Hi! I just found out the press book for Confession is available on the Internet Archive, and I just had to share this extract of the article where Jane Bryant (who played Lisa) talks about getting kissed by Basil:
Never before had a villain held her in his arms and kissed her as only a villain can. It was very disconcerting to a young girl. It was her first screen kiss. Even her limited off-stage kissing was hardly a preparation for Rathbone. “A boy in high school kissed me once,” she admitted, “but I realize now, he knew as little about it as I did.” “Having studied my script,” said the girl, “I knew he was supposed to take me in his arms and kiss me. But I was not ready for the suddenness of it. I honestly was so taken aback that my lines, ‘Oh, you mustn’t’ just popped out. “Joe May, the director, thought I was acting and said my fright seemed very natural. I'll say it did.” Off-stage, Jane Bryan is a studious, serious-minded girl. She had never known a Continental smoothie such as Rathbone depicts. “It was not only the kiss, itself,” she commented ingenuously, “it was the way he holds you, as if you had been magically altered to fit his arms perfectly.” As to whether she liked the scene, she was a bit noncommittal. “A girl has to learn some time,” she said, “and Mr. Rathbone is a very charming fellow.”
Like godddd I'm so jealous 😩😩 The way she describes what it's like being held by him is just !!!!!
(also I can't help but giggle at Basil being called a "smoothie"--I know it meant something different then but it's still such a funny mental image!)
Anyway, sorry if this is random -- I just had to share it with someone 😅
Oh thank you so much for sharing this with me, anon! Ahhhh how utterly ajkhsdakjshdjkahdkasjdhakjsdhaksd haha The way he kissed on screen always has me kicking my feet, that man knew what he was doing!! I really love this film, it's a great story. A lot of Basil's films that I have watched haven't been the greatest haha but I really love Kay Francis in this one. But yes this explains why Lisa is so nervous/frightened in that scene, she really seems it. I guess I would be too if I was a teenage girl having to kiss that man. Though I am like you anon, I am just jealous haha! I went found the press book here and this is from page 5 for anyone who wants to read the whole thing!
Thank you so much for sharing with me! Not random at all, I love stuff like this! Also this is the Basil blog ;)
Also I do have the scene giffed here...for science, of course :)
