AllMovie

Hot on the heels of her dual-role tour de force in Kohlhisel's Tochters, German comedienne Henny Porten went dramatic -- with a vengeance! -- in Mutterliebe (Mother Love). After five years' marriage, poor Maria (Porten) is still childless. In frustration, her husband strays from home and hearth, impregnating the girl next door. Maria files for divorce and heads to the city, where she gets a job as a governess in the home of a loose-living wealthy woman. She immediately falls in love with the woman's cute little daughter (Inge Landgut), and the feeling is mutual. When she's summarily fired, Maria desperately kidnaps the child but is arrested before she gets very far. A sympathetic judge releases Maria, who unexpectedly finds happiness when the cuckolded husband of her former employer divorces his wife and proposes marriage to our heroine -- and the child is part of the bargain!