Cyankali (1930)
No stats available
Directors
Cast
Grete Mosheim, Herma Ford, Nico Turoff, Claus Clausen, Josefine Dora, Else Heller
A young Berlin factory worker's hopes for a family collapse amid poverty, unemployment, and the search for an abortion.
The story
In late-1920s Berlin, young Hete Fent works as an office clerk in a factory, alongside her fiancé Paul, a worker. When Hete discovers she is pregnant, the couple face poverty and see little prospect of finding a home together or supporting a child. They decide to keep the baby, but a workers’ lockout following demands for higher wages leaves Paul unemployed and threatens their hope of building a family. As their circumstances worsen, Hete searches for a doctor willing to perform an abortion.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Berlin, late 1920s. The young Hete Fent works as an office clerk in a factory. Her fiancé, the worker Paul, is employed there too. One day, Hete discovers that she is pregnant. Their poverty—they have no prospect of finding a place to live together—will make it very difficult for them to provide for their future child as parents. Nevertheless, they decide to keep the baby. Then, one day, the factory workers are locked out after demanding higher wages, and their dream of a little family is finally shattered. Paul is now unemployed and no longer earns any money. Hete tries to find a doctor willing to perform an abortion. She fails in her search and then goes to an “angel maker,” who gives her cyanide. But the dose is incorrectly measured, and Hete dies in agony from poisoning. Her mother is then arrested on suspicion of having aided an unlawful abortion (see Section 218). Paul and his friend Max are also arrested after breaking into a food warehouse in an attempt to escape their social misery.
Genres
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
Your lists
Loading your lists…