The Sin of Madelon Claudet

Which do you talk about first? The saccharine, weepy tale of a mother's sacrifice? Or Helen Hayes' superb performance despite the claptrap about a woman who enables the son she gave away to become a great doctor? I'll go with Hayes. As Madelon, she goes from the naively adoring bride of a bounder to the mistress of a criminal nobleman to a fallen woman of the streets to a pathetic bag lady,each phase of her life revealing fresh nuances. No question she deserved the Oscar she won, if only for making the melodrama make sense and coping with direction that was clumsy even for 1932. Worth watching to see an amazingly gifted actress in her prime.