Lombard stars as Helen Bartlett, a wife whose overactive imagination leads her to exaggerate, evade the truth, and misrepresent problems to her husband Kenneth, especially on matters of money. Typical of screwball comedies, Kenneth, played by Fred MacMurray, is the opposite of Helen, which creates the friction that leads to comic escapades. Kenneth is a straight-laced dullard who does not appreciate Helen's flights of fancy, and he is so stubbornly truthful that he refuses to take on clients who are guilty. Small wonder the couple is experiencing money problems. Helen lands a job as a part-time secretary to ease their sagging finances, but she quits the first day after the boss chases her around the desk. Later, she slips back to the office to retrieve her coat only to learn the old skirt-chaser has been murdered. Helen becomes the primary suspect, though she is innocent of the crime. Circumstances lead her to falsely confess to murder, with Kenneth defending her when she goes on trial.
True Confession was not only Lombard's last film under her contract with Paramount but the end of a successful string of romantic comedies, which earned her the nickname "Queen of the Screwballs." The film keeps within the conventions of the screwball genre, but the character of Helen Bartlett stretches the limits of Lombard's comic persona. Known onscreen and off as a free spirited nonconformist, Lombard played eccentric innocents who found themselves in deep trouble--or deeply in love--before realizing it. She infused her performances with a manic energy, speaking quickly with a lilt in her voice. The result was a succession of zany, goofy characters who still managed to be likable and sympathetic. Helen Bartlett tests the boundaries of Lombard's persona because the character's solution to problems is to spin tall tales, which makes her a kind of liar. Watching Helen be untruthful about the smallest of incidents pushes the believability of her character as well as the audience's sympathy. Whether viewers will enjoy True Confession depends on their willingness to accept the premise of the film, which is Helen's almost pathological lying.
The Production Code Administration, which controlled the Motion Picture Production Code (Hays Code) during the Golden Age, found problems during the script stage of this screwball comedy. PCA administrator Joseph Breen disapproved of the way Helen's lies played havoc with the institution of law and order, maintaining that they represented a travesty of justice. Breen also took issue with the original ending in which Helen claims to be pregnant but Kenneth refuses to believe her. After she tells him, "It could be true," Kenneth throws her over his shoulder and heads toward their bedroom, suggesting they are about to have sex. Breen demanded all of the dialogue relating to Helen's declaration of pregnancy be removed as well as a shot of her grabbing Kenneth's trousers out of his hands. (He is clad in swim trunks.) The PCA wanted the scene to suggest that Kenneth was carrying his wife off-screen in order to spank her, as though hitting and humiliating one's wife was preferable to making love to her. Director Wesley Ruggles was incensed by the PCA's demands. In a meeting with Breen and his staff, which was recounted in a PCA memo, Ruggles accused them of reading "dirty things" into movies in general. Producer Albert Lewin tried to calm the PCA by declaring that the ending was not going to be shot as written, but his vague promises were not enough for Breen.
The stalemate resulted in MPPDA president Will H. Hays stepping in to resolve the situation. In Breen's name, he granted a certificate of approval because the farcical tone of the film, particularly in the scenes in the courtroom, prevented it from being offensive. The film's conclusion retains Helen's claims that she is pregnant, but the setting was changed, so Kenneth's intent in throwing his wife over his shoulder is ambiguous.
Lombard was a major star by the time she was cast in True Confession. Throughout the 1930s, her romantic comedies had garnered critical acclaim and box office success. My Man Godfrey (1936) became a career high point when she was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Actress. Though she exhibited terrific chemistry with ex-husband William Powell in that screwball classic, her primary onscreen partner during this period was Fred MacMurray. She appeared for the first time with the affable actor in a comedy called Hands Across the Table in 1935, which led to three additional pairings over the next two years, The Princess Comes Across (1936), Swing High, Swing Low (1937), and True Confession (1937) .
The success of Lombard's comedies gave her clout with the studio that other stars did not enjoy. She flexed her muscle behind the scenes of True Confession in terms of casting and script development. One of the conventions of screwball comedy is the array of eccentric or unique supporting characters that give a film texture. In True Confession, the most bizarre character is a well-spoken gentleman named Charley Jasper who insists that he killed the victim. Charley is irritated that Helen is getting all the attention for the murder, but he has a history of false confessions and cannot be believed. Lombard requested that her friend and costar from Twentieth Century (1934), John Barrymore, be cast in the role. In the three years since the two had appeared together, Barrymore's health had rapidly deteriorated due to excessive alcohol abuse. Not only did he lose his handsome looks, but he was considered unreliable. His career was reduced to roles in b-movies and film series. Lombard insisted that scriptwriter Claude Binyon enhance the role of Charley Jasper and that Barrymore get third billing on the same title card after her and MacMurray.
Lombard also tried to get a small role for Evelyn Brent, an actress she knew from earlier in her career. However, director Wesley Ruggles wanted someone else for the part, and the star was unsuccessful in landing a role for Brent.
Contemporary critics and Lombard's biographers disagree over the quality or impact of True Confession. Biographers Wesley D. Gehring and Ray E. Boomhower refer to it as an "underrated gem," while researcher and historian Robert Matzen calls it a "blunder." However, at the time of release, True Confession became another box office hit and critical success for Lombard.
By Susan Doll
Producer: Albert Lewin for Paramount Pictures
Director: Wesley Ruggles
Screenplay: Claude Binyon from the play Mon Crime by Louis Verneuil and Georges Berr
Cinematography: Ted Tetzlaff
Editor: Paul Weatherwax
Costume Designer: Travis Banton
Original Music: Frederick Hollander, directed by Boris Morros
Art Direction: Hans Dreier and Robert Usher
Cast: Helen Bartlett (Carole Lombard), Kenneth Bartlett (Fred MacMurray), Charley Jasper (John Barrymore), Daisy McClure (Una Merkel), Prosecutor (Porter Hall), Darsey (Edgar Kennedy), Bartender (Lynne Overman), Coroner (Irving Bacon), Krayler's Butler (Fritz Feld), Judge (Richard Carle), Otto Krayler (John T. Murray), Typewriter Man (Tommy Dugan), Tony Krauch (Garry Owen), Suzanne Baggart (Toby Wing), Ella (Hattie McDaniel)
