Mazurka (1935) DVD-R

Absent from the screen since 1932, Pola Negri made the first of several comebacks in the German melodrama Mazurka. Negri is cast as a famous opera star, married to a powerful military officer. While hubby's off to war, she has "one too many" and ends up sleeping with another man. When she becomes pregnant, it's the end of her marriage and her career. Fifteen years later, Negri comes face-to-face with the daughter she'd farmed out to adoption. Careful not to reveal her true identity, the chastened Negri tries to prevent her daughter from making a similar mistake with her virtue -- and with the same casual lover who'd impregnated our heroine. When the caddish ex-lover refuses to back off, Negri takes drastic measures, setting the stage for a passion-tattering "Madame X"-style courtroom finale.