The Secret Six


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.

Plot

Bootlegger Johnny Franks recruits a crude working man called Louis "Louie" 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.

Cast (in credits order)

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 garners quite a bit of screen time and even more impact. Beery and Gable made Hell Divers 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, only with their billing reversed and all three names above the title.

Box office

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.