Temptation (1930)

Run Time - 72 min.  |   Countries - United States  |  
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson

Adapted from a stage melodrama by Charles Mere, Temptation (La Tentation) stars Claudia Victrix as saucy debutante Irene. Aware that her new husband is cheating on her, Irene is tempted to run off with her true love, family attorney Jourdan (Lucien Dalsace) but decides to favor honor over desire. Things turn out to Irene's favor when her philandering husband is killed in a car accident, freeing her to marry Jourdan. But all is not rosy: it seems that the late husband was killed while driving Jourdan's car, and the lawyer seems to know more about the so-called accident than he's letting on. Suspicions about Jourdan's complicity seem to be confirmed when he leaves for Africa, apparently never to return. Several years pass, during which Irene marries for a second time. Predictably, Jourdan returns, explaining that, while he did not kill Irene's first husband, he could have prevented the man's death, so in a sense he is morally culpable. Irene is tempted to leave her husband in favor of the tormented Jourdan, but at the last moment she again elects to remain faithful. Feeling he's done enough damage, Jourdan removes himself permanently from the scene by committing suicide.

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Keywords

accident, death, debutante, extramarital-affair, guilt, husband, lawyer, suspicion