Secrets of an Actress (1938)

From my favorite movies..

Crappy film

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

In light of some pretty corny stuff from "way back when" AND from 2016, this film took me by surprise! Kay Francis, whom I'd never thought of as attractive, was absolutely gorgeous, and the costuming (not mentioned in any user review here) is fabulous. And so was the way she wore them. She played a strong, ambitious woman -- thank you, screen writers -- who ultimately got what she wanted (a rarity in those days: it wasn't a husband), and succeeded because she was smart w/out being hard, charming w/o being silly, and a fine actress in the opening "audition" scene. The pace was terrific, plus I kept finding myself laughing out loud -- not at the dated girlfriend's routines (ugh -- annoyingly overacted and hammy) but by the unexpected frequent quips in the repartee, particularly between the two main male characters; 'I'll send you an icicle from Norway" instead of "I'll send you a postcard?" Continually unexpected and original, and for those days, realistically acted. My 9 instead of 10: the point I deducted was for the Plantaganet gal's hamming.Low key makes plot points & fits a team's acting. Timing is everything -- the film is well paced,and delightful. And Francis has chops! Looking back, ahead of its time in acting style AND clothing.

"Secrets Of An Actress" is pretty much a routine soaper without much to recommend it - except that this one has a stellar cast trying bravely to put it over. The odds are stacked against them as the plot is hackneyed and predictable right up to the ending. There is nothing exceptional to the story, no real highs or lows and the best part of this trudge through the landscape is the background music.In a review above, blanche-2 explains why Kay Francis, one of Hollywood's more glamorous and sophisticated 30's stars, found herself in this exercise in tedium. Ian Hunter and George Brent also must have been at loose ends and looking for something to do, but between the two of them and Kay Francis they are able to keep the lightweight story afloat. For my money the website has this picture very overrated.

A rather benign 70 minute production where Kay Francis, the daughter of a famous actor, will not tour the country, but rather insists upon making the Broadway scene.Whoever made up Miss Francis for this film did a terrible job. She looks just awful. For someone becoming a starlet on Broadway, she certainly does not look the part.I never saw someone become a star so fast. Her play "Springboard" is never shown. We just see Act 1, Act 2, Act 3, etc. and people applauding.The real good acting here goes to Gloria Dickson and Isabel Jeans, especially the latter, who is absolutely hilarious as the pal of Francis.In the male roles, George Brent and Ian Hunter are appealing, but the film is so predictable and is ruined by the real lack of emotion here. The culprit is the bad writing.

Kay Francis stars as a minor actress who wants to make it on Broadway. She meets a bored architect (Ian Hunter) who has always wanted to produce a play. She has one. They team up and she becomes the toast of the Great White Way. But Hunter also has a partner (George Brent)and it's love at first sight. But he has a grasping wife (Gloria Dickson)....Fast-paced with a lot of one liners, this little Warners film is fun from the getgo. Francis is, as always, a delight to watch. Brent and Hunter are solid. Dickson is suitably vile as the shrew wife. Isabel Jeans is very funny as Marion, playing a combination of Alice Brady and Eric Blore. The 2 secretaries are nicely played by Dennie Moore and Penny Singleton.This was one of Kay's final film for Warners, and you'll note they had already demoted her to first billing but beneath the title. Her legal battles with the studio were front-page news in the late 30s. The studio put her in B films and then blamed her for slipping at the box office. Still, Francis had the last laugh; she turned in great performances even in the drek Warners gave her (while handing the plums to the new Warners queen, Bette Davis).