The Secret Heart (1946) User Reviews

Very good Freud-inspired movie

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 16 October 2006]

This movie is an interesting psychological study of a young lady obsessed with the memory of her dead father. Freudian-types would love it, as it explores what is termed 'the Electra Complex'. According to the sexually obsessed Freud, girls ALL go through a period in which they are in love with their fathers, but they eventually work past this and grow to normal adulthood (don't blame me--this is FREUD'S theory, not mine). This tale is about a girl who never works past this emotional milestone and is completely devoted to living in the past even though her father has been dead for a long time. This girl, June Allyson, has been depressed and trying to keep her dad's memory alive. Claudette Colbert is her step-mother, and in a different way, she, too, cannot let go of the memory of this dead man.

The film begins with Colbert moving both her step-kids to their oceanfront home which they had not been to since the husband's suicide a decade earlier. One of Colbert's old flames, Walter Pidgeon, lives nearby and it immediately becomes apparent to the viewer that June Allyson is in love with Pidgeon. She sees him as a substitute father-figure and neither Pidgeon not Colbert notices this. In fact, this is all very, very creepy because he is twice June's age and she is symbolically dating her father! In addition to this weirdness, Claudette NEVER told June the truth about her father's death. The man was NOT the 'saint' June envisions, but an alcoholic thief! How this and the infatuation are resolved is what you'll need to see for yourself. I'd tell you more, but it would really spoil the ending.

An odd and well-acted psychological film worth your time, but probably not to everyone's taste.

Daddy's Talented Little Girl

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 9 April 2010]

Greer Garson must have been on holiday or working on another film at MGM when The Secret Heart was being cast. Claudette Colbert stepped into her shoes to play the female lead in another film that by all rights should be on the list of Walter Pidgeon/Greer Garson films.

The Secret Heart concerns stepmother Claudette Colbert concerned for the welfare of her two stepchildren, Robert Sterling and June Allyson, particularly Allyson. June is a talented pianist but she's increasingly withdrawing from the world citing a heart condition that cardiologists can't find a reason for. When Claudette sees psychologist Lionel Barrymore, she tells Barrymore about her marriage with their late father, Richard Derr and the tragic circumstances and gossip that surrounded his death.

The cure prescribes Dr. Barrymore is to be found at their New England coastal farm where Derr died and this might unlock Allyson's psychosis. Of course a whole lot of the family's dirty linen gets an airing before the film concludes.

Walter Pidgeon has not all that much to do, but be the tower of strength as the best friend of Derr and the man Colbert was really secretly in love with. The film is carried by the leading women of the cast, Colbert and Allyson. The two play well off each other, especially Allyson. This was quite a change from the usual goody-goody girl next door types she was always cast.

I should also single out Richard Derr who in the few scenes he has suggested a brooding melancholy that you will remember throughout the film. His performance has to be good in order to understand why Allyson is the way she is.

The Secret Heart is a nice psychological soap opera with Claudette Colbert standing in nicely for Greer Garson.

Spooky little psychological thriller

[preppy-3 · 7/10 · 18 September 2000]

June Allyson can't accept stepmom Cluadette Colbert and (after her father dies), begins to lose touch with reality. A very eerie film...sometimes seems more like a horror film. The performances are excellent (especially Allyson and Colbert) and it looks fantastic. The psychology is a bit dated, but the film still works. Not for everybody, but worth seeing.

The Addams family

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 29 March 2005]

This was obviously a Claudette Colbert vehicle. "The Secret Heart" is not shown often these days, and it's a good melodrama, typical of the era. Robert Z. Leonard directs with panache this story about a woman's sacrifice and decency.

If you haven't seen the film, perhaps you should not read further.

We first meet Leola (Lee) aboard a luxury liner with Chris Matthews, who is obviously in love with her. Lee has been asked to marry Chris' best friend Larry, and Lee feels her duty to go ahead with her plans to marry this troubled man, a widower with two small children. What Lee gets from that union is much more than what she bargained for. Larry turns out to be an embezzler at the bank he works for. His guilt will make him commit suicide.

