The Nurse’s Secret: Difference between revisions

1941 film by Noel M. Smith

The Nurse’s Secret is a 1941 American murder mystery film directed by Noel M. Smith and starring Lee Patrick as a crime-solving nurse.^[1] The supporting cast features Regis Toomey and Julie Bishop. It was produced and distributed by Warner Brothers as a second feature.

The film, which includes a rare leading role for Patrick who played the supporting part of Sam Spade‘s secretary in The Maltese Falcon that same year, is a remake of the film Miss Pinkerton and is based on the 1932 novel Miss Pinkerton by Mary Roberts Rinehart.^[2] Rinehart wrote a series of novels based on the character Hilda Adams. She is, however, most famous for her play The Bat which inspired Batman creator Bob Kane to create his famous comic book character.

A nurse (Lee Patrick) moves into a mansion after an apparent suicide to care for the old mother. The mother is kind of spooky, but so is the butler, and the girlfriend, and the doctor. After the insurance policy is found, the plot thickens.

• Fetrow, Alan G. Feature Films, 1940-1949: a United States Filmography. McFarland, 1994.
• Goble, Alan. The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.