Directed by Nicholas Ray, it was written and produced by Herman J. Mankiewicz based on the novel Mortgage on Life by Vicki Baum.

After an audition where Luke had played for prospective talent, Susan, then an aspiring singer from smalltown California, collapsed from starvation in front of he and Marian.

They decided to promote Susan's career, with the affluent Marian taking her to Paris to study voice and acquire the patina of culture.

Overwhelmed by it all, and fed up with Marian, Susan fled to Algiers with a French shoe salesman and his empty promise of an opera lead there.

Luke retrieved her, and on the ocean voyage home he and Marian secure a stateside debut for Susan by ensnaring their mark, bachelor heir and theater dilettante Brook Matthews.

[3] When the film was released, the staff at Variety magazine gave it a mixed review, writing, "There's too much unintended mystery about A Woman's Secret for it to be anything but spotty entertainment ... O’Hara gives a straightforward account of herself.