Confession (1937)

Director: Joe May                                          Writers: Hans Rameau & Julius Epstein
Film Score: Peter Kreuder                              Cinematography: Sidney Hickox
Starring: Kay Francis, Ian Hunter, Basil Rathbone and Jane Bryan

A perfect vehicle for Warner Brothers, this story is one that director Joe May was no doubt familiar with from his days in Germany before the war. Based on a German court case which was then made into the film Mazurka, starring Pola Negri, Confession is just what the title conveys. A woman on trial for murder refuses to defend herself, admitting only that she killed a man and nothing more. But when new evidence is found in the form of her suitcase at the train station, she suddenly panics and begs the court to allow her to confess before they open the suitcase. Of course, the incomparable Kay Francis is the woman, and she does a wonderful job in this tale of a tragic love triangle between her, Ian Hunter and the great Basil Rathbone.

As the story begins, however, Francis is nowhere in sight. Jane Bryan is seeing her mother off on a trip and her friend Mary Maguire meets her at the train station to take her home. But Basil Rathbone pays a porter to bring Bryan an envelope containing concert tickets. The two girls show up that night, expecting the empty seat in the box to be filled by Rathbone. They are both quite surprised, however, when Rathbone is actually the pianist. He meets with Bryan after the show, pursues her to the conservatory in order to see her, and seems desperate to build a relationship with her. She tries to deny him so that she won’t have to lie to her mother, but when he telephones and says he must go to Paris she agrees to see him for a few minutes. At the nightclub where he takes her, Kay Francis makes quite the entrance as a curly, blonde cabaret singer. But when she spots Rathbone she faints. He pays the bill and rushes out with Bryan. but before he can get to the front door Francis shoots him in the back, killing him.

Kay Francis certainly shows her versatility in the picture, not only performing the sultry cabaret song, but singing in an opera during the flashback that begins in 1912 and comprises the main plot of the film. It’s a compelling story, engaging and with a shocking but satisfying ending. Ian Hunter is the stolid soldier that Francis marries before World War I begins and gives up her singing career for. Rathbone is the Lothario who will stop at nothing to be with Francis. He’s perfect for the role, sinister, calculating and ultimately reprehensible. Julius Epstein, who along with his brother Philip contributed to the screenplay of Casablanca, helped to translate the original screenplay, and the ever dependable Sidney Hickox is behind the camera.

Director Joe May, who had a lengthy career in Germany before the war, uses some great moving camera shots and nice special effects. Apparently, however, he was not very enjoyable on the set. Obsessed with duplicating the German film scene by scene and second by second, he used a stopwatch to time his scenes. He also took ten takes having Rathbone fall down the stairs, prompting Francis to write in her diary, "Joe May is driving us all crazy!" It’s still a very nice film and one that seems to have been forgotten, along with most of the Kay Francis films, as it's not available in any format. It’s a shame because Confession once again proves that Francis really was a great movie star who deserves to be remembered right along with Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. It’s criminal that she isn’t.