The Secret Lie

The stand-alone opera singer Carmen Casini dare not admit to her adult son, the spoiled race car driver Cecil, that she ruined her voice on a stormy day at the racetrack and that her career is thus at an end. Meanwhile, Cecil has fallen in love with the pretty Colette … without suspecting that her father, the wealthy Bartell, was a former lover of his mother and that he’s Cecil’s daddy. Thus, both Carmen and Bartell try to prevent the unfolding love-relationship between brother and sister, because this ain’t the Ozarks, you know! Only after the unhappy Cecil tries to commit suicide after an argument with his mother do Carmen and Bartell realize they still love one another. Suicide attempt be damned; let’s go out on a date! A movie that screams “Fun for the whole family.”

Directed by Nunzio Malasomma, The Secret Lie leans on a strong ensemble — Pola Negri, Hermann Braun, Herbert Hübner — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about drama titles of 1938.