East Lynne 1931 - A powerful melodrama with good performances

IMDB Link
IMDB rating: 7,2

Director: Frank Lloyd
Main Cast: Ann Harding, Clive Brook, Conrad Nagel

"There were several silent film versions of East Lynne, all of which made money. 1931 yielded no fewer than two adaptations, one set in modern times and retitled Ex-Flame. Fox Studios' version restored the original title and the 1860s setting, but couldn't do much with that creaky plot. Ann Harding portrays Lady Isabel Carlisle, who nearly a decade of family hardships learns that her son has fallen ill. Despite being nearly blind as the result of a bomb explosion, Lady Carlisle returns home to see her son one last time - just before dying herself." - www.allmovie.com

Download links: 

http://rapidgator.net/file/23974876

The sin of Madelon Claudet 1931 - The definitive sacrificing mother saga of the 30's

IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022386/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
IMDB rating: 6,8

Director: Edgar Selwyn
Main Cast: Helen Hayes, Lewis Stone, Neil Hamilton, Cliff Edwards, Jean Hersholt, Marie Prevost, Robert Young, Karen Morley, Charles Winninger

"Legend has it that Helen Hayes was somewhat embarrassed at winning an Oscar for a work as blatantly manipulative and melodramatic as The Sin of Madelon Claudet, but Hayes' performance overcomes the limitations of the material and, more importantly, even manages to elevate that material. Hayes is simply stunning, investing every moment of this sudsy tearjerker with an honesty that makes even its most stilted dialogue come alive. Her naïveté in the early segment of the film is endearing rather than cloying; it feels real rather than manufactured and, therefore, makes all the more powerful her strongly ambivalent feelings at the birth of her son. Hayes handles the transformations into each of the stages of her life with remarkable facility. In each stage she is practically a different character, yet the audience never once questions that they are all the same woman - nor questions whether one woman could exhibit so many different facets. While it's hard to see past the star performance, it must be noted that she gets some very solid support from the rest of the cast, especially from a wonderful Lewis Stone and an engaging Marie Prevost." - http://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-sin-of-madelon-claudet-v44814/

DVD links: