Marlene Dietrich plays the wife of a scientist who sacrifices her stage career for marriage and motherhood. When her scientist husband (Herbert Marshall) is diagnosed with radium poisoning, she returns to the stage as a cabaret singer to finance his costly medical treatment. On her opening night, she meets a wealthy playboy (Cary Grant) who gives her enough money to pay for her husband’s treatment abroad. When her husband returns, he suspect that she has been unfaithful and forces her to leave their home. Unwilling to abandon her 5 year old son (Dickie Moore) she flees to the South with him, pursued by the law. Josef von Sternberg exposes the problems faced by women attempting to assert their independence in a society which places them at the mercy of husbands, employers and the law. Screenplay by Jules Furthman and S. K. Lauren.
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How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
316108
Language
English
Audience classification
PG
Subject categories
Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Mothers and sons
Feature films → Feature films - United States
Sound/audio
Sound
Colour
Black and White
Holdings
VHS; Access Print (Section 1)