
Bootlegger/cafe owner Johnny Franks recruits crude working man Louis 'Slaughterhouse' Scorpio to join his gang which is masterminded by crooked criminal defense lawyer Richard Newton. Slaughterhouse eventually takes over Franks' operation, beats a rival gang, becomes wealthy and dominates the city for several years until a secret group of 6 masked businessmen have him prosecuted and sent to the electric chair with the help of rival crusading newspapermen Carl Luckner and Hank... (Full plot summary below)
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Bootlegger/cafe owner Johnny Franks recruits crude working man Louis 'Slaughterhouse' Scorpio to join his gang which is masterminded by crooked criminal defense lawyer Richard Newton. Slaughterhouse eventually takes over Franks' operation, beats a rival gang, becomes wealthy and dominates the city for several years until a secret group of 6 masked businessmen have him prosecuted and sent to the electric chair with the help of rival crusading newspapermen Carl Luckner and Hank Rogers. Waitress Anne Courtland is torn between her love for the honest newsman Hank and her financial dependence on her generous boss, Slaughterhouse.
Leave your thoughts about The Secret Six.
| Three Movie BuffsScott NashThe first pairing of Gable and Harlow is the highlight of this so-so film. |
| Ozus' World Movie ReviewsDennis SchwartzRising star Clark Gable impressed the MGM studio bosses so much in this gangster pic, they gave him a long-term contract. |
| User ReviewSteven PGreat gangster movie, being a friend means you get shot in the back. First big flick for Gable and before he had a moustache, and first pairing of Gable and Harlow. Wallace Beery is a big wise guy with no morals. Ralph Bellamy cast against type - this was his first movie. |
| User ReviewOrlok WIn the '30s, Warner Bros. specialized in gritty, violent urban crime dramas, and no studio did them better. This tough-as-nails gangster film is, surprisingly enough, from MGM, and compares favorably with the Warners product--in fact, it comes out ahead in several respects. The cast is terrific--with Wallace Beery, Jean Harlow, Ralph Bellamy and Clark Gable (before he was a star), to name a few... Polluting The Justice System--This movie is a thinly veiled attempt to portray the life of Al Capone. The violent rise and fall of the gangster, portrayed by Wallace Beery, the taking over of the government of an adjacent small town, the eventual tax problem that Beery's character has...these and other subplots are mirror images of Capone's Chicago... Bootlegging with Beery!! |
| User ReviewTara HA solid gangster flick, with up-and-coming stars Clark Gable and Jean Harlow lending support to Wallace Beery. |
| User Reviewjay nFast moving crime drama has a ripped from the headlines feeling and as usual from MGM a great cast. Jean Harlow, in her first year of stardom, is not quite at ease in front of the camera yet but exudes star quality. Clark Gable however, also in his first big year, is totally at home and gives a breezy assured performance. |
| User ReviewRick Rgood early talkie with harlow-need I say more! |
| User ReviewJames HGood old classic, it's a crime melodrama about bootleggers and corruption. It was a hot topic in those days. It's not a big budget film but it's quite well done. Directed by George W. Hill and stars Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Johnny Mack Brown and Ralph Bellamy. It's is important for the early appearances of Jean Harlow and Clark Gable. |
| User ReviewBrody MA guy goes from a $35 a week job to being muscle for the mob to mayor to death row because of The Secret Six.Sounds like something straight out of a comic book don't it? |