| The Secret Six | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | George W. Hill |
| Written by | Frances Marion |
| Produced by | George W. Hill Irving Thalberg |
| Starring | Wallace Beery Lewis Stone John Mack Brown Jean Harlow Clark Gable Ralph Bellamy Marjorie Rambeau |
| Cinematography | Harold Wenstrom |
| Edited by | Blanche Sewell |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
Release date |
|
Running time | 83 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $494,000[1] |
| Box office | $994,000[1] |
The Secret Six is a 1931 American pre-Code crime film starring Wallace Beery as "Slaughterhouse Scorpio", a character very loosely based on Al Capone, and featuring Lewis Stone, John Mack Brown, Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, Marjorie Rambeau and Ralph Bellamy. The film was written by Frances Marion and directed by George W. Hill for MGM.
Bootlegger Johnny Franks recruits a crude working man called Louis "Slaughterhouse" Scorpio as part of the gang of mob boss Richard "Newt" Newton. Scorpio eventually becomes head of the organization himself. Then he is prosecuted by a secret group of six masked crime fighters, aided by newspaper reporters Carl Luckner and Hank Rogers.
The film was Ralph Bellamy's first screen role in what became a six-decade career. Despite being billed seventh in the cast, Clark Gable has more screen time than this implies, and much greater impact. Beery and Gable made Hell Divers (1932) the following year, this time with Gable's role and billing almost as large as Beery's. Beery, Harlow and Gable would work together again four years later in the epic seafaring adventure China Seas (1935), only with their billing reversed and all three names (Gable, Harlow and Beery) above the title.
According to MGM records, the film earned $708,000 in the US and Canada and $286,000 elsewhere resulting in a profit of $148,000.[1]
