mark.waltz
This is an exciting Gothic thriller that will keep you guessing. A moody artist, a beautiful model who is brutally murdered and the sister who tries to prove his guilt drives this psychologically and in ways that make you unsure that the dark eyed and sinister looking Francis Lederer is the Jekyll and Hyde he seems to be. Linda Stirling, the Rita Hayworth like beauty, is first seen singing as a knife thrower takes a risk with her and Lederer paints a picture of her being impaled. Truth is stranger than paintings, and Stirling is murdered, with her sister Ann Rutherford taking a modeling job to find a way of pricing him guilty. Gail Patrick is a flirtatious art patron who makes a play for him, unaware of dangerous implications in his past.Sort of like "Rebecca" set in the world of art, this has Lederer its Maxim DeWinter, Stirling as the lady of mystery and murder, and Rutherford its innocent Joan Fontaine like waif who may or may not be in danger with her dealings with the dark souled artist.Then, there's Leona Roberts as his clinging mother which gives hidden psychological clues to Lederer's psyche. He's excellent, delivering a performance of subtle gentility and angry passions, making him an excellent anti-hero. Rutherford, Patrick and Roberts are quite good as well. Everything has been meticulously put together, from the costumes and sets to the music and cinematography. It's a beautiful piece of art, hidden away to the point of obscurity and really deserving of a major rediscovery.
Michael_Elliott
The Madonna's Secret (1946) ** (out of 4) Artist James Corbin (Francis Lederer) has his latest model murdered and it strikes one man (Edward Ashley) strange that a previous model died the same way. The second victim's sister (Ann Rutherford) decides to go undercover as a model to try and prove that the artist is the murderer. THE MADONNA'S SECRET features some good performances and nice cinematography but that's about it as the story itself is rather tiresome and director Wilhelm Thiele just doesn't add too much suspense to the material. In fact, I'd say that the entire film has a very weak energy level that really keeps the viewer from getting too caught up in the material. The screenplay itself really doesn't have too much going for it as there are way too many long dialogue sequences that just go no where and end up hurting the film more than helping. As I said, the performances are actually pretty good and they help keep the film moving. Lederer was very believable as the troubled artist and I really liked how the actor could make you not trust him one second but then change your mind the next. Ashley makes for an entertaining good guy and Rutherford gets to shine in a role away from Andy Hardy. John Litel is good as the main cop on the case and Leona Roberts is also good as the artist's mother. I will admit that the final twist in the story is a good one and something that I didn't see coming.
Alex da Silva
Francis Lederer (James) is an artist with poor temperament, you know, prima donna style. He paints girlfriends who end up dead. This doesn't go un-noticed by Edward Ashley (John) who works with the police to get Lederer convicted of murder. One problem though - is Lederer actually guilty? You know something is wrong in this film when Lederer invites Ann Rutherford (Linda) to his birthday party.......and the only other guest is his MOTHER! Yeah - that's normal for a young man. The cast are fine although the women are all given slightly irritating dialogue. Lederer is a good main focus for the film which ticks along but I'm afraid that's all it does - tick along.The title refers to a painting which has a significance once the plot is understood and the idea behind the story will, no doubt, be familiar. However, despite a few slow patches, the film is OK. I have to add that my enjoyment of the film was hampered by the very poor sound quality of the film that I watched, although I am not sure whether or not this is due to my source of purchase.
Charles Herold (cherold)
This film noir started out on a rather interesting note, as a theater critic becomes fascinated with the model in a painting and tries to track her down. The central mystery involves the mysterious death of the model of a brooding painter, but I can't say the ending was any sort of surprise.The problem is that once the story gets going, it just doesn't have much to do. This 90-minute movie could have been cut to an hour without losing anything. The movie also suffers from indifferent dialog and plotting (one key character disappears entirely about halfway through the film).It's a pretty nice looking movie and the acting isn't bad, but it just lacks anything to set it above any other B movie.
AD
