Mater dolorosa

Dr. Berliac neglects his wife Marthe, who falls in love with the doctor's brother and has a child by him. The affair ends with her attempted suicide. In trying to stop her, the lover accidentally kills himself, but before dying he makes her swear she will never reveal their affair and writes a suicide note. The doctor is suspicious and takes teh child away from her. She becomes frantic when the child falls ill and eventually tells the doctor the whole story. He is so moved by her despair that he reunites her with the child. This film was Abel Gance's first major commercial success not only in France but also especially in the USA. He made a remake in 1932.