Secrets of a Secretary is a messy, fascinating Pre-Code drama

Is it worth your time?

You should probably watch this if you are a big fan of Claudette Colbert. She is honestly the only reason to sit through some of the slower parts.

If you like movies that feel like a time capsule of the early 1930s, you will get a kick out of this. It has that specific early talkie energy where everyone talks a bit too fast but the camera barely moves.

Action fans or people who want a tight, logical plot will probably hate it. It’s a bit of a soap opera, but with more expensive hats.

The vibe of the crash

The movie starts with everyone being very rich and annoying. Then the 1929 stock market crash happens and suddenly everything is dark.

It’s weird seeing a movie made in 1931 talk about the crash. It felt very real, I bet, for the people in the theater back then.

Claudette plays Helen, and she finds out her dad is broke right after he dies. It happens so fast in the movie that you almost miss it.

One minute she is at a party, the next she is at a desk looking for work. The pacing is just all over the place. 🎢

The weirdest marriage ever

Before she knows she is broke, Helen gets married on a dare. Who does that? Even for a movie, it feels pretty wild.

She marries this guy named Frank who is a total snake. He is a gold-digger but he's not even good at hiding it.

As soon as he hears she has no money, he basically runs away. It’s one of those moments where you want to yell at the screen because he is so obviously a villain.

The actor playing him, Georges Metaxa, has this oily look that works perfectly. You just want to give him a nudge into a moving car.

Herbert Marshall and the quiet moments

Then we get Herbert Marshall. He plays Lord Danforth and he is just so... smooth. He has that calm voice that makes everything feel okay.

There is a scene where they are just talking in an office and the silence is actually nice. Most early sound movies are afraid of silence, but this one lets it sit for a second.

I noticed a weird thing in the background of the office scene. There is a calendar on the wall that looks like it was pinned up five minutes before they started filming.

It’s small things like that which make me love these old movies. They feel handmade and slightly broken.

Random observations from my notebook

• Claudette Colbert’s hats are basically characters on their own. They are huge!
• The way people drink tea in this movie is very aggressive. Lots of clinking.
• There is a scene with a telegram that lingers for like 10 seconds too long. We get it, she’s reading it.
• The script was co-written by Charles Brackett, who later did Sunset Boulevard, but you can tell he was still learning here.

Is it a comedy or a drama?

It tries to be both and doesn't quite get there. Sometimes it feels like What Every Woman Wants but without the jokes.

Then it gets really serious about the social secretary job. Being a secretary for the rich seems like a nightmare, honestly.

Helen has to deal with her friend Sylvia, who is kind of a brat. Sylvia is engaged to Paul, but Helen loves Paul. It's a whole mess.

It reminded me a bit of the heavy vibes in The Forbidden Path, where everything just keeps going wrong for the lead lady.

The Ending (No spoilers, I promise)

The way everything wraps up is very 1931. It’s like the writers realized they only had five minutes left and needed a happy ending.

It doesn't really feel earned. But by that point, I was just happy to see Claudette smile again.

The movie is a bit clunky and the sound quality is scratchy in parts. 📻

But it’s got heart. Or at least it has enough style to keep you from turning it off.

Final thoughts

It’s not a masterpiece. Not even close. But if you're stuck at home on a rainy Sunday, you could do a lot worse.

Just don't expect it to make much sense. Just enjoy the outfits and the drama. 🥂