''Secrets of a Secretary'' is a 1931 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorshi ...

drama film directed by

George Abbott George Francis Abbott (June 25, 1887 – January 31, 1995) was an American theatre producer, director, playwright, screenwriter, film director and producer whose career spanned eight decades. Early years Abbott was born in Forestville, New Yo ...

, and starring

Claudette Colbert Claudette Colbert ( ; born Émilie Claudette Chauchoin; September 13, 1903July 30, 1996) 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 ...

and

Herbert Marshall Herbert Brough Falcon Marshall (23 May 1890 – 22 January 1966) was an English stage, screen and radio actor who starred in many popular and well-regarded Hollywood films in the 1930s and 1940s. After a successful theatrical career in the Uni ...

. The film was stage actress

Mary Boland Mary Boland (born Marie Anne Boland; January 28, 1882 – June 23, 1965) was an American stage and film actress. Early years Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Boland was the daughter of repertory actor William Augustus Boland, and his wife M ...

's first role in a

talkie A sound film is a motion picture A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, percep ...

Premise

Society girl becomes a social secretary when her father dies penniless. From a story by

Charles Brackett Charles William Brackett (November 26, 1892 – March 9, 1969) was an American screenwriter and film producer. He collaborated with Billy Wilder on sixteen films. Life and career Brackett was born in Saratoga Springs, New York, the son of ...

Cast

as Helen Blake *

as Lord Danforth *

Georges Metaxa George-Radu Metaxa (11 September 1899 – 8 December 1950) was a Romanian-born American singer, film & stage actor. He was known for his crooning high baritone voice and often portrayed genteel antagonists. Life and career Metaxa was bor ...

as Frank D'Agnoll *

Betty Lawford Betty Lawford (February 1, 1912 – November 20, 1960) was a United States-based English film and stage actress. Her parents, Ernest Lawford and Janet Slater Lawford, were also actors, and she was a cousin of the actor and socialite Peter Lawfo ...

as Sylvia Merritt *

as Mrs. Merritt *

Berton Churchill Berton Churchill (December 9, 1876 – October 10, 1940) was a Canadian stage and film actor. Early years Churchill was born in Toronto, Ontario. After his family moved to New York City, he graduated from high school there, studied law a ...

as Mr. Merritt *Averell Harris as Don Marlow *

Betty Garde Katharine Elizabeth Garde (September 19, 1905 – December 25, 1989) was an American stage, radio, film and television actress. Early years Born in Philadelphia, Garde was starring in productions of South Philadelphia's Broadway Players by ...

as Dorothy White *

Hugh O'Connell Hugh O'Connell (August 4, 1898 – January 19, 1943) was an American film actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in ...

as Charlie Rickenbacker *

Joseph Crehan Joseph A. Creaghan (July 15, 1883 – April 15, 1966) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 300 films between 1916 and 1965, and notably played Ulysses S. Grant nine times between 1939 and 1958, most memorably in ''Union Paci ...

as Reporter (uncredited) *

Porter Hall Clifford Porter Hall (September 19, 1888 – October 6, 1953) was an American character actor known for appearing in a number of films in the 1930s and 1940s. Hall typically played villains or comedic incompetent characters. Early years Hall wa ...

as Drunk (uncredited) *H. Dudley Hawley as Mr. Blake (uncredited) *

Olaf Hytten Olaf Hytten (3 March 1888 – 11 March 1955) was a Scottish actor. He appeared in more than 280 films between 1921 and 1955. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and died in Los Angeles, California from a heart attack, while sitting in his car ...

as Court Reporter (uncredited) * Edward Keane as Albany Hotel Manager (uncredited) *Barry Macollum (uncredited) *

Millard Mitchell Millard Mitchell (August 14, 1903 – October 13, 1953) was an American character actor whose credits include roughly 30 feature films and two television appearances. He appeared as a bit player in eight films between 1931 and 1936. Mitchell ...

as Policeman (uncredited) *William Pawley (uncredited) * Charles C. Wilson as Police Captain (uncredited)

References

External links

* * *
Still
at gettyimages.com 1931 films American black-and-white films 1931 drama films Paramount Pictures films Films directed by George Abbott American drama films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films {{1930s-drama-film-stub

Premise

Cast

See also

References

External links