the investigation his way - until the end!!
Based on the "sensational hit play" (so the lobby card said) "Night Cap", the big selling point for the movie would have to be Madge Bellamy, although she didn't have much to do, just being one of several guests stuck in a luxury mansion where strange doings are afoot. Starts off with an intriguing plotline involving James Kirkwood as Robert Andrews who is facing fraud charges along with other bank directors because someone they trusted seems to have disappeared!! And wouldn't you know it - along comes an auditor very keen to get on with the job!! Impulsively Andrews invites him to a gathering at his luxurious mansion, hoping that the flirtatious wife (Rosemary Theby) of one of the directors will work her charms on him but if that fails there is always Plan B - an elaborate hoax involving Robert faking his own death!!
Forget the synopsis on the back of the Alpha box - about mysterious deaths, bodies piling up, it's nothing like that. Once the scene shifts to the manor, it becomes a mystery with a big emphasis on comedy. Zasu Pitts plays Celia, Ann's loopy friend and it's clear that even though Von Stroheim felt she could have been a major dramatic actress, by 1924, she had her fluttery mannerisms down pat and she is the one who propels the narrative. Starting off with a shot of her wide eyes eagerly devouring "Murders in the Rue Morgue" - she is keen to believe any fluttering curtain, slammed door etc. There are almost two plots - the old dark house with every shadow sinister and the more conventional involving Andrew's love of his "ward" Ann (Madge Bellamy) - a love that's reciprocated but unfortunately when a young gentleman's proposal is rejected, a scene follows. Talk then turns to the attempted murder of Robert a week or so before and how Ann's unstable brother was probably responsible and the plot thickens.....
An excellent light hearted mystery with all revealed at the end and also no loose ends which is amazing in movies of this kind, where characters appear and then disappear without any explanation - not so here!! Also pretty good is Otto Hoffman as the coroner who insists on running the investigation his way - until the end!!
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