The Washington times., 1931-05-04
SECRET SIX IS
AN EXCITING
FEATURE
By ANDREW r. KELLEY

In the Chicago stockyards rises
from the stencil and sweaty labor
Of an honest job to monogram.
med silk pajamas, a duplex apart
ment and bundles of $1,000 bills
as crime dividends, is graphically
told in The Secret Six" Which
adorns Loew's Palace Theater
screen this week.
"Scorpio." the gang king. as
played by Wallace Beery, is a
brawny hoodlum travelling from
the slums to riches via a road
Strewn with the bullet sprayed
forms Of those who we're obstacles
to his racketeering ambitions.
Full of Excitement
It is an exciting panorama of
holdupS, killings. SpeakeaSies. sin.
lister warfare among the rats of
the underworld. eliminating at
the door of the death house
where Scorpio as an unrepentant
foe Of organized society is about
to write the final chapter in the
electric chair.
This is a picture turned out
from Frances Marion story ana
directed by George Hill, the Hol-
lywood combination RESPONSIBLE
for the epochal Big House"
"The Secret Six" is as stark in it's
realism as today's headlines; as
powerful in it's tense, exciting
atmosphere and drama as any in
the current crime series. There
is the unacceptable moral EN- erg-
ing from this powder-burnt laby-
rinth of crime, "You can't nc a
crook and flaunt the law without
paying the full price"
Gang-Ridden City
In this narrative set in a small
city on the edge of the stock
yards. group of young thugs
run the liquor racket. They in
vite Slaughter House" (Wallace
Berry, to join their mob and
enjoy some of the easy money.
The gangsters have the protec-
tion of Newton Lewis Stone),
derelict lawyer who knows bis
injuRctions and the legal techni-
calities which prostitute justice.
He saves them from Jail and
cuts in on the profits.
So Slaughter House" shoots
his way to leadership, wakes in
wealth and power and extends
his domain. He elects the
imbecilic Mizoski, known as "The
Gouger." mayor of the city On
the day of the election Mizoski
tells the police commissioner:
GOOD morning. Mr.. Ex-Commis-
Sioner. This means we're in and
you're out"
Goes to His Death
Eventually the forces of good
government, as exemplified by
civic group known as THE Secret
Six" meet the challenge of the
racket anarchy. BY uniting with
an incorruptible district attorney,
an upright press and Uncle Sam,
they cleanse the city of its crime
Scourge.
Wallace Beery is the ruthless,
Sneering and vicious "Scorpio,"
know as Slaughter House. He
gives, as perhaps you expect,
Stunningly impressive perform
ance, expert for the manner IN
which he CLOSES his lines with
grim humor. authoritative from
the fact that his Iersonality is
never appealing. slaughter
House" prepares to sit in the hot
seat with the cold, cynical
bravado which characterized his
career and there is nothing to
say except, That's just where he
belongs" I liked his acting
equally as we'll as that con-
tributed in the memorable
Butch" of "The = House."
Stone Is Excellent
That excellent actor, Lewis
Stone, is seen as the rum-soaked
shyster lawyer, Newton, rubbed
out by bullet in the back from
the underworld car he had guided
to power. 1t is a thoroughly con-
vincing portrait etched by a mas
ter Of characterization. Clark
Gable shares in the honors as
courageous reporter and Marjorie
Rambueau plays gangSter'S
mol" effectively John Mack
Brown and Jean Harlow are no
less impressive.
"The Secret Six" is an engrossing
picture of our life and times, or
at least one phase of it. It tells
a lesson without sermonizing and
provides far more excitement than
most of the things which cause
crowds to gather in the city
streets.
On the stage Borah Minnevitch
and his Harmonica Rascals blend
melody and comedy. The Hearst
Metrotone news reel completes two
hours of pulSe-quickening enter
tainment.
"OueenS Of 10zz"