The Madonna's Secret

Czechoslovakia-born actor Francis Lederer had the face of a tortured artist, which was perfectly suited to the two consecutive noirs in which he starred: Arthur Ripley’s Voice in the Wind (1944) and Wilhelm Thiele’s The Madonna’s Secret. In addition to featuring Lederer passionately pounding a piano’s keys, both films are low-budget, and both are moody, dreamy, and strange, which made the often-wooden acting from low-paid supporting performers feel perfectly appropriate. In the latter film, Lederer is not only a pianist but a world-renowned painter whose models keep getting murdered. Having fled Europe after the first killing (for which he was exonerated), James Harlan Corbin (Lederer) begins arguing with his latest muse, Helen North (Linda Stirling), whose body soon washes up on the foggy, moonlit riverfront, prompting her sister Linda (Ann Rutherford) to come snooping around Corbin’s studio and finding him much less threatening than expected. Gail Patrick plays attractive art collector Ella Randolph who falls for Corbin romantically, which, of course, dramatically reduces her life expectancy. Co-written by director Thiele and Bradbury Foote, the script effectively maintains the mystery until the climactic reveal, and Dubin’s score adds moodiness with the fluttering of strings and the hum of bassoons, especially whenever Corbin is lost in the vacuum of his memories. The greatest talent attached to the film, however, is noir legend John Alton, whose lighting and camera establish a quasi-Gothic atmosphere, such as the baroque, candelabra-illuminated dining room where Corbin and his mother (Leona Roberts) share meals or Corbin’s prison cell where shadows crisscross his being like a second set of bars.