Lee decides the right thing to do is to repay Larry's debts and hide from the young children the fact about their father's suicide. Chase, the boy, is a grounded person and he goes on with his life. Young and fragile Penny, who adored her father and the music he played, never recovers and retreats into a cocoon; she becomes a troubled girl that only finds comfort in playing the piano just to imitate her father.

Claudette Colbert does wonders playing the courageous Lee. She caters to the children and becomes a successful real estate agent. Of course, as the stereotypical step-mother of all dramas, she is not appreciated by Penny, the girl that carries a grudge toward Lee. Walter Pigeon is the man who has loved Lee forever, but he is too decent to even come close to her. June Allyson is perfect as Penny, the neurotic girl who will find the truth about her father's fate at the end. In minor roles we see Robert Sterling, Patricia Medina, Richard Derr and Lionel Barrymore.

This film is well crafted and acted under Mr. Leonard's ti

A Truly Great Classic that Lives On and On

[whpratt1 · 7/10 · 29 March 2005]

I was very young when I first viewed this film in 1946 and never dreamed that this film would still be viewed and commented about in this 21st Century. All the stars in this film were great actors and gave fantastic performances and it is great to see films like this being shown and enjoyed by future generations in America and around the world. Claudette Colbert,(Leola 'Lee' Addams),"So Proudly We Hail," '43, played a very strong mother who lost her husband suddenly and found herself very much in debt and having a daughter, June Allyson,(Penny Addams),"The Glenn Miller Story",'53, who seemed to have mental problems dealing with past experiences of her father. Lionel Barrymore,(Dr. Rossiger),"Duel In The Sun",'46, was the doctor treating Penny Addams and also her mother Leola. Walter Pigeon,(Chris Matthews),"Funny Girl",'68, was a very good friend of the family and stood in the background and gave the family all his support to bring happiness to the family. This is a great Classic drama with a very haunting piano selection which is played through out the picture and adds to the deep secrets hidden in Penny Addams mind and soul. Enjoy. "

Family Drama with a Strong Noirish Touch

[dougdoepke · 8 December 2012]

An oddity that comes closest, I think, to a noirish family drama. Troubled Penny (Allyson) is obsessed with her dead father, causing problems with her stepmom (Colbert) especially when they become rivals over affections of family friend Chris (Pidgeon). It's a June Allyson seldom seen and a long way from her usual bubbly roles. Still, she handles the disturbed daughter's antics in effective fashion. Those scenes at cliff's edge bordering an eternal sea are eerily enchanting and a tribute to the production crew. This was a period following the war when movies with strong Freudian themes were popular, including Bewitched (1945) and The Snake Pit (1948). .

The acting is first-rate, and I especially like Sterling as the upbeat Chase who furnishes a counterpoint of normality to the moody family atmosphere. Pidgeon too is suavely effective, though his Chris seems a little dense about Penny's obvious designs on him. The version I saw (TMC) didn't include the narration by Hume Cronyn listed in the credits. Perhaps it's just as well since the movie works well enough without a voice-over. The ending is about what you'd expect from this Code enforced period and is way too pat for what's gone before. Nonetheless, it's an effective little exercise that manages a shade of difference from other programmers of the period.

I only play for Daddy

[sol-kay · 7/10 · 21 September 2006]

**SPOILERS** Having come back from the war young sailor Chase Addams, Robert Sterling, is shocked to find out from the girl he left behind Key, Patricia Madina, that his 17 year-old sister Penny,June Allyson,has suffered an emotional breakdown quiting high-school and totally withdrawing from society by locking herself into her room playing the piano hours on end. Going to see Penny Chase notices that even though she's very happy to see her big brother she still very effected by her, and Chase's, dad untimely death ten years ago.

The movie turns to Chase and Penny's step-mother Lee, Claudette Colbert, who we see at psychiatrist Dr. Rossiger, Lionel Barrymore, office discussing Penny's psychosis. After a long flashback about what brought her into this depression it's recommended by Dr.Rossinger that Lee should take Penny and Chase back to their old and discarded country home in Uxbridge MA. It's there where the two were brought up and where Penny can confront her severe psychological problems head on or else her condition, as she gets older, will become hopeless.

