Ruth Chatterton stars as a middle aged woman who, deprived of romance at a young age, now resides in seclusion. Determined to prevent young Marian Marsh from suffering the same fate, she reveals her "secrets" to her.
William K. Everson writes: "Classy soap-operas and 'confession' movies had been enormously popular in the early '30s and then went out of fashion. Columbia seemed to take them over in the mid-30's. But these were all post-Code films, and moral strayings of any kind had to be paid for with a plethora of suffering. Not being able to deal entirely honestly with the subjects at hand, they sometimes went overboard with sentiment or melodramatic excesses, accusations that can be levelled at Lady of Secrets. One has to wait until the middle of the film for the 'confession' element to intrude, and then it is handled quite discreetly. But for a relatively minor film, it's handsomely made, excellently photographed by Ted Tetzlaff, who would become a fine director of thrillers in the '40s, and well served by a particularly strong cast. Not the least bit dismayed at not being cast as a mad scientist, Atwill turns his pompous father into the tyrant of all time; he makes the most of every line and facial nuance, and is a joy to watch. Ruth Chatterton, nearing the end of her career, shows no signs of considering herself slumming after years of greater glory..."