"A remake of Pola Negri's outstanding Germansuccess, Mazurka. Although in many ways a typical Kay Francis Madame X-derivedvehicle (with singer Francis recounting events leading up to her murder of BasilRathbone), Confession still has a stylized, European look to it. The costumes anddecor are much more carefully created than usual, the narrative structure-in aWellesian manner-is unusually complex for this kind of film; and the photographictreatment, with its extreme mobility of the camera and its frequent forays intonear-expressionism (especially the last scene), is most impressive. It iscertainly the most ambitious Hollywood film of German director Joe May, one ofthe key German directors of the silent period. The Rathbone character, by virtueof the complex construction, seems to veer between villainy and sympathy. It's afascinating film undeserving of its obscurity."-William K.Everson