The root of Penny's psychosis has to do with her father Larry Addams, Richard Derr, whom she was closer to then anyone else and died when Penny was only seven years old. Larry a gifted pianist was forced to become a banker by his strict father and that lead to Larry becoming an alcoholic. Having invested his clients money in a number of high-risk stocks the market suddenly crashed causing his investments to be wiped out leaving his investors bankrupt. Along with his heavy drinking Larry just couldn't face the music of being indited for letting down his clients as well as, as it was indicated in a number of newspapers headlines, embezzling them and just walked out to Banning Point, on the tip of the Atlantic Ocean, and took his own life by jumping to his death.

Penny growing up thinking that her father died of a heart attack needs, Dr. Rossinger tells Lee, to face the hard truth about Larry's death in order for her to snap out of the fantasy world that she, as well Lee, built around her and the more that she delays it the more she'll become incurable.

Early Hollywood look at mental illness and very dated now but the fine acting, especially by both female leads Cludette Colbert & June Allyson, as well as the both honest and brutal insight, for that time, about the subject does grab you and hold your attention for the entire length of the film.

There's also Lee's former suitor Chris Matthews, Walter Pigeon, whom she left for Larry as the love interest of both Lee and Penny who mistakes Chris' caring and kindness for her as an adult love affair. Penny is later driven to suicide when she realizes that her mother, not her, is the object of Chris grown-up affection. Penny later finds out from Chase that their father killed himself and didn't die of natural causes which just brought the shocked and bereaved young girl to the point of self-destruction.

Running hysterically to Banner Point, the same place where her dad killed himself, to end it all Penny is confronted by a tearful Lee who breaks the news to her that she kept from Penny for ten years about the real reason for her father death and ,like Dr. Rossiger told her. It was Lee's guilt feelings that's the reason of why she worked so long and hard all those years as a real-estate agent, never having time to pay any serious attention towards her, by paying off the dept that her father left in order to clear his name and reputation as an honest man. That was the magic bullet that broke the spell that Penny was under all these years and not only prevented her from killing herself but also brought her back to reality as well the real world.

the secret heart

[mossgrymk · 6/10 · 29 July 2023]

This is the kind of WASP angst movie that in the skilled directorial hands of a Sirk, Stevens or Stahl would have been visually striking and dramatically compelling but in the very average mitts of Robert Z. Leonard is mostly tepid schlock with admittedly decent performances from the three leads. The biggest problem I had with it was the general blandness of the proceedings. I realize WASPS are on the repressed, undemonstrative side (I know this because I was married to one) but it's almost as if Leonard and his scenarists went out of their way to find the most bottled up and fizzled out members of this buttoned down sect in all of Rhode Island and large swaths of eastern Connecticut. Little of the dialogue in the screenplay by Whitfield Cook and Ann Morrison Chapin, whose names sound like headmasters of a dull prep school, is of much interest. When it isn't being mushy, as in the love scenes between Pidgeon and Colbert, it's annoyingly melodramatic, as in Colbert's final pep talk to Allyson that too easily "cures" her of her daddy fixation. Also in the spirit of WASP repression the screenplay leaves out essential stuff, like how Larry's first wife died, and informing Allyson's shrink (a refreshingly restrained Lionel Barrymore) that his patient has, you know, just tried to off herself. And Leonard's typically somnolent direction assures that any potential excitement, be it from Colbert's boogie woogie dance to Allyson's suicide attempt, will remain firmly latent. C plus.

PS...I counted five times Colbert was shot from her right profile. That's the kind of stuff you do when you're watching a boring movie.

The Secret Heart, 45 years later (a pianist's reminiscence)

[jes9015 · 9/10 · 30 March 2005]

This is not a review; it's a personal experience only.

I saw this film on TV in the late 1950's (at around age ten) and, for years, have been wanting to see it again and regretting the fact that it's not available on home video. I was thrilled to learn it was going to be shown on Turner Movie Classics the other night.

