Secrets (1983 film)

1983 British TV series or programme

Secrets

Written by| Noella Smith
Directed by| Gavin Millar
Starring| Helen Lindsay
John Horsley
Anna Campbell-Jones
Daisy Cockburn
Music by| Guy Woolfenden
Country of origin| United Kingdom
Original language| English
Production
Producers| David Puttnam
Chris Griffin
Cinematography| Christopher Challis
Editor| Eric Boyd-Perkins
Running time| 77 minutes
Production companies| Goldcrest Films
Enigma Productions
Original release
Network| Channel 4
Release| 12 May 1983 (1983-05-12)

Secrets is a 1983 British comedy film directed by Gavin Millar and produced by David Puttnam.[1] It was originally shown as part of Puttnam's Channel 4 anthology series First Love.[2]

## Plot

[edit]

In the fall of 1963, Louise is a 13-year-old girl who lives with her widowed mother. Before she is set to leave for boarding school, she discovers a box belonging to her late father. The box contains secret documents in additions to condoms, but Louise thinks they are balloons. She also learns her father was a member of the secret order of Freemasons. While at boarding school, Louise attempts to explain to friends what the Freemasons are. The girls form their own version of a Masonic club. Meanwhile, Louise’s mother finds the box in Louise’s room and inadvertently thinks her daughter is sexually active. Louise learns her parents’ marriage was not what she thought it was.

## Production

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Goldcrest Films invested £461,000 in the movie and received £620,000 earning them a profit of £159,000.[3]

## Cast

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* Helen Lindsay as Mother
* John Horsley as Dr. Jefferies
* Anna Jones as Louise
* Daisy Cockburn as Sydney
* Rebecca Johnson as Trottie
* Lucy Goode as Jane
* Richard Tolan as Paul
* Carol Gillies as Miss Quick
* Jane Briers as Miss Strickland
* Judith Fellows as Elderly Teacher
* Georgine Anderson as Matron
* Cynthia Grenville as Miss Johnson
* Elizabeth Choice as Miss Jones Wallace
* Matyelok Gibbs as Miss Lane

## Reception

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In a review of the film, the Santa Cruz Sentinel wrote Secrets is "not large enough to fill a movie screen in any way, shape or form ... but it is kind of sweet".[4] Rebecca Lieb of The Film Journal called the film "a light, entertaining, and often very funny comedy...enhanced with an acute sense of what it's like to be 13 and discovering sex".[4]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Secrets (1983)". BFI. Archived from the original on December 6, 2018.
2. ^ "Secrets (1984) - Gavin Millar | Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related | AllMovie" - via www.allmovie.com.
3. ^ Eberts, Jake; Illott, Terry (1990). My indecision is final. Faber and Faber. p. 657.
4. ^ a b Chatenever, Rick (12 October 1984). "Forgettable comedy". Santa Cruz Sentinel. p. 51. Retrieved 23 March 2022.

## External links

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* Secrets at IMDb
* Secrets at Goldcrest Films
* Secrets at Letterboxd

* v
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Films directed by Gavin Millar

* The Eye Hears, the Ear Sees (1970)
* Travels with a Donkey (1978)
* Cream in My Coffee (1980)
* Secrets (1983)
* Stan's Last Game (1983)
* The Weather in the Streets (1983)
* Unfair Exchanges (1984)
* The Russian Soldier (1985)
* Dreamchild (1985)
* Mr and Mrs Edgehill (1985)
* Scoop (1987)
* Tidy Endings (1988)
* The Most Dangerous Man in the World (1988)
* Danny, the Champion of the World (1989)
* A Murder of Quality (1991)
* My Friend Walter (1991)
* Look at It This Way (1992)
* The Dwelling Place (1993)
* Pat and Margaret (1994)
* A Case of Coincidence (1994)
* Belle Epoque (1995)
* The Crow Road (1996)
* Sex & Chocolate (1997)
* This Could Be the Last Time (1998)
* Complicity (2000)
* My Fragile Heart (2000)
* Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister (2001)
* Ella and the Mothers (2002)
* King of Fridges (2004)
* Pickles: The Dog Who Won the World Cup (2005)
* Housewife, 49 (2006)
* Albert Schweitzer (2009)

* v
* t
* e

Goldcrest/Channel4 First Love series

* Forever Young
* P'tang, Yang, Kipperbang
* Experience Preferred... But Not Essential
* Secrets
* Those Glory Glory Days
* Sharma and Beyond
* Arthur's Hallowed Ground
* Winter Flight

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