James Hitchcock "Secret People" is largely remembered for providing Audrey Hepburn with what has been described as "her first significant film role", although in fact her character Nora does not play a major part in the plot until the very end of the film. (The film is much more about her older sister Maria). Audrey seems to have been cast mainly on the basis of her dancing skills (she had trained at ballet school) because Nora is an aspiring ballerina and several dance sequences, with little connection to the main storyline, are featured. Her acting skills, however, must have impressed the director Thorold Dickinson because it was on the basis of a screen test he made with Audrey that she won the leading role in "Roman Holiday", her big Hollywood breakthrough.Nora and Maria arrive in London as political refugees after a dictator seizes power in their unnamed European homeland. Seven years later, Maria is reunited with her lover Louis who she learns is a member of a revolutionary organisation plotting to overthrow the country's government. Louis recruits Maria into the group and persuades her, much against her will, to take part in a plan to assassinate the dictator when he visits London. This places Maria in a dilemma. She has every reason to hate the regime, which was responsible for the death of her father, but also recalls that her father was a pacifist who would have disapproved of violence in any circumstances. Maria's dilemma becomes all the greater when the assassination plot goes wrong and the dictator survives but an innocent woman is killed instead. (The title "Secret People", incidentally, does not derive from any association with "secret agents" but from the idea that we all have a "secret person" hidden inside us, a "person" which becomes visible when we are under stress).The film's political stance is a potentially interesting one. Although it was made only a few years after the end of World War II, the treatment of Louis and his group is by no means as positive as one might expect. They are not shown as the moral equivalent of the European Resistance movements during the war itself, who were nearly always portrayed in a positive, even heroic, light. Dickinson seems to have wanted to imply that revolutionary movements can take on, if only subconsciously, something of the moral character of the governments they oppose, because Louis and his followers are fanatical, authoritarian and callous of human life, whether that be the life of innocent bystanders caught up in their schemes or the life of their own members whose loyalty is considered suspect. Any crime can be justified provided it furthers their cause. The film quotes W H Auden's well-known line that "We must love one another or die", but the attitude of Louis and his associates can be summed up in another Auden line- "The acceptance of guilt in the necessary murder".This is a potentially interesting theme, but it is not dealt with in a very interesting way. The character of Louis needed to be more developed in order to show how the once-idealistic young man whom Maria remembers has become a violent political fanatic and we could have learned more about the other members of the revolutionary cell. Instead, all the emphasis is on Maria, and matters are not helped by the fact that Valentina Cortese, here billed as "Cortesa", gives a rather dull performance, making Maria seem too cautious and indecisive ever to be plausible as an active accomplice to a political murder. When "Secret People" came out in 1952, the film critic of "The Times" described it as "a confused, inarticulate, disappointing film, neither as imaginative nor as intellectually exciting as it should be," and there is justice in that criticism. It is little-known today- I recently caught a rare television screening- and unlikely to appeal to many people except to Audrey Hepburn completists. 5/10A goof. The line "We must love one another or die" is quoted in the context of a scene set in 1930, but in fact it is taken from Auden's poem "September 1st 1939" which as its title might suggest was not written until 1939.

howardmorley To answer an earlier user comment, the reason Audrey Hepburn did not continue with classical ballet was because of a serious injury to one of her ankles - always a risk for dancers.Nevertheless Audrey dancing in her tutu was a highlight of this 1952 Ealing film."London Live" commercial channel in the UK have just begun showing a season of classic Ealing films, so you could see Ealing did not just produce film comedies.I am grateful to my wife for pointing me in the right direction so I could see this film, which is not advertised for sale on rare DVD movie sites to my knowledge.The cognoscenti of classic British films from this era will also spot Megs Jenkins, Sam Kydd and Sidney Tafler in other small parts.The above user comments sufficiently describe the plot so I will not dwell further on it.Suffice it to say the theme of terrorism is still very much relevant today with 7/7/2005 much remembered in the UK.My wife and I enjoyed it to the end and I awarded it 7/10.A good evening's viewing with the "Poldark" remake on BBC to follow!

blanche-2 Simply put "Secret People" is about terrorism.Maria Brentano (Valentina Cortese) and her younger sister Nora (Angela Fouldes/Audrey Hepburn) are sent to live in London with a friend of their father's; he is ultimately killed by a European dictator, Galbern. Maria becomes a citizen and changes her name to Brent and works in her guardian's restaurant, while Nora pursues a career as a dancer. Seven years pass, and their guardian takes them for a weekend in Paris. There, Maria sees her boyfriend Louis (Serge Reggiani), from whom she has been separated for seven years.Serge and his group are now plotting the assassination of Galbern, who is visiting London. He arranges for Nora to be hired for a private party which will be attended by Galbern, and Maria will be a guest. He pressures her at the last minute to carry a bomb and pass it to someone who will be at the party. The plan goes awry and a waitress is killed. Horrified, Maria goes into a sort of witness protection and is sent back to help capture Louis and his group.Terrorism coming into and hurting ordinary people, fanatics who believe in their cause -- it resonates today. The acting is very good. Valentina Cortese is excellent as a loving and protective woman drawn into something by the man she loves. Audrey Hepburn is sweet and very girlish as Nora, and Serge Reggiani as the smooth Louis does a great job. This role must have hit close to home for Reggiani; his father was a prominent anti-fascist and fled Mussolini in order to protect his family. Everyone in the film is good.Valentina Cortese was interviewed for the Audrey Hepburn biography on which I worked. She adored Hepburn, and the two of them used to go to nightclubs together and even at one point tried smoking cigars. So it was especially interesting for me to see this film. Despite some negative reviews here, I found this a worthwhile film.

boudica10 The Secret People is worth seeing as much for what it did not accomplish as for what it did. It seems to me that only Hitchcock's Sabotage deals with the same sort of moral dilemmas that this film attempts to portray. Both Sabotage and Secret People were filmed in dark London streets and ominous back streets. In fact, the cinematography is literally so dark that it is often difficult to make out the action. In both films, an atmosphere of dread and secrecy hangs over the characters. However, despite the strong bond between the sisters, you never feel the same anguish shown in Sabotage by the wife of the saboteur. The film could have been a lot more forceful in setting up its moral conflicts. Of course, it is worth while just to see the young Audrey Hepburn dance classical ballet, something we were never to see again on film. And to see her before she became a major star. No Givenchy fashions in this one!