I had correctly remembered the story, including some dialog (Dr. Rossiger: "Your daughter is in love with a ghost, which means she's on the brink of disaster!"), and the central role of the music. The composer, Bronislau Kaper, skillfully used the Liszt Piano Concerto #1 throughout the film, including during the climax scenes. I had actually studied and performed this piece with a symphony orchestra at the age of 19; how stunning to hear the orchestra's opening chords under the MGM lion, followed by the piano's imposing solo entrance as the film's title appears. The Chopin Nocturne in Db, my personal favorite, is the romantic piece played in the film by both Penny and her father; Kaper also used its theme creatively in his underscoring. (I'm unable to identify the other, more mournful piece that runs through the film.)

I remember being smitten with June Allyson when seeing this film as a child. The other night, it was interesting to realize that, 45 years ago, I hadn't noticed the stunning Claudette Colbert!

Thanks for sharing my reminiscences. Here's hoping that MGM might see fit to release "The Secret Heart" on DVD.

post-war angst

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 3 May 2014]

After World War II, Hollywood embarked upon making many films with psychological themes. The war had changed a lot of things, and people who came back from it were not the same.

In "The Secret Heart" from 1946, we learn the tragic story of a gifted pianist, Larry Addams, who wasn't able to pursue music as a career. After his wife dies, he marries Lee (Claudette Colbert), which also means she takes on his two young children, Penny (June Allyson) and Chase (Robert Sterling).

Larry turns to alcohol and also steals from his company. One night, he refuses to attend a party with Lee, content to drink and play the piano at home. Lee has a great time, dancing with their mutual friend Chris (Walter Pidgeon), whom Lee met while she was engaged to Larry. Chris fell for her, but Lee went ahead and married Larry, though everyone stayed friends. When she gets home from the party and a visit to a nightclub, Larry is dead, a suicide.

Lee keeps the headlines about his embezzlement from the children and tells them that their father died in a car accident. She then sets out to work and repay all of his debts. Because of Penny's resentment of her, Lee tells Chris that he needs to keep away from them, and she devotes herself to the children.

Penny as a teenager is quite disturbed, still upset about her father's death and feeling that she is a lot like him. Lee seeks psychiatric help for her. The psychiatrist tells Lee that Penny should know the truth about her father.

Lee's first move is to re-open their old farm, which is right near Chris', which will make Penny happy. Her brother Chase, home from the service, introduces her to a young soldier friend (Marshall Thompson), and he becomes very interested in Penny. Chris starts coming around. It looks as though everything is going in the right direction. Except no one realizes that Penny has another interest.

This is a good movie, a little on the noir side, and it's a chance to see June Allyson do something besides enthusiasm. I had seen her dramatic side before and knew she had a wider range, but I imagine it is a surprise for some. Colbert is absolutely beautiful and does well as a lovely, sympathetic woman who only wants what is best for Larry's children. Robert Sterling is amiable and attractive, as is Marshall Thompson. Both of them found success in television a few years later.

There's an aura of suspense around the film, as well as a warmth, thanks to Colbert and Pidgeon. It's an interesting story of how one man's deeds affect the next generation and the woman and friend he leaves behind.

Artificial melodrama with psychological overtones...

[Doylenf · 5/10 · 3 November 2006]

JUNE ALLYSON is really irritating in this one. She's got the petulance down pat, pouting throughout what is supposed to be her great dramatic role (musicals being her forte). MGM obviously hoped that this would prove to be a turning point in the way of future dramatics for the usually sunny June.

Seems she's supposed to be despondent over losing her dead father at an early age, unable to accept his death and unwilling to depart from his memory (like him, she plays piano constantly), unable to accept her step-mother, CLAUDETTE COLBERT, who is concerned about Allyson's psychosis--especially when Allyson starts imagining that Claudette's love interest (WALTER PIDGEON) is in love with her.

To give it class, MGM made sure they used some classical music for Allyson to play, gave it elegant sets and an overall polished look that might have worked well on a better film. But this is so obviously supposed to be a psychological tear-jerker to give Colbert and Allyson strong dramatic roles. Unfortunately, the contrivances are so pat and the overall effect so absurdly superficial that all you can do is hope JUNE ALLYSON will get over her dramatic ambitions and do the things she does best.

