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{{short description|1924 silent film by Frank Borzage}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2020}}
{{More citations needed|date=June 2019}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Secrets
| image = File:Secrets (First National, 1924) Window Card (cropped).jpg
| caption = Theatrical poster
| director = [[Frank Borzage]]
| writer = [[Frances Marion]] (screenplay)<br>[[Rudolph Besier]] (play)<br>[[May Edginton]] (play)
| starring = [[Norma Talmadge]]
| producer = Norma Talmadge
| cinematography = [[Tony Gaudio]]
| distributor = [[First National Pictures|First National]]
| budget =
| released = {{film date|1924|3|24}}
| country = United States
| language = [[Silent film|Silent]] (English [[intertitle]]s)
| runtime = 108 minutes
| gross = $1,500,000<ref name="quig">[https://archive.org/stream/international193738quig#page/942/mode/2up/search/%22box+office%22 Quigley Publishing Company "The All Time Best Sellers", ''International Motion Picture Almanac 1937-38 (1938)'' p 942] accessed April 19, 2014</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11816878 |title=Which Cinema Films Have Earned the Most Money Since 1914? |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]] |location=Melbourne |date=March 4, 1944 |accessdate=August 6, 2012 |page=3 Supplement: The Argus Weekend magazine |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
}}

'''''Secrets''''' is a 1924 American [[silent film|silent]] [[drama film]] directed by [[Frank Borzage]]. The film is based upon a 1922 play of the [[Secrets (1922 play)|same name]], and was [[Secrets (1933 film)|remade in 1933]] with [[Mary Pickford]] in the leading role.<ref>[http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/S/Secrets1924.html Progressive Silent Film List: ''Secrets''] on silentera.com</ref> Although the film was never released on video or DVD, copies still exist.

==Plot==
The films opens in present. 75-year-old Mary Carlton is depressed over her husband John's illness. She feels her life has no use if he dies. She starts reading her diary, after which the film jumps to 1865 in the time she fell in love with John. She feels she has to hide her love for her strict mother, fearing she will disapprove because of their social class differences. Mary lives within the very wealthy Marlowe family and grows up to be a lady with manners, while John is a working class employee.

When her parents find out about the affair, they are outraged. They forbid her from ever seeing John again. However, Mary tells them she only loves John and will never marry anybody if she cannot see him anymore. Her father William locks her into her own room until she stops being a rebel. Meanwhile, she receives a letter from John, who announces he has been fired over their love affair. Later that night, John sneaks into her room by the balcony and announces he will leave for America. Despite knowing her parents will never talk to her again, she decides to go with him.

Before they can leave, William comes in. He tells Mary he will send her to Scotland to live with her grandmother. After he leaves the room, Mary writes a farewell letter and sneaks off with John. By the time it's 1870, she lives with John in a poor house. He works all day, while Mary is giving birth to a son. One day, a gang threatens to kill John. He wants to surrender so they will not kill Mary and the baby as well, but Mary demands him to fight. He does as his wife tells him and eventually defeats the gang.

Years pass by. In 1888, Mary celebrates her 39th birthday and is having contact with her family again. She finds out John is having a mistress, Estelle. Mary feels humiliated, but Estelle makes things worse when she confronts Mary with the fact she cannot make her husband happy. Mary grants her husband a divorce, but he does not want to leave her. He admits he has had an affair with Estelle, but that it didn't mean anything. They reunite, although John announces he has lost all of his money. The film goes back to present, where Mary is told her husband has recovered from his illness.

==Cast==
[[File:Secrets lobby card.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Lobby card]]
{{Cast listing|
* [[Norma Talmadge]] as Mary Carlton
* [[Eugene O'Brien (actor)|Eugene O’Brien]] as John Carlton
* [[Winter Hall]] as Dr. Arbuthnot
* [[Frank Elliott (actor)|Frank Elliott]] as Robert Carlton
* [[George Cowl]] as John Carlton Jr.
* [[Clarissa Selwynne]] as Audrey Carlton
* [[Florence Wix]] as Lady Lessington
* [[Patterson Dial]] as Susan
* [[Emily Fitzroy]] as Mrs. Marlowe
* [[Claire McDowell]] as Elizabeth Channing
* [[George Nichols (actor)|George Nichols]] as William Marlowe
* [[Harvey Clark (actor)|Harvey Clark]] as Bob
* [[Charles Stanton Ogle]] as Dr. McGovern
* [[Donald Keith (actor)|Donald Keith]] as John Carlton Jr. (1888)
* [[Alice Day]] as Blanche Carlton (1888)
* [[Mae Giraci]] as Audrey Carlton (1888)
* [[Gertrude Astor]] as Mrs. Estelle Manwaring
}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Secrets (1924 film)}}
*{{IMDb title|id=0015312|title=Secrets}}

{{Frank Borzage}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Secrets (1924 film)}}
[[Category:1924 films]]
[[Category:1924 drama films]]
[[Category:1920s American films]]
[[Category:1920s English-language films]]
[[Category:American black-and-white films]]
[[Category:American silent feature films]]
[[Category:English-language drama films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Frank Borzage]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Frances Marion]]
[[Category:First National Pictures films]]
[[Category:Silent American drama films]]
[[Category:Surviving American silent films]]

Secrets (1924 film) - Revision history

imported>CRussG at 06:20, 22 June 2025