Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Maybe the most important thing about Secret People is the fact that William Wyler took a look at this film and decided that his next film Roman Holiday would star an unknown Audrey Hepburn. Hepburn plays a supporting role as the younger sister of Valentina Cortesa. Both are refugees from some unknown eastern European country where the two of them had their father killed by the local dictator.Audrey was still a kid when she and Valentina came over, but now she's grown up and an aspiring dancer. As for Cortesa she's content enough until Serge Reggiani shows from the old country. He's with the opposition to the dictator and they want to kill him in London while he's on a state visit. So far it sounds like the plot of Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much.But this film is told from the point of view of the conspirators and how slowly Cortesa is drawn into their web of intrigue despite a lot of misgivings. Every agonizing thought so registers with Cortesa and her performance even after Hepburn who has adjusted well to Great Britain and wants to pursue a career in dance.As for Reggiani the years have turned him into quite the fanatic. Today he would be called a terrorist.Secret People is done a bit unevenly in pace, there are spots it drags. But Cortesa and Reggiani carry it through and it's a milestone of sorts for Audrey Hepburn.

Written and directed by Thorold Dickinson, "Secret People" (1952) finds Maria Brenatano (Valentina Cortese) and her younger sister (Audrey Hepburn) escaping a fascist dictatorship and fleeing to 1930s London. Once in London, the duo live with friends and attempt to adjust to local customs.Early in "Secret People", Maria meets Louis (Serge Reggiani), a childhood sweetheart who works for a radical group intent on assassinating the unnamed dictator Maria's family has fled. This dictator is visiting British dignitaries, and so Louis requires Maria's assistance to smuggle a bomb into his presence. Maria thus finds herself torn between loyalty to her adopted homeland and loyalty to Louis' terrorist group. The film ends with Maria betraying Louis and admonishing those who would bring violence to the shores of a kindly, all inclusive, democratic nation like Great Britain. As Britain's long had ties to fascist regimes, as it has long operated fascist groups as the strong-arm of its ruling class, and as it specialises in backing terrorists, dictatorships, theocracies and far-right groups (everything from Mussolini to Charles Maxwell Knight, a proud fascist and wartime head of MI5), the film's creepy message reeks of hypocrisy.If "Secret People" has a bright spot, it's young Audrey Hepburn who twirls her way through Dickson's film like a ray of sunshine. Svelte and chirpy, Hepburn's role here would get her noticed by director William Wyler, who'd cast her in "Roman Holiday". The rest's history.6/10 – See "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold".

Another Ealing Studios/Rank production from 1952... opens with a title card describing an "inner person" within each of us...foreshadowing of some sort. We are told that it takes place in 1930 London, just prior to England and WW II. A man reads a letter from an old friend, warning of troubles to come, and asking him to look after his children... Really, the only big name (that I recognize) is Audrey Hepburn, as "Nora", one of the daughters. The next two films she would make were Roman Holiday and Sabrina, and her voice sounds more like a little girl in this one, as she was still only about 21. Co-star Serge Reggiani, who apparently was a famous artist, singer, actor, poet, even boxer in Europe, plays "Louis". We follow along as Nora and her sister "Maria" (Valentina Cortese) make good and bad decisions. Lots of underground war-time spying and espionage.... the photography and sound are quite good for the 1950s. The film has a good script, but lacks a spark and some big names. A good entertaining film, if no real "electricity. Written and directed by Thorold Dickinson, this would be one of the last films he made. This film is not at all connected to the "Secret People" documentary made in 1998.

The Secret People is worth seeing as much for what it did not accomplish as for what it did. It seems to me that only Hitchcock's Sabotage deals with the same sort of moral dilemmas that this film attempts to portray. Both Sabotage and Secret People were filmed in dark London streets and ominous back streets. In fact, the cinematography is literally so dark that it is often difficult to make out the action. In both films, an atmosphere of dread and secrecy hangs over the characters. However, despite the strong bond between the sisters, you never feel the same anguish shown in Sabotage by the wife of the saboteur. The film could have been a lot more forceful in setting up its moral conflicts. Of course, it is worth while just to see the young Audrey Hepburn dance classical ballet, something we were never to see again on film. And to see her before she became a major star. No Givenchy fashions in this one!