The Midnight Lady

Sarah Padden runs an upscale speakeasy. She is also the mother of Claudia Dell and John Darrow, although no one knows that; in a Madame X-style plot, she gave her up to Montagu Love years ago and disappeared, dead so far as he is aware. But now Miss Dell is accused of murdering playboy-artist Theodore von Eltz. So Miss Padden thrusts herself forward as the actual murder suspect and is convicted

Like many a movie from Chesterfield, it offers good performers like Lucy Beaumont and Lina Basquette under a good director -- Richard Thorpe -- and still comes up short. Chesterfield was ambitious, but it lacked the resources to put much gloss on a movie, and that's what's required in a weeper to raise sympathy. I think Miss Padden plays the character as too practical to elicit much sympathy; it would require a director more prone to retakes than Thorpe to bring out her suffering.