''True Confession'' is a 1937 American

screwball comedy film Screwball comedy is a subgenre of the romantic comedy genre that became popular during the Great Depression, beginning in the early 1930s and thriving until the early 1940s, that satirizes the traditional love story. It has secondary characteristi ...

directed by

Wesley Ruggles Wesley Ruggles (June 11, 1889 – January 8, 1972) was an American film director. Life and work He was born in Los Angeles, California, younger brother of actor Charlie Ruggles. He began his career in 1915 as an actor, appearing in a do ...

and starring

Carole Lombard Carole Lombard (born Jane Alice Peters; October 6, 1908 – January 16, 1942) was an American actress, particularly noted for her energetic, often off-beat roles in screwball comedies. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Lombard 2 ...

Fred MacMurray Frederick Martin MacMurray (August 30, 1908 – November 5, 1991) was an American actor. He appeared in more than one hundred films and a successful television series, in a career that spanned nearly a half-century. His career as a major film le ...

, and

John Barrymore John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly att ...

. It was based on the 1934 play ''Mon Crime'', written by

Georges Berr Georges Berr (30 July 1867 – 21 July 1942) in Paris, was a French actor and dramatist, a member and sociétaire of the Comédie-Française from 1886 to 1923. Under the pseudonyms Colias and Henry Bott he wrote several plays, particularly in c ...

and Louis Verneuil. In 1946 it was remade as '' Cross My Heart''.

Plot

Helen Bartlett (

) is the wife of lawyer with high principles Ken Bartlett (

). She is a fantasy "writer" but is not making any progress on her book. It is unclear why, but currently, Ken's criminal law practice is in a slump; still, he refuses to defend anyone whom he knows is guilty. As a matter of pride he also refuses to have his wife take a job. He also demands honesty ... but Helen's habit of lying turns out to be her downfall. Behind Ken's back, Helen takes a job as a secretary for prominent wealthy businessman Otto Krayler (John T. Murray), who offers her a suspiciously high salary when she can't even take dictation or type fast. On her first day in his sumptuous apartment/office, he makes advances. Now clear that this job was about sexual services, Helen fights Krayler off and flees out the door. However, she discovers that she left her hat, coat and purse behind. Returning with her friend Daisy McClure (

Una Merkel Una Merkel (December 10, 1903 – January 2, 1986) was an American stage, film, radio, and television actress. Merkel was born in Kentucky and acted on stage in New York in the 1920s. She went to Hollywood in 1930 and became a popular film ...

) to retrieve her property, Helen is deciding whether to enter the unlocked front door, when police arrive, having learned of a murder. Krayler has been killed with theft of money as the suspected motive. Lieutenant Darcey (

Edgar Kennedy Edgar Livingston Kennedy (April 26, 1890 – November 9, 1948) was an American comedic character actor who appeared in at least 500 films during the silent and sound eras. Professionally, he was known as "Slow Burn", owing to his ability to por ...

) questions Helen whose only concern at this point is that her husband not find out about her taking a job. Riffing off of the scenarios spun by Darcey in trying to implicate her, she spins possible accounts of the murder, discussing how she might have done it, but finally says that she had nothing to do with it. Soon, the money turns out not to be missing after all, but oddly, a gun is found in a search of the Bartlett home and the criminologist (erroneously) declares it fired the 2 bullets that killed the deceased. Ken represents Helen. In his opinion, with the weapon expert's testimony, the jury would not believe she did not commit the murder, and her only hope is to plead self-defense. He stages an elaborate re-enactment of the crime "committed to preserve the honor of womanhood." During the trial, an obnoxious man, Charles "Charley" Jasper (

), believes that Helen did not murder Krayler, but will be found guilty. Ken wins Helen's case, making a name for himself, and Helen goes on to publish a hugely successful autobiography. The couple buy a lavish lakeside home, but now Ken is miserable, as, despite her telling him the truth, he is unconvinced that Helen did not after all commit murder. Then Charley shows up in possession of Krayler's wallet, frustrated that Helen and Ken have become rich while he failed to gain anything for his "masterful" crime. He tries to blackmail the couple into buying the wallet for $30,000 as the price of him keeping quiet about Helen's perjury. Ken isn't buying in, and Charley finally confesses that his brother-in-law was the real murderer in the botched robbery. Ken initiates a call to the police and Charley makes a quick exit. At this point, Ken decides to leave Helen, but she chases after him pleading, and lies once more by saying that she is pregnant, obviously too convenient to be true. Still, with all her faults, Ken loves her, and the idea of a child sounds good. The movie ends on that note of reconciliation.

Cast

Reception

Writing for '' Night and Day'' in 1937,

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

gave the film a good review, advising readers to enjoy "a quick visit". Greene found the film to be "constructed firmly and satisfactorily on human nature" and asserted that "the picture succeeds in being funny from beginning to end". Greene praised its grounding in realism and concluded that the film was "the best comedy of the year".

Production Code Controversy

Hollywood film studios

Production Code Administration The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...

director

Joseph Breen Joseph Ignatius Breen (October 14, 1888 – December 5, 1965) was an American film censor with the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America who applied the Hays Code to film production.Staff report (December 8, 1965). Joseph I ...

registered a complaint with Paramount Pictures, charging the filmmakers with encouraging a licentious attitude towards the court system. In particular, ''True Confession'' was deemed to present perjury (as exhibited by Carole Lombard's character, Helen Bartlett), as an evasion of "the processes of law" and of depicting legal scenes that were a "travesty on the courts and the administration of justice." Paramount was ultimately given authorization to release True Confession when

Will H. Hays William Harrison Hays Sr. (; November 5, 1879 – March 7, 1954) was an American Republican politician. As chairman of the Republican National Committee from 1918–1921, Hays managed the successful 1920 presidential campaign of Warren G. H ...

, president of the

MPPDA The Motion Picture Association (MPA) is an American trade association representing the five major film studios of the United States, as well as the video streaming service Netflix. Founded in 1922 as the Motion Picture Producers and Distribu ...

, allowed that the overall "farcical" character of the film - a screwball comedy - was sufficient to offset the "flippant portrayal of the courts of justice."Kessler, 2004. UCLA: "...the scenes under scurutiny were redeemed by the film’s overall 'farcical nature'"

Footnotes

References

*Kessler, Julie. 2004. ''True Confession, 1937''. UCLA Film and Television Archive: 12th Festival of Preservation, July 22-August 21, 2004. Festival guest publication.

External links

* * * {{Wesley Ruggles 1937 films 1930s screwball comedy films American screwball comedy films American black-and-white films American films based on plays Films based on works by Louis Verneuil Films directed by Wesley Ruggles Films scored by Friedrich Hollaender Paramount Pictures films 1937 comedy films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films