Tue 18 Aug 2020
Mystery Movie Review: THE LADY CONFESSES (1945).
Posted by Steve under Mystery movies , Reviews[5] Comments
THE LADY CONFESSES. PRC, 1945. Mary Beth Hughes, Hugh Beaumont, Edmund MacDonald, Claudia Drake, Emmett Vogan. Director: Sam Newfield.
Add this to a small list of mystery movies from the 1930s and 40s in which the detective on record is female and working on her own. When the wife of her fiancé Larry Craig (Hugh Beaumont) suddenly shows up after an unexplained absence of seven years, then even more suddenly is found murdered, it is up to Vicki McGuire (Mary Beth Hughes) to go undercover at the nightclub where Craig has an alibi.
Everyone there will vouch for him, except for the owner, Lucky Brandon (Edmund MacDonald, as slick and sleazy looking as usual). When Lucky’s secret financial dealings with the dead woman are discovered, Vicki does her best to find out more.
It really isn’t much of a story, and some of the loose ends are never tied up (to put it mildly), but both the photography and direction are above average for this level of B-movie, and it is fun to see a well motivated lady detective at work.
August 18th, 2020 at 1:51 pm
Nothing wrong with the players, especially Mary Beth Hughes.
August 18th, 2020 at 2:08 pm
Yes, very much so. Solid performances all around.
August 18th, 2020 at 4:38 pm
And congratulations on not saying that Hugh Beaumont later went on to play Ward Cleaver on Leave It to Beaver — few can refrain from doing so!
August 18th, 2020 at 6:08 pm
I have a small confession to make. Of maybe six or seven times Hugh Beaumont has been mentioned on this blog, I slipped up once:
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=17524
August 18th, 2020 at 6:25 pm
In some ways a poor man’s BLACK ANGEL. Not bad at all for what it is, with Hughes good as usual and Beaumont adequate as usual.