Nice cast, including ROBERT STERLING (as Allyson's more sensible brother), PATRICIA MEDINA, MARSHALL THOMPSON and LIONEL BARRYMORE (as a crusty old doctor), helps somewhat, but nothing can disguise the fact that they're all wasting their time in a phoney melodrama adrift in the usual Hollywood psycho-babble meant to be taken seriously.

Interesting drama with June Allyson in a serious role

[mgmstar128 · 8/10 · 2 June 2008]

I won't rehash the plot as many viewers before me have already done that for us. I will say that I enjoyed the film, as I have always liked the work of June Allyson and Claudette Colbert.

It was a nice change to see June in a different kind of a role for her. I also liked her in The Shrike. In that one, she also turned in a very different type of role expected of her. The problem for some viewers is that they don't want to see June in anything else except Little Miss Sunshine. Now June may not have been Meryl Streep, but she was a good actress.

I think the whole cast was fine, and Robert Sterling as Claudette's adult son was very good. He and Claudette as stepson and stepmother exhibited a loving and believable relationship. It was also fun to see Elizabeth Patterson (Mrs. Trumble from I Love Lucy) as the housekeeper/cook.

As for Miss Colbert, I had the privilege of seeing her in two Broadway shows (The Kingfisher and A Talent for Murder). She gave me an autograph and we enjoyed a brief chat at the stage door. She was gracious, sweet, and still beautiful. As for the film, she was very strong and believable as the determined mother to take on all she needed to in order to provide for her children and to clean up her husband's mistakes.

The Secret Heart maybe a bit melodramatic at times, but as a product of the 1940's, it is an interesting film and well made.

A Penny for Your Thoughts?

[davidcarniglia · 6/10 · 27 August 2020]

A psychological family drama starring Claudette Colbert and June Allyson. Colbert's Lee is widowed by Larry (Richard Derr), who's suicide ten years ago messed things up. When Lee moves back to their former home with stepchildren Chase (Robert Sterling) and Penny (Allyson), Chris (Walter Pidgeon), a former flame of Lee's, comes back into the picture. Problem is that Penny has a thing for him too.

Chase comes back from the war, Kay, Lee's secretary (Patricia Medina), tells him that Penny is in a bad way, "worse", that is, and has quit school. Lee's at Penny's psychiatrist, Dr. Rossinger (Lionel Barrymore), asking her why she never goes back to the family farm. He asks her about the two years between her marrying Larry and his suicide. So we start a flashback: to Chris and Lee coming back to America from England.

We see the younger Lee meet up with Chris. They're obviously attracted to each other. She tells him that she's in love with Larry. "Aren't you taking on a lot? A widower and two young children?" Well, that's exactly what she gets into. Just like that, though, Larry seems possessive of Lee, and her efforts to win over the kids: "Did you marry me or my children?" Plus he's drinking a bit, then a bit more. Next scene is the same, but he's in worse shape. "What do I tell them (their friends)?" asks Lee. "Tell them Larry's drunk." What's to account for his behavior?

So, she goes to a party with Chris. He's everything that Larry isn't: polite, social, happy. Well, after the party, Chris takes her dancing. He tells her that he was going to buy her a negligee. They're awful chummy. Hmm, just the night for.."some sort of an accident." Larry's dead. They tell the kids that dad had a heart attack. Suddenly, then, the door's open for Chris, literally. But, partly because of the bad memories, and also to pay off Larry's debts, she tells him she's renting the house, and taking a job in the city.

He renews his offer of affection for her; she admits "I wasn't his (Larry's) really." She wants to be left alone; he says ok. Return to the present, in Dr. Rossinger's office. He thinks she's been hiding from her past--and that, despite gossip about her and Chris--she ought to move back to the farm. As for Penny, she ought to know the truth about how and why her father died "She's in love with a ghost (her dad)".

The doctor goes on to say that Penny will become "permanently sick" unless she develops a relationship with someone her own age...Makes sense (Penny's heart 'condition' seems in unintentional sympathy with her dad's alleged cause of death). So, Lee thinks it makes sense to move back to the farm with Penny and Chase after all.

Chase tells her he's thinking of working for Chris's shipbuilding company. Lee hasn't seen Chris for ten years. Chase's been telling a friend Brandon (Marshall Thompson) about his nice sister; but, in a real sense, she's still playing (the piano) for her father. But she does have a few fond memories of Chris. In any case, she meets Brandon when Chase goes to interview about the job. That guy's really taken with her. Chris comes out to talk to them. Then, he invites them all to dinner.

Penny affects to be spooked by the thunderstorm; is she just wanting to spend the night at Chris's? He's like an uncle to her. She plays piano for him. Chris checks in with Lee. She tells her dog "we're going to the country." And, there she is, sprucing up the old farm house, while Brandon chats her up about Penny. I'm waiting for something juicy to happen...but Penny won't even go on a walk with him. Instead she calls Chris. So, who does Chris really come calling on, stepdaughter or stepmother? Both maybe.

By a very big duck pond, Penny sweet-talks Chris. "Boys frighten me". Meaning Brandon. Now Lee's leading him around "let's watch the kids (dance). Shall we?" Then Lee dances with Chris, with Penny looking jealous. She's actually turning the music off, affecting to be embarrassed by stepmom. For some reason, there's very little talk--other than the shipyard deal-- about anybody's jobs or responsibilities. What has Lee been up to for ten years? (real estate, we later learn) Anyway, now Penny finds Chris late at night outside.

She recalls one of her dad's wee hour piano riffs. "Love me always," the needy dad implores her six-year-old self. Back to the moonlight thing with Chris--he's especially avuncular now. She more or less blows off Brandon, who's been waiting for her. She refuses to play for the guys at the base he's stationed at. She makes up with Lee. Everything's a competition between them: even Brandon is a bone of contention. Meanwhile, Chase proposes to Kay. Seems that Penny is even jealous of them for stealing attention from her.

Chris pops in while Penny is working in the garden. "Gardening is good for me. My psychiatrist said so." She seems chagrined that he doesn't invite her to check out his latest ship. In New York, there's kind of a recurring bit, with Chris wanting to buy a negligee for Lee (and, for Penny, a pendant "would that be suitable for a junior miss?").

Anyway, he picks up Lee from the station. They go to his place. For once, there's work talk. And then, Chris's present for her makes it's way to her wrist. Chase says "Say, wouldn't it be a great idea...Lee and Chris?" Penny begs to differ. Now we learn that Lee has been keeping them above water the whole time; he lets the bomb fall that dad's 'fall' wasn't an accident.

Is Penny going to kill her? The wacko music implies... something's in the offing. Meanwhile, at Chris's, he produces the negligee. Chris is going to propose. She's not quite there yet. When they mention Penny the girl appears at the French door. The cute pendant falls to the ground, as Penny looks on. He tries his big line on Lee, she realizes it was what he told Penny--in other words, the lover that the girl spoke of wasn't good old Brandon, it was Chris. Penny's disappeared, but here's Chase to tell Lee and Chris that Penny ran off distraught after she learned the truth about her father. They think maybe she is likely to jump from the same point as her father did. Lee goes after her, and catches up. "You killed my father!" "You can have Chris!" But Lee lays it on the line. Larry did what he did because he'd bilked investors. Luckily, Lee's able to grab Penny before there's a suicide attempt.

Next thing we know, Penny's effectively catatonic. Lee, attempting to bring her out of it, more or less rationalizes Larry's mistakes--apparently, he'd been jobbed by the music industry, thus the retribution that got him in hot water. Lee breaks through Penny's mask. Flashing forward a bit, Penny finishes school, and all's well. The end.

This is really Penny's story. And it's a pretty good one; almost a gothic tale of a narcissistic personality disorder growing out of a traumatic event in early childhood. The weird competition that she has with her stepmother shows how she blames Lee for what happened to her dad. That's a plausible reaction, and quite perceptive, in so far as Chris has been edging closer to Lee from the beginning--who would think of buying a married woman a negligee other than a lover?

Still, Lee never gave in to Chris while she was married, spurned him after Larry had just died; and didn't reconnect with lover-boy until ten years later. And Colbert's character is no Better Davis/Joan Crawford horror hag; Lee is consistently nice and supportive to both of her step-children. The real question mark is Larry. He's not on screen enough for us to see more than a ruined man. His hassles with the people he eventually turned on aren't depicted; we have no idea if he's a wronged man, a vindictive one, or both. It's important, because it's Larry's relationship with Penny that drives the whole plot.

Actually, it wouldn't much matter to a kid just what one's father does for a living; but Lee's concerned only because her husband's acting like a jerk, even though she ends up holding the bag of his mistakes after his death. If Larry isn't even two-dimensional, then Chris barely makes that grade. He's basically a cool, successful guy. With a big crush on Lee. Why would he carry a torch for her for ten years? I couldn't even see Brandon doing that for Penny. Brandon and Penny's non-relationship shows Penny at her worst. She's never gotten over her daddy's-girl status; which explains why Chris is automatically more attractive than Brandon ever could be.

With Chase and Kay, we've got a good contrast with Penny's unsuccessful relations with men. Her display when her brother announces his engagement to Kay is as childish as it is narcissistic. The implicit message is that, either no one should be happy because I (Penny) am not, or I can't do (a peer relationship) like you guys, so your thing isn't so hot. The cathartic suicide attempt and its aftermath seems a bit predictable, but only in retrospect. It was equally possible that she could've killed herself, or even Lee or Chris.

This was entertaining, but a little slow. As mentioned, Penny is really the only interesting character; so the plot is tucked in to fit her issues, which makes for some contrivances. 6.5/10.

A melodrama or a soap opera: take your pick.

[brentkincaid · 5/10 · 25 April 2013]

I jumped into this movie with both feet because of the stars. I like all of them for different reasons. Walter Pigeon, Claudette Colbert, June Allyson, Lyle Barrymore. Heck, they even have Mrs. Trumble (Lucky and Ricky Ricardo's upstairs neighbor)as the housekeeper on the farm.

What I wasn't ready for was June Allyson as a teenager when she was just on the sunny side of thirty. That certainly did NOT work for me. If she had been Colbert's step SISTER, instead of stepdaughter that would have worked for me just dandy. But, having said that, I want to point out it was the best performance June has turned in so far and I thought I had seen them all. She was wonderful. She did her best while being cast totally against type and age range. And, she pulled it off with aplomb.

The sets, the costumes, the choice of the other characters all worked and so I am sure you will have a nice rainy afternoon if you choose to watch this on AMC or TCM. But, I would NOT suggest buying or renting this movie. It is simply not worth the expense when there are so many much better movies out there.

Great cast, but lethargic film

[vincentlynch-moonoi · 7/10 · 15 September 2016]

This film has all the ingredients that make me tend to like a movie. And while I do like this film, I'm only going to give it my "basic" "7" rating -- good but not great.

June Allyson, playing a teenager here, was actually about 30 years old when making this film. However, that aspect of the film does work well enough, although I found that her change in the ten years the film covers not so believable. She does well here.

So what are the ingredients here that I like? A good story -- a teen hates her stepmother, and later finds out that her father committed suicide. Meanwhile, the girl falls in love with her stepmothers middle-aged male friend. For a while that bothered me, but after thinking about it, she is mentally ill and feels comfortable with him...so yes, I guess that's believable, too.

The other good thing about this film is the cast: Claudette Colbert, Walter Pidgeon, June Allyson, Lionel Barrymore, a young Marshall Thompson, and wonderful character actress Elizabeth Patterson.

To be honest, almost any film with Claudette Colbert is worth watching, and this is no exception. And Walter Pidgeon is just right for his part, as well. Robert Sterling does nicely here, as well.

A good film. Not a great film.

Too Light For A Pulsating Psycho Drama

[LeonLouisRicci · 6/10 · 3 October 2012]

This is a glossy psycho-soap with a fine cast and enough offbeat occasions to keep one interested. The mental illness of the young daughter, suffering from the early death of her father, is not handled too heavily and the film suffers somewhat from this shallow interpretation.

The creepiness really starts when she falls for her Mother's lover and things start to get stirred to the breaking point. This happens late in the film and maybe just a little too late for this to be a top notch thriller.

It is intriguing enough but lacks the depth of character study and is a bit light for this type of psychological picture, so it comes off more as a slick family drama than the study of a sick mind and its effect on the family.

Watch Walter Pigeon Dance

[frankblazek · 8/10 · 28 March 2005]

The psychological drama is dated and simplistic in the analysis of the depression suffered by Allysion. But the dance scene with Walter Pigeon and Claudette Colbert is classic, both humorous and very real. Both are such hams and obviously enjoyed making fun of themselves.

The piano was excellent, classical piano goes well with deranged minds. In a way it was reminiscent of Rebecca.

The use of flash backs was done nicely, integrating the story. Colbert is ageless as always, playing both the young stepmother and the older widow.

The movie gave a very real depiction of how an enabling wife struggles with an alcoholic husband.

Awful

[AAdaSC · 1/10 · 17 March 2012]

June Allyson (Penny) gets a father fixation and spends the film boring us silly as she strives to be close to him.

As the film keeps tediously reminding us with the same sequence that is meant to provide some comedy, but is never actually funny, there are 3 things that cannot be hidden in life; love, smoke and something else contrived to be wacky and funny. Of more relevance are the following three; 1 - an obvious plot, 2 - a weak script, 3 - a lack of anything interesting. All of these are demonstrated in this heap of junk.

You can wander in and out of this one and not miss a thing. The cast have all wasted their time. And that of the audience.

It is a warm and loving movie

[patricia8095 · 10/10 · 13 February 2007]

This is one of her greatest movies but there is only one problem "You Can not Purchase it Anywhere" It is not for sale for in home all the time enjoyment. I have watched this movie with tears in my eyes for seeing a young child have so much love and admirations for another is heartfelt and amazing. Sad for this is one movie many would like to own and be able to watch at anytime. Nothing like the good old days where love was real and family really existed. This is something that is seems to be almost totally gone. Just try to watch this movie believe me it is worth going out of your way to watch and to buy if ever available to the public

The Secret Heart- Of Human Sacrifice ****

[edwagreen · 10/10 · 8 May 2014]

Soap opera at its best. Claudette Colbert is wonderful as usual again in a role of sacrifice for step-children nonetheless. Marrying a widower who subsequently commits suicide, she takes them away to avoid scandal and becomes highly successful in the real estate industry.

Fast forward 10 years later. Robert Sterling, the son, returns from navy service to find his sister, wonderfully played by June Allyson, to be emotionally distraught. Sterling knew the circumstances of his father's death whereas the Allison character didn't.

To complicate matters, Walter Pidgeon was the best friend to the father. He was the man that Colbert should have wed but did not.

When psychiatrist Lionel Barrymore tells Colbert to return to the farm where all this occurred, this opens up a can of worms as Allison falls for Pidgeon herself. When she learns the truth about her father and that Colbert is the woman for Pidgeon, this results in near tragedy.

This picture was well done. It is a story of sacrifice, understanding of the heart and of good people caught in the tragedy of yesterday.

Good family drama..... mostly great cast.

[ksf-2 · 8/10 · 1 May 2014]

Allyson was the miscast role here in "Secret Heart" In all those ww II flicks, she was the "wide-eyed, innocent, perfect, little wife left at home while soldier is off at war", but i wish they had chosen someone else for this role. There are so many other strong, versatile actors in this one, it's a shame they don't show it more often. "Penny" (June Allyson) THINKS she knows the truth about her dead father, and is living in her own world when reality hits her head on. With Walter Pidgeon, Claudette Colbert, Lionel Barrymore, and Robert Sterling, it's a showcase of so many strong actors. All charismatic, versatile personalities. There isn't room here to describe the strengths and history of most of them, so maybe it'll be easier to describe the film's weakness - Allyson. She is still playing the wide-eyed, innocent, but way-off-base-daughter, ignorant to the realities of life, and the dark side of it. Claudette Colbert (Lee Addams) could play ANY part, and also showed up in so many ww II flicks. My favorite Colbert film is, of course, Imitation of Life, the first (Better) version. Pidgeon, who appeared in SO many big films, had just been nominated for his role in "Madame Curie". Here, he is Chris Matthews, friend to Lee, in a smaller role. Still a great film, but could have been even better, with that casting change. Just my little opinion.