Open Secret (1948)

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

John Ireland was an actor with a moderate amount of charisma, who always knew his lines and gave his directors no trouble at all. Although he was a natural for TV and played many roles, including John Hunter in 39 episodes of "The Cheaters", Jeff Colby in 8 episodes of "Rawhide", and Shack Shackelford in 13 episodes of "Cassie & Co.", he never became a household word. In movies, his best role was as Jack Burden in All the King's Men (1949) for which he should have won that year's award for Best Supporting Actor, but unaccountably lost out to Dean Jagger in Twelve O'Clock High. Earlier in 1949, Ireland played the title role of Bob Ford in I Shot Jesse James. He continued the James association by playing the lead in The Return of Jesse James (1950), a minor film about a drifter who adopted the James name. In 1951, he starred in The Basketball Fix and The Bushwackers. In 1952 he was the lead in Hurricane Smith. So it's no surprise to find him as the star of our 1948 "B" movie, Open Secret, even though he does little with the role and is often upstaged by the support cast, particularly Anne O'Neal, here in the first of her fifteen movie appearances for 1948. In fact, Miss O'Neal's inquisitive landlady does tend to throw the whole movie off balance and she certainly creams our nominal heroine, Jane Randolph. We would also have liked to have seen more of some of the other support players, particularly Roman Bohnen and Sheldon Leonard. However, the movie does come to an effective action climax, well staged by director John Reinhardt—although the lesson or the moral does seem to be a bit exaggerated and over the top. Admittedly, Gentleman's Agreement (1947) erred in the opposite direction and was too namby-pamby in its approach to anti-Jewish prejudice, but I still thought the police response in an Open Secret situation would have been far more active, particularly as the movie seems to go out of its way to praise the police effort and make excuses for their lack of involvement. Available on a very good Alpha DVD.

1947 saw the debut of the film "Gentleman's Agreement" in which Gregory Peck pretended to be Jewish in order to feel what it's like to be a Jew in America. Naturally, he experiences some discrimination but it's mostly very proper ('nice' anti-Semitism) and the leading man quite handsome. It was NOT particularly gritty and I always thought the film was amazingly tame...and a bit overdone. Here, a year later, a low-budget studio had decided to do a film like "Gentleman's Agreement"--but with more normal looking folks (no handsome Peck or John Garfield here) and in a more working-class neighborhood. And, in addition, the level of hate was ratcheted up...a lot. In fact, in this sick little town, a local hidden hate group has gone so far as kill Jews! John Ireland infiltrates this group of sickies and the film lacks the pretty polish but also seems a bit more gutsy and violent. Oddly, despite the publicity for the earlier film and critical acclaim, I prefer "Open Secret" as it is much more exciting and more like a variation on film noir. A great film? No...but it certainly is interesting and the problems don't seem so mundane as those in the Gregory Peck film. As a result, it shows a seedier and uglier side to ethnic hatred.

***SPOILERS*** Powerful and no holds barred movie about racism in America that goes as far as murder to those that don't fit into what American, according to a bunch on Neo-Nazis, are supposed to be like.It's when newlyweds photographer Paul Lester and his wife Nancy, John Ireland & Jane Randolph, came to see his army buddy Ed Stevens, Charles Walkdrow Jr, that he found the guy AWOL not only from his apartment but Paul as well! It's when Paul gets a phone call from Snap Magazine investigative reporter Larry Mitchell, Morgan Farley, about some secret information, a roll of film, that Ed was supposed to hand over to him that he realized that his friend was in a heap of trouble. Ed had secretly photographed the actions,like painting swastikas on Jewish owned establishments and setting a synagogue on fire, of a number of secretive neighborhood Neo-Nazis that he infiltrated. What's even worse these Neo-Nazis were also involved in the murder of a Jewish man in the neighborhood, Mr. Fisher, by running him down in a staged hit-and-run "accident". It's later with the help of police Det. Sgt.Mike Frotelli, Sheldon Leonard, that Ed's body is recovered in him suffering the same fate that Mr. Fisher did: killed in a hit-in-run "accident".It's in fact the Neo-Nazis brazenness in not being able to keep their big mouths shut by always getting themselves drunk at their neighborhood hangout, "The no Jews allowed 19th Hole", about what their up to that leads to their ultimate demise. There's also a few, to say the least, weak links in their rag tag organization of drunks loudmouths and Adolph Hitler wannabes with them, when the heats on, turning over evidence to the DA in order to save their skins. That all ends up exposing their leader or Fuhrer's evil and diabolical plans for the future of America!It's the Neo-Nazis attempt to run Jewish camera store owner Harry Strass, George Tyne, out of the neighborhood is what in the end did the rascals in. Not at all intimidated by the Neo-Nazis Harry joined with Paul to put this slobbery bunch of self-styled Ubermenchen, Supermen in German, out of business. It was Harry who developed the very incriminating film that the late Ed Stevens gave him that put his life in danger! Hiding the film in Ed's apartment the head Neo-Nazi, who shall remain nameless, tried to talk Paul's wife Nancy into turning over the film and negatives to him for safe keeping. It's in his not so subtle demands to get his hands on the film which finally got Nacy wise to what he was in fact planning: Burn and film & negatives!***SPOILERS*** Nail-biting finish with Harry putting his life on the line by him going into the lions den the anti-semitic "19th Hole" bar, where no Jews are allowed, to both give Paul who was being held hostage enough time to make his getaway while most of the Neo-Nazis were lead on a wild goose chase by Harry in trying to find Ed's developed photos of them in action! As for Hitler Jr, the head of this unsavory group of Nazi storm troopers, he got his and got it good by trying to check out with Ed's photo's Tarzan style, by by jumping out of a closed window, only to find out that he, unlike Superman, isn't faster then a speeding bullet!

1948 saw two major studio films dealing with anti-Semitism, "Gentleman's Agreement," which garnered three Oscars, and the noir drama, "Crossfire." The former dealt with the disguised, serpentine social prejudice of the upper class while the raw bigotry that leads too often to violence was the subject of the latter movie. Exploring the huge selection of $4.99 "B" (and worse) DVD selection at a Manhattan store today I discovered 1948's "Open Secret," a meant-to-be second feature capitalizing on, I'm sure, "Crossfire." With only the prolific and now venerable John Ireland as a recognizable star, a very decent cast directed by John Reinhardt brought a fairly - for the times - offbeat story to the screen with good performances. Ireland plays Paul Lester, just married to the quite pretty Nancy-Jane Randolph, a comely young actress who enjoyed a brief cinema semi-ascendancy before giving up acting for the life of a trans-Atlantic socialite. The newlyweds are invited to stay with Paul's army pal who has to run an errand, which turns out to be his last, before the couple arrives. They settle in, awaiting the buddy's return. It quickly develops that a set of photographs taken by the now missing friend may blow the cover of a small gaggle of gross bigots who rail against the newly arrived "foreigners" in the neighborhood. Men, wives and even the little kids are inculcated with hatred for people who, we're told, should go and live with their "own kind." To make sure no one misses what the Neighborhood Hood Watch means, the "foreigners" have Jewish names and, insuring viewers get the point, they're referred to as "kikes," a word rarely then found in scripts. Despite an intrusive and boring score that never lets up, there's real drama here as the crypto-Nazis desperately seek the photos and negatives that even these morons understand may spell their undoing. Paul and Nancy are repeatedly forced by the script to assert their tolerance for all minorities. Thankfully the repetition doesn't detract from the unfolding story as Paul gets closer to the secrets, Nancy drifts towards danger, a good detective sergeant (reminiscent of Robert Ryan in "Crossfire") tries to uproot hate and a beleaguered Jewish storekeeper has a chance to show his mettle. Also very unusual is a portrayal of spouse abuse - wife battering - and its soul-deadening effect that was way ahead of its time. With a fairly low budget and some pretty cheap sets, this "B" feature garners a "B+" as well as a place in the history of film for contributing to the unmasking of anti-Semitism in postwar America. 7/10