The story begins at a concert during which Beethoven's Concerto in D major for violin and orchestra is performed. Romaine, a mysterious woman, is in the concert hall. Pierre, her husband, is first violin of the Orchester Colonne. That evening, she discovers Marcel, a brilliant concerto soloist, and falls in love with him. Pierre and Marcel are friends, which complicates the situation. Pierre invites his friend to the house, without suspecting what will happen. The young woman, trying to find a clever pretext for a one-on-one meeting, quickly reveals her feelings to Marcel.

When the old, wealthy Doctor Schön takes Lulu under his wing, he has no idea that she will be his certain death. Young and beautