‘The Secret Fury’ Ending Explained: Who Is Behind the Conspiracy Against Ellen?
Welcome to the Ending Explained for ‘The Secret Fury,’ a 1950 crime drama directed by Mel Ferrer, who would also direct the messy Vendetta, released the same year. The film stars Claudette Colbert, Robert Ryan, Jane Cowl, Paul Kelly, Philip Ober, and Doris Dudley. The film is a classic mystery murder mixed with court drama and an entertaining one overall. It tells the story of David and Ellen, a couple getting ready to be happily married, only to discover that Ellen is already married, or is she? The film is a classic example of the RKO template and a fun film to watch.
New audiences have mostly forgotten classic movies. You really need to get out of your way and already have an interest in them to go and watch something like this. However, many of these classics are still as entertaining and well-made as ever, and they really put to shame most of the recent movies, especially regarding the story department. In this old era, no flashy visuals served as a crutch. Instead, movies lived or died by the story they were trying to tell; thus, without a good story, your movie would not do well. ‘The Secret Fury’ frantic pacing masks some shortcomings, yet it is still a good film.
The following paragraphs contain spoilers for ‘The Secret Fury’. Read at your own risk.
Why did David and Ellen not get married?
The film begins by raising suspicions about one of the characters. We are met with a huge house and many guests going into it. A man comes out of a taxi with a box in hand, and we see him trying to get into the house, but he fails to do so. He doesn’t have an invitation. However, he manages to go inside through the back door, and then we get the reveal that this man, named David, is the groom.
He is about to get married to a wonderful woman named Ellen, a famous piano player. We see that the two of them are quite in love, even when it seems like no one wants David to marry Ellen.
Ellen seems to come from money, while David comes from a more working-class environment. It doesn’t matter; they are in love and will put rings on each other. We meet Gregory, Ellen’s family lawyer, who promises to do everything he can for her concerning her late father.
We also meet Lowell, a district attorney with a previous romantic interest in Ellen. The ceremony takes place, and everything seems to be going well. However, when the priest asks if there is someone with a reason for this marriage not to occur, a man appears at the back. He has such a reason.
The mysterious man swears that he witnessed Ellen marrying another man named Lucian Randall. By law, Ellen cannot marry David if she is already married, especially not in front of God. And so the ceremony gets suspended. They call the marriage registry, and indeed, there is a registry of Ellen marrying Randall. However, Ellen swears she has never been married before, and she has never heard of the name Lucian Randall before this day. David and Ellen decide to go to the registry, where they see the marriage license with Ellen’s signature on it.
They also go and meet the judge who supposedly married Ellen to Randall, and everyone mysteriously recognizes her there. Ellen begins to doubt her reality. At the hotel, she remembers where she was the day she apparently got married.
She was on the beach, picking shells, and she saw a boat named Noosnow. David tries to believe her, but when the hotel’s maid recognizes her as Mrs. Randall, it seems like David will have a bad time believing her. The couple manages to track this man, Lucian Randall, and go to visit him.
Who is behind the conspiracy against Ellen?
David and Ellen visit Lucian, and the man continues to swear that he is Ellen’s husband. Which she keeps saying is not true; she has never seen him before.
David allows Ellen and Lucian to speak alone in another room until a gunshot is heard. When he enters the room, a gun lies on Ellen’s feet, and a dead Randall lies on the floor. Gregory tries to get information from Ellen to use as her defense in court. Things are not looking good for her. Ellen keeps swearing she has nothing to hide.
Meanwhile, Lowell receives the news that he will become the prosecutor against Ellen. It was a conflict of interest for sure, as he had an interest in her, but he was denied in place of David. At court, Lowell launches his attack with many ill-spirited questions. He even tries to put David’s masculinity in question because he lets Randall speak with Ellen privately during their visit.
David ends up punching the man in the face, well deserved. However, things worsen when Ellen loses her mind and breaks down in front of the court. She cannot grasp what is real and what is not. Gregory pleads guilty because of insanity, and Ellen is sent to a psychiatric hospital.
Ellen’s doctor at the facility suggests that David continue with his life. It seems Ellen’s mind is just gone. David cannot just leave her, though. He returns to her house to pick up some things and finds a shell in her clothing at the beach. He finds a boat named Monsoon, which would read Noonsnow in the water’s reflection.
This proves to David that Ellen’s memory was right. He goes to visit the judge, but the house is abandoned. He then tries to connect with the maid and extract information. He knows this is all farce but needs to find out why. The maid agrees to meet him later.
Sadly, the maid gets killed by a stranger, and David never meets him. The stranger follows David and tries to kill him. It is revealed to be the man who stopped the wedding in the first place. David takes him down and takes him to the police. He and Gregory visit Ellen to give her the good news.
She doesn’t seem to understand very well but is momentarily happy before getting scared. However, this ignites something in Ellen. She escapes the hospital.
At home, Ellen confronts Gregory, who reveals himself to be the mastermind behind the conspiracy. His reasons? Ellen’s father once sent him to a mental hospital for no reason. After being released, Ellen’s father took Gregory under his wing as an apology, but Gregory never forgot the suffering of so many years trapped there. And so, this is part of his revenge, to make Ellen suffer as he suffered. Gregory traps Ellen in the attic, but David arrives, saving Ellen as a big mirror falls onto Gregory, killing him.
