Marcel L’Herbier, director of this silent 1921 melodrama, is one of the key figures in the French experimental narrative cinema of the 20s. This film, about the maltreatment of a cabaret performer and her subsequent revenge, is one of his best-known works, though it’s far from his best (cf. L’argent, L’inhumaine). Still, it’s certainly an interesting introduction to his work. (JR)