''The Nurse's Secret'' is a 1941 American murder mystery film directed by Noel M. Smith and starring Lee Patrick as a crime-solving nurse. The supporting cast features

Regis Toomey John Francis Regis Toomey (August 13, 1898October 12, 1991) was an American film and television actor. Early life Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was one of four children of Francis X. and Mary Ellen Toomey, and attended Peabody High Sc ...

and

Julie Bishop Julie Isabel Bishop (born 17 July 1956) is an Australian former politician who served as Minister for Foreign Affairs (Australia), Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013 to 2018 and Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia#Federal deputy leader ...

. It was produced and distributed by

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

as a

second feature A B movie, or B film, is a type of cheap, low-budget commercial motion picture. Originally, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, this term specifically referred to films meant to be shown as the lesser-known second half of a double feature, s ...

. The film, which includes a rare leading role for Patrick who played the supporting part of

Sam Spade Sam Spade is a fictional character and the protagonist of Dashiell Hammett's 1930 novel '' The Maltese Falcon''. Spade also appeared in four lesser-known short stories by Hammett. ''The Maltese Falcon'', first published as a serial in the pulp ...

's secretary in '' The Maltese Falcon'' that same year, is a remake of the film

Miss Pinkerton ''Miss Pinkerton'' is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy mystery film about a nurse who becomes involved in a murder investigation. It stars Joan Blondell, George Brent and Ruth Hall. The film is adapted from a book with the same title, by Americ ...

and is based on the 1932 novel ''Miss Pinkerton'' by

Mary Roberts Rinehart Mary Roberts Rinehart (August 12, 1876September 22, 1958) was an American writer, often called the American Agatha Christie.Keating, H.R.F., ''The Bedside Companion to Crime''. New York: Mysterious Press, 1989, p. 170. Rinehart published her fi ...

.Goble p.390 Rinehart wrote a series of novels based on the character Hilda Adams. She is, however, most famous for her play '' The Bat'' which inspired

Batman Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...

creator

Bob Kane Robert Kane ( Kahn ; October 24, 1915 – November 3, 1998) was an American comic book writer, animator, and artist who created Batman and many early related characters for DC Comics. He was inducted into the comic book industry's Jack Kirby ...

to create his famous comic book character.

Plot

A nurse (Lee Patrick) moves into a mansion after an apparent suicide to care for the old mother. The mother is kind of spooky, but so is the butler, and the girlfriend, and the doctor. After the insurance policy is found, the plot thickens.

Cast

* Lee Patrick as Ruth Adams *

as Inspector Patton *

as Florence Lentz * Ann Edmonds as Paula Brent * George Campeau as Charles Elliott *

Clara Blandick Clara Blandick (born Clara Blanchard Dickey; June 4, 1876 – April 15, 1962) was an American character, film, stage and theater actress who portrayed Aunt Em in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's '' The Wizard of Oz'' (1939). As a character actress, ...

as Miss Walker *

Charles Waldron Charles Waldron (December 24, 1874 – March 4, 1946) was an American stage and film actor, sometimes credited as Charles Waldron Sr., Chas. Waldron Sr., Charles D. Waldron or Mr. Waldron. Early life He was born and grew up in Waterford, New Y ...

as Dr. Stewart *

Charles Trowbridge Charles Silas Richard Trowbridge (January 10, 1882 – October 30, 1967) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 230 films from 1915 to 1958 principally playing patrician authority figures. Biography Trowbridge was born in Verac ...

as Arthur Glenn *

Leonard Mudie Leonard Mudie (born Leonard Mudie Cheetham; April 11, 1883April 14, 1965) was an English character actor whose career lasted for nearly fifty years. After a successful start as a stage actor in England, he appeared regularly in the US, and made ...

as Hugo * Virginia Brissac as Mary *

Frank Reicher Frank Reicher (born Franz Reichert; December 2, 1875 – January 19, 1965) was a German-born American actor, director and producer. He is best known for playing Captain Englehorn in the 1933 film ''King Kong''. Early life Reicher was born in M ...

as Mr. Henderson *

Georgia Caine Georgiana Caine (October 30, 1876 – April 4, 1964) was an American actress who performed both on Broadway and in more than 80 films in her 51-year career. Early career Born in San Francisco, California in 1876, the daughter of two Sha ...

as Miss Griffin * Douglas Kennedy as Dr. Keene *

Faye Emerson Faye Margaret Emerson (July 8, 1917 – March 9, 1983) was an American film and stage actress and television interviewer who gained fame as a film actress in the 1940s before transitioning to television in the 1950s and hosting her own talk show ...

as Telephone Girl * Lucia Carroll as Nurse * Frank Mayo as Policeman *

Jack Mower Jack Mower (September 5, 1890 – January 6, 1965) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 520 films between 1914 and 1965. He was born in Honolulu and died in Hollywood. After studying at Punahou College, in Honolulu, Mower moved ...

as Policeman

References

Bibliography

* Fetrow, Alan G. ''Feature Films, 1940-1949: a United States Filmography''. McFarland, 1994. * Goble, Alan. ''The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film''. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.

External links

''The Nurse's Secret'' at Internet Movie Database
1941 films Films directed by Noel M. Smith 1941 mystery films American mystery films Films about nurses Medical-themed films American black-and-white films Remakes of American films Films based on works by Mary Roberts Rinehart 1940s American films 1940s English-language films English-language mystery films {{mystery-film-stub

Plot

Cast

See also

References

Bibliography

External links