Helen Blake succumbs to the duplicitious charms of Frank D’Agnoli, against the advice of her father’s friend, Ogden Hunt Merritt. Merritt’s daughter Sylvia also wants Frank, but is engaged to Englishman, Lord Paul Danforth. While out late one night drinking, Helen and her friends dare each other to marry and she weds Frank. When she arrives home at dawn she finds her father dying. After the funeral, Merritt tells Helen her father left her no money as a result of the stock market crash. Frank proves himself the cad Merritt knew he was and leaves Helen, after which Merritt hires Helen as his wife’s social secretary to help plan Sylvia’s wedding. Frank gets hired as a gigolo for Club Albany and continues to see Sylvia, who gives him her father’s money. The day Paul arrives, Sylvia is out with Frank, and after Helen takes her place as Paul’s dinner partner, she and Paul fall in love. When Sylvia repeatedly cancels dates with Paul to be with Frank, Paul asks Helen out to dinner and they swear their love. Paul, who thought he loved Sylvia when they met, is bound to the Merritts because they pulled his family out of financial trouble. That night, Helen and Paul go to Club Albany and see Frank steal a woman’s jewels. After Helen confesses that Frank is her husband, Frank’s racketeer boss, Dan Marlow, accuses him of stealing women’s jewels and gambling away the profits. Frank must come up with $12,000 or be killed. Although Sylvia has by now stopped seeing Frank, he blackmails her. Helen sees Frank leave the Merritts’ home and confronts Sylvia, and she admits she has been seeing Frank. Helen then confesses her love for Paul. Sylvia goes to Hotel Albany and gives Frank a check, but he gets shot and dies in his room after staining Sylvia’s dress with blood. Helen arrives and switches dresses with Sylvia so that she can attend her wedding rehearsal. After Marlow reveals Helen as Frank’s wife, she is accused of murder. The police, learning Helen is Merritt’s secretary, telephone Paul, and he confronts Sylvia’s parents. Sylvia confesses her part in the scandal. Meanwhile, at the hotel, the killer jumps to his death. When Helen returns to the Merritts’, she learns they are taking Sylvia to the Far East as punishment, which leaves Paul free to marry Helen. More on Wikipedia or Mubi
Watch Secrets of a Secretary (1931)