Aspiring designer Fernand Gravey meets and marries Micheline Presle but when she dies during childbirth while he is fighting in WWI, he struggles to regain his equilibrium. Years later, he finds love again but may have to place the needs of his daughter— also played by Presle—above his own. Gance’s faith in rising star Presle, at the time in her teens, proved justified; his own cinematic ability to engage the viewer was a given.

In French with English subtitles

Print courtesy of L’Institut Français, thanks to the Cultural Services of the French Embassy