Die Stimme des Herzens (1924)

Nature-loving Helga is the daughter of a sawmill worker and has fallen in love with the carefree Mikkelsen, a rather rough character. They marry against her father’s wishes. Soon after following her husband to the city, Helga becomes pregnant by him and has a child. Mikkelsen does not leave his bad habits behind there, and makes life a veritable hell for his delicate wife. Before long, he is jailed by the police after a vicious brawl, and Helga has to figure out how to support herself and her child from then on. To make matters worse, Helga also loses her job, and, unable to provide for herself and the little one, she decides, heavy-heartedly, to give the child to wealthier people, the married couple Ebba and Viktor Lindquist. They have just tragically lost their own little daughter. For Ebba, this fateful turn of events seems to offer a glimmer of hope for happiness again. But Helga cannot bear being separated from the only person who truly means anything to her, and is in danger of first sinking into depression and finally losing her mind. The voice of her heart constantly calls out for her child. The only person who recognizes this is the young doctor, Dr. Axel Wyborg, who, as the new parents’ family doctor, arranged for them to meet Helga. He arranges for Helga to get her child back, which also has a lasting effect on her mental recovery. In the meantime, Mikkelsen has been released from prison, and the only thing he considers important is to seek out the buddy he blames for his incarceration. Another full-blown brawl breaks out, and both men fall from a scaffold to their deaths. Helga, however, manages to make a new beginning: she marries the helpful, sensitive doctor, who loves her and will be a worthy, loving father to her child.