THE LADY CONFESSES

US, 1945, 64 minutes, Black and white.
Mary Beth Hughes, Hugh Beaumont, Edmund Mac Donald, Claudia Drake, Emmet Vogan, Barbara Slater.
Directed by Sam Newfield.

The Lady Confesses is a mid-40s thriller, small budget, supporting feature. It is also a murder mystery with quite an unexpected twist at the end.

Mary Beth Hughes plays a young woman engaged to a man whose wife disappeared seven years earlier (Hugh Beaumont) – and is now free to marry his fiancee. The man is something of a drinker, spends his night in a bar, helped by the club singer, Claudia Drake, to sleep it off. There is also something sinister about the manager of the club, Edmund Mc Donald. The man’s wife, who had invested in the club, is killed.

Emmet Vogan is a police inspector who continually turns up, questioning all the suspects.

The central character has a strong alibi, guaranteed by the singer. He also accuses the owner of the club of lying about being absent from the club. The young woman is encouraged by her fiance to investigate, even going undercover as the photography girl at the club, getting the attention of the owner.

The singer is jealous, tries to escape, recants on her confession and is also murdered. It appears that the central character is the murderer and makes an attempt on his fiancee.

Routine material but interesting enough to watch.