I Found Stella Parish

An unashamed assault on the tear ducts, this hoary melodrama rather went against the Warner Bros grain, substituting the customary hard-edged realism for a little soft-soap and glamour. Bedecked in gowns by the legendary costume designer Orry-Kelly and playing against impossible cavernous sets, Kay Francis emotes for all she's worth as the stage diva prepared to sacrifice almost everything to prevent her daughter from learning of her misdeeds on the way to the top. Directed with the excessive earnestness that regrettably blighted his later career, Mervyn LeRoy flatters Francis in every shot. However, Ian Hunter and Paul Lukas still manage to make an impression.