THE SECRET SIX looks like an antiquated crime film, despite some of the comments here talking about "MGM gloss". It doesn't have any gloss and it doesn't compare favorably to the tougher Warner Bros. crime dramas of the same period.
The only surprises here are in the odd casting choices. RALPH BELLAMY (Mr. Nice Guy or "other man" in most films) playing a rotten gangster type with lines like "Easy on the rods" to his fellow gangsters and a tough guy sneer on his face. He's a double-crossing leader of a gang who tries to get rid of WALLACE BEERY, but fails and is shot in the back by Beery for his efforts. Since this comes pretty early in the film, it's a bit of a surprise. So is seeing Bellamy as a gangster.
The other surprise is seeing LEWIS STONE (Andy Hardy's dad) as a crooked lawyer who rules the mobsters with a firm hand, but makes the fatal mistake of turning his back on Beery toward the end. Stone seems out of his element here as the dapper lawyer with the cane.
And finally, into the film comes a very young CLARK GABLE (sans moustache) looking fit and chipper as a rather callow newspaper man who jokes around with another newspaper guy JOHNNY MACK BROWN, who happens to be Harlow's love interest (instead of Gable).
Despite these surprises, the film itself is as ordinary as they come, a simple gangster story with a Prohibition background about bootleggers who get mixed up with gun molls, crooked lawyers and crime stoppers like "The Secret Six" who are able to capture bad guy Beery and put an end to his monopoly on crime in the city. The plot sounds vaguely like it may have been based on Al Capone's true-life story.
Summing up: Only gets lively toward the end with all the shoot-outs, but pretty stale stuff most of the time.
Trivia note: Interesting for the glimpse it gives of CLARK GABLE and JEAN HARLOW before they hit the big time stardom waiting for them.
The only surprises here are in the odd casting choices. RALPH BELLAMY (Mr. Nice Guy or "other man" in most films) playing a rotten gangster type with lines like "Easy on the rods" to his fellow gangsters and a tough guy sneer on his face. He's a double-crossing leader of a gang who tries to get rid of WALLACE BEERY, but fails and is shot in the back by Beery for his efforts. Since this comes pretty early in the film, it's a bit of a surprise. So is seeing Bellamy as a gangster.
The other surprise is seeing LEWIS STONE (Andy Hardy's dad) as a crooked lawyer who rules the mobsters with a firm hand, but makes the fatal mistake of turning his back on Beery toward the end. Stone seems out of his element here as the dapper lawyer with the cane.
And finally, into the film comes a very young CLARK GABLE (sans moustache) looking fit and chipper as a rather callow newspaper man who jokes around with another newspaper guy JOHNNY MACK BROWN, who happens to be Harlow's love interest (instead of Gable).
Despite these surprises, the film itself is as ordinary as they come, a simple gangster story with a Prohibition background about bootleggers who get mixed up with gun molls, crooked lawyers and crime stoppers like "The Secret Six" who are able to capture bad guy Beery and put an end to his monopoly on crime in the city. The plot sounds vaguely like it may have been based on Al Capone's true-life story.
Summing up: Only gets lively toward the end with all the shoot-outs, but pretty stale stuff most of the time.
Trivia note: Interesting for the glimpse it gives of CLARK GABLE and JEAN HARLOW before they hit the big time stardom waiting for them.