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Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

I didn't know what this film was about, but I watched it because I really enjoy Claudette Colbert. For the first few minutes I thought it was a comedy. The bridegroom can't get into the house because he doesn't look the part. Then, when the wedding party is asked, "If anyone here knows of any reason why this couple should not be wed...", and someone stands up and objects. Very quickly, however, it becomes clear it's not a comedy, and for the first third of the film we wonder what is going on here? Could the Colbert character really already have a husband and was about to commit bigamy? Not so far off a typical soap opera-ish 1940s drama. But then, suddenly, at the "jazz house", it becomes clear this is a 1950s film, and a very different tone emerges as it appears that Colbert has shot her first, secret husband. It becomes nearly film noir. And, the ending is a humdinger! Colbert is superb here, but this is not the Colbert you're used to seeing. Insane? She's in an asylum! Nervous breakdown? She's hysterical! A bravura performance.I don't typically like Robert Ryan, but in this film he's very good.This is a very solid mystery, not to be missed by Colbert fans.

Claudette Colbert is a wealthy woman driven to near insanity in "The Secret Fury," also starring Robert Ryan and Jane Cowl. On her wedding day, a man appears who claims that an heiress, Ellen (Colbert), is already married. An investigation ensues, and the evidence is against her. When her "husband" is murdered in her presence, she is put on trial.This looked to me like a B movie, and it made for very compelling watching. My only quibble with it - and it's not a minor one - is that I was very disappointed with the ending. The motive for the crime seemed preposterous.Robert Ryan plays Ellen's fiancé, and it's a different role for him. Here he's heroic and likable rather than villainous.One of the most interesting things about the film is Vivian Vance in a small but showy role. She's excellent as a hotel maid who recognizes Ellen and verifies that she was indeed married before. It was a treat to see her do something besides Ethel Mertz.Claudette Colbert is very good as the troubled woman. She's not a natural fit for the role, being more at home in comedy, but she makes it work. She's very believable as an older woman seeking happiness only to have it snatched from her at the last minute.Mel Ferrer directed this very well, and I recommend it, though I wasn't crazy about the ending.

SECRET FURY might have worked as a tense film noir if a more compelling dramatic actress was used rather than CLAUDETTE COLBERT. Colbert was always at her sophisticated best in romantic comedy but here she is forced to play a woman undergoing a nervous breakdown. Aside from the story being a preposterous one, she is directed to be as overwrought as possible in the more emotional moments as the frightened heroine. She is never quite convincing despite all her histrionics, including her breakdown on the witness stand. If ever a role needed an actress like IDA LUPINO or JOAN FONTAINE (who perfected playing frightened heroines), this is it.Robert Ryan is excellent in a sympathetic role for a change and all of the supporting roles are played with conviction. Vivian Vance turns up surprisingly as a linen room attendant who plays a part in the conspiracy to drive Colbert insane. She has one very effective scene where her life is in peril and it's a scene done in true noir style. But Paul Kelly's overheated attorney in the courtroom scenes is hard to take. Kelly is allowed to be as overwrought as Colbert in her most dramatic moments, under Mel Ferrer's direction.Summing up: Overwrought and unconvincing with a few tense moments coming in the last half-hour--but overall a shrill, overheated melodrama with Colbert miscast in the leading role and obviously under the impression that she had an Oscar-winning tour de force here.

In the hands of lesser actors than Claudette Colbert and Robert Ryan this film could have become silly and trite. But, with these two experienced thespians leading the way, I found "Silent Fury" to be a most exciting and pleasurable little mystery. When their wedding is interrupted by a stranger who claims that Colbert is already married, and that he was best man at that wedding, one can sense that there is some sort of plot against her at work. As Colbert, Ryan, and her attorney set out to disprove the strangers claim of a prior marriage, they are met at every turn by more evidence that seems to reinforce the claim that she is indeed already wed. Although it's not very difficult to figure out just who the main "baddie" is, it's still lots of fun as the intensity and pace of the story increases. All in all, a good, solid mystery film with fine performances by the two leading actors and a fine supporting cast which includes the often underrated Paul Kelly.