{{Short description|1939 British film by Arthur B. Woods}} {{For|the racehorse|Confidential Lady (horse)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}} {{Use British English|date=May 2016}} {{Infobox film | name = Confidential Lady | image = Confidential_Lady_film_frame_(1939).jpg | caption = Ben Lyon (right) in a frame from the film<ref name="MBL">{{Cite book |title=Missing Believed Lost: The Great British Film Search |publisher=British Film Institute |year=1992 |isbn=0851703062 |editor-last=Eyles |editor-first=Allen |pages=93 |chapter=Confidential Lady |editor-last2=Meeker |editor-first2=David}}</ref> | director = Arthur B. Woods | producer = Samuel Sax | writer = Derek N. Twist<br>Brock Williams | starring = Ben Lyon<br>Jane Baxter | music = Bretton Byrd | cinematography = Basil Emmott | editing = | distributor = Warner Bros. First National Productions | budget = £17,432<ref name="warners">Steve Chibnall (2019) Hollywood-on-Thames: the British productions ofWarner Bros. – First National, 1931–1945, Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, 39:4, pp 687-724, DOI: 10.1080/01439685.2019.1615292 at p 713</ref> | gross = £12,822<ref name="warners"/> | released = {{Film date|1939|12}} | runtime = 74 minutes | country = United Kingdom | language = English }} '''''Confidential Lady''''' is a 1939 British comedy drama film, directed by Arthur B. Woods and starring Ben Lyon and Jane Baxter.<ref name="BFIsearch">{{Cite web |title=Confidential Lady |url=https://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web/Details/ChoiceFilmWorks/150027274 |access-date=6 March 2026 |website=British Film Institute Collections Search}}</ref> It was written by Derek N. Twist and Brock Williams.
== Preservation status == The British Film Institute has classed ''Confidential Lady'' as a lost film.<ref name="MBL" /> Its National Archive holds a collection of stills but no film or video materials.<ref name="BFIsearch" />
==Plot== Jill Trevor vows revenge on newspaper baron Sir Joshua Morple, who she holds responsible for ruining her father. Her very public antics to draw attention to Morple's despicable conduct come to the notice a rival newspaper, who send journalist Jim Brent to offer to write up Jill's story, in the hope that he will be able to dig up some dirt on Morple. Jim is initially sceptical, seeing Jill as a silly attention-seeking airhead, but as he gets to know her he changes his mind and realises there is substance to her claims, so the pair join forces to discredit Morple publicly, at the same time as starting to fall in love with each other.
==Cast== * Ben Lyon as Jim Brent * Jane Baxter as Jill Trevor * Athole Stewart as Sir Joshua Morple * Ronald Ward as John Canter * Jean Cadell as Amy Boswell * Frederick Burtwell as Phillips * Gibb McLaughlin as Sheriff * Vera Bogetti as Rose * Stewart Rome as Alfred Trevor
== Reception == ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' wrote: "This bright and frothy little story has a superabundance of dialogue, the element of suspense is lacking, and action is rather at a discount. But it is put over in exactly the right spirit. Ben Lyon makes a forceful, breezy and hard-boiled reporter. Jane Baxter is an attractive Jill, though she finds it difficult to be convincing as a gold-digger. The supporting cast is excellent, with an especially good performance from Jean Cadell as Jill's old nurse. Production values are good, with effective but unobtrusive backgrounds of luxurious flats and newspaper offices."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1 January 1939 |title=Confidential Lady |volume=6 |issue=61 |pages=155 |id={{ProQuest|1305801876}} |magazine=The Monthly Film Bulletin}}</ref>
''The Daily Film Renter'' wrote: "Dialogue preponderates over action, and denouement is easily foreseen, but Ben Lyon plays reporter hero smoothly, and production values have polish."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=26 July 1939 |title=Confidential Lady |volume= |issue=3827 |pages=7 |id={{ProQuest|2826309000}} |magazine=The Daily Film Renter}}</ref>
''Picturegoer'' wrote: "It is thin material and Jane Baxter hardly suggests a hard-boiled vamp. Ben Lyon is breezy as the reporter and two good performances come from Athole Stewart as a newspaper proprietor who falls for the girl and Jean Cadell as his companion."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=5 April 1940 |title=Confidential Lady |volume=9 |issue= |pages=26 |id={{ProQuest|1771117580}} |magazine=Picturegoer}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb title|0031174|Confidential Lady}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20090116210813/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/29874 ''Confidential Lady''] at BFI Film & TV Database
{{Arthur B. Woods}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Confidential Lady}} Category:1939 films Category:1939 British films Category:1939 comedy-drama films Category:1939 English-language films Category:1939 lost films Category:British black-and-white films Category:English-language comedy-drama films Category:Films directed by Arthur B. Woods Category:Films produced by Samuel Sax Category:Films scored by Bretton Byrd Category:Lost British comedy-drama films