Confession

Kay Francis suffers unspeakable hardships in this well acted and directed (Film Daily) drama costarring Basil Rathbone and Ian Hunter. It's been 15 years since Vera Kowalska (Francis) last saw her daughter Lisa. A famed opera star, Vera was compromised by womanizing concert pianist Michael Michailow (Rathbone), her disgrace leading to divorce and her husband (Hunter) taking off with their child. Reduced to singing in cheap cabarets, Vera searches for Lisa in vain until she spots the 17-year-old in the audience kissing Michailow, and her greatest trial is about to begin. Based on Mazurka (1935), a German film starring Pola Negri, Confession was remade by director Joe May (Johnny Doesn't Live Here Anymore) into a heartrending tale of love and sacrifice, one of Kay Francis' best.