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Does anybody know the story behind the 'Secret' video?


madgefan
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I open this thread to talk about the mysterious Secret video footage where Madonna looks like Marlene Dietrich. I've always wondered what happened to it? Wasn't Madonna satisfied with the result and consequently released the one we all know?

 

Unreleased footage

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Released footage

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You can watch excerpts of the footage here:

 

http://youtu.be/TdFXkon8B6o?t=1m35s

 

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Any comments? :)

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I'll need to look for it, but it was actually the director Melodie McDaniel that didn't like the look. She was wanting a more accessible, less glam look to go with her vision of the song.

 

I was thinking the same, the song is very spiritual and relaxing, not very relatable to the Marlenes, Marilyn or Gretas she used to portrait in previous videos.

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  • 2 months later...

You should read Lucy O'Brien's "Madonna: Like an Icon" book. There is  a few pages about filming "Secret" with Melodie McDaniel's comments.

 

The thing about changing M's hair was that McDaniel just didn't like it. They were filming some scenes but it was Melodie's first that big production so she was frightened and shy and didn't tell Madonna what is she extacly expect. When she already told her that she wants Madonna to be more 'raw', not 'that pretty', M. was like really pissed off. And that's the reason they changed hairstyle and make-up. :)

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  • 4 months later...
  • 5 years later...

The director was wrong. That Jean harlow exagerated hairstyle was really specific and original. The other hairstyle had already kinda been seen several times before the "Secret" video and wasn't really new or exciting. The Harlow big hairstyle was unsual, had a strong image and a impact, it had its own identity, just like the cowboy hat the black wig from Frozen. That harlow hairstyle was amazing with the rnb beat of the song, while M walking down the streets of Harlem. Iconic. The director played it safe and it's not the way to go with Madonna' work. No wonder she hasn't worked with her after that.

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Guest Nobody Knows Me

I quite like that look, although I love the look that she went for in the music video as well. I would love to see some more Jean Harlow tributes from her in the future. 

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On 9/13/2020 at 3:58 PM, Prayer said:

It was not a great look, to be honest:

DASUPhmVYAAxQzk.jpg

Mmmh no:

e7a66e9a96fcce1ecffbf81526e2f807.gif

I always assumed it was Madonna who didn't like it in the end but who knows...

The final video we got is excellent :hearteyes:

107.jpg

It's not that much about being beautiful, it's more about the look making a statement, having an impact and i personnally think the Harlow look is more unique. I mean years later it would have been the "Secret" video look. The other look is just a variation of the look she had in 1987, 1991, 1994 etc... 

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I just recalled that this very week back in '94 M posted on America Online and Compuserve a message for everybody on the internerwebz right before Secret's release :lord:

I think it took me like 25 minutes to download a 10 audio second clip;  I can't remember if it was a wav or wma or mpeg1 or a real audio file! :cryin:

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14 minutes ago, Ian said:

I just recalled that this very week back in '94 M posted on America Online and Compuserve a message for everybody on the internerwebz right before Secret's release :lord:

I think it took me like 25 minutes to download a 10 audio second clip;  I can't remember if it was a wav or wma or mpeg1 or a real audio file! :cryin:

it was a sound file

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