'Confession', the only decent film alas made by Joe May in Hollywood, was an homogenised, practically shot-for-shot remake of 'Mazurka' filmed by Willie Forst two years earlier. Good production values of course and starring Kay Francis and Basil Rathbone but in common with most Hollywood remakes of European films it falls short of the original. It is so easy to dismiss Forst's film as a 'weepie' but it is nonetheless extremely accomplished technically. Forst has gathered around him a top notch team. His 'preferred' editor Hans Wolff does excellent work here whilst the cinematography of Konstantin Irmen-Tschet, who began as a special effects cameraman for Fritz Lang, is exemplary. Peter Krauder is the composer and his gorgeous mazurka is performed by Pola Negri as Marianne with the voice of Hilde Seipp. Karl Haaker and Hermann Warm being responsible for the rich production design. It took this reviewer some time to come round to Pola Negri but I now realise that I sorely underrated her acting abilities. The courtroom scenes are tremendous, the only weak link being Ernst Karchow as the defence lawyer whose strident delivery makes him sound as if he were addressing a Nazi rally! Interesting also are the fates of Negri's co-stars in the film. The career of Albrecht Schoenhals, who is far more effective as the love rat than Rathbone in the remake, hit the buffers when he refused to play the title role in 'Jud Suss' that eventually went to Ferdinand Marian. He became a very respected character actor in between practising medicine and translating French literature(!) and finished his film career with 'The Damned' of Visconti. Paul Hartmann as the officer whose honour as Marianne's husband is shattered by her supposed infidelity, was banned from acting for three years for his appearances in propoganda films notably as Bismarck and as the doctor who aids his terminally ill wife's suicide in the extremely controversial 'Ich Klage an'. Friedrich Kaysler who plays the kind- hearted Judge was a marvellous actor on both stage and screen who sadly did not survive long enough to be 'denazified' as he was murdered by Russian soldiers whilst trying to protect his wife during the Battle of Berlin. The mise-en-scene of Willy Forst is highly accomplished with wonderful touches that make this film satisfying on so many levels. Sub-titled on You Tube so please see it and be sure to have a box of tissues handy!
