Full Confession *** (1939, Victor McLaglen, Sally Eilers, Joseph Calleia, Barry Fitzgerald) – Classic Movie Review 8901

Co-writer/ director John Farrow’s 1939 crime drama Full Confession stars Victor McLaglen as Pat McGinnis, who agonises as another man, Michael O’Keefe (Barry Fitzgerald), is sentenced on circumstantial evidence to die in the electric chair for a particularly nasty murder that Pat McGinnis himself has done.

Pat McGinnis has confessed his crime to a priest, Father Loma (Joseph Calleia), who has to agonise too – about the sanctity of the confessional – after he fails to persuade Pat McGinnis to turn himself in. Full Confession is an intense, involving old-style tale in the manner of McLaglen’s 1935 classic The Informer, with a powerful performance by the star, and several other good displays of acting too.

Farrow’s direction and J Roy Hunt’s black and white cinematography are fine, distinguished even, but they cannot quite lift it into The Informer category.

Also in the cast are Sally Eilers, Joseph Calleia, Elizabeth Risdon, Pamela Blake [Adele Pearce], Malcolm ‘Bud’ McTaggart, William Haade, George Humbert and John Bleifer.

The screenplay by John Farrow and Jerry Cady is based on a story by Leo Birinski.

Full Confession runs 73 minutes, is made by RKO Radio Pictures and produced by Robert Sisk.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8901

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