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True Confession

Play trailer Poster for True Confession 1937 1h 25m Comedy Play Trailer Watchlist
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100% Tomatometer 14 Reviews 46% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
A lawyer (Fred MacMurray) defends his lying wife (Carole Lombard) for murder, then finds out she was innocent all along.

Critics Reviews

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Roy Chartier Variety True Confession is a rather entertaining picture, the various faults or shortcomings of which should not hamper it at the box office. May 6, 2020 Full Review Frank S. Nugent New York Times Although True Confession had a pulpwood sound, it proved yesterday to be a highly polished, smoothly grained Yule log which deserves to crackle right merrily... from now until well after Christmas. May 5, 2020 Full Review TIME Staff TIME Magazine True Confession is skillfully played and paced, keyed up to the pitch of the dizziest haywire skit. Yet what makes True Confession funnier than most haywire comedies is that as melodrama it could be just as effective. May 5, 2020 Full Review Ann Ross Maclean's Magazine Fred MacMurray as the husband who couldn't tell a lie, and Carole Lombard as the wife who did it with her little hatchet, are both exceptionally good, but the picture owes its peculiar hobgoblin quality to John Barrymore as the eccentric crime expert. May 6, 2020 Full Review Josephine O'Neill Daily Telegraph (Australia) Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray are an excellent team, but the most absurd of all the film's clowns is ex-Lothario John Barrymore. May 6, 2020 Full Review James T. Hamada The Nippu Jiji (Honolulu) The film is a nutty, lunatic comedy. May 6, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Steve D Mixed but quite cute. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/09/24 Full Review Zazoo909 C Utterly adorable. Two or three plot holes and pacing issues in the second half, but hell, Carole Lombard, with near-genius comic timing, steals the show and steals your heart. Fred MacMurray tries, but he can't resist her, despite her compulsive lying, and neither can I. Sure, by today's PC standards, some will say she comes off as a goofy, airy precursor to Goldie Hawn, but she's ten times more charming - and funny! - than 90% of other leading lady comics, regardless of the decade. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 08/25/23 Full Review Audience Member A very simple and sweet comedy with a very good performance by Carol Lombard. However the movie's potential is squashed by the completely ridiculous and pointless character of John Barrymore. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member simple, sweet comedy with a very nice performance by Carol Lombard. but John Barrymore completely ruins it with his absurd and pointless character. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 12/14/20 Full Review Audience Member awesomely funny and delightful rom-com Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/21/23 Full Review Audience Member What a mess this thing is! Both lead characters are fools and irritating in the bargain. Carole's native intelligence shines through which actually weakens the movie since it reminds you that a woman obviously this smart would never do things so stupid. Fred's part is a dullard simp and even he would never believe the ridiculous things his wife comes up with. John Barrymore, or rather what's left of him at this point, is beyond hammy with another character that makes no sense. The only bright spot is Una Merkel who gives a sprightly cute performance of the only person in the picture who seems like she would actually exist. Aside from her the movie is a dog. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/27/23 Full Review Read all reviews
True Confession

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Cast & Crew

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Wesley Ruggles

Director

Carole Lombard

Helen Bartlett

Fred MacMurray

Kenneth Bartlett

John Barrymore

Charles "Charley" Jasper

Una Merkel

Daisy McClure

Porter Hall

Mr. Hartman
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True Confession

True Confession (1937) True Confession (1937) True Confession (1937) True Confession (1937) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis A lawyer (Fred MacMurray) defends his lying wife (Carole Lombard) for murder, then finds out she was innocent all along.
Director
Wesley Ruggles
Producer
Albert Lewin
Screenwriter
Claude Binyon
Production Co
Paramount Pictures
Genre
Comedy
Original Language
English
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 8, 2020
Runtime
1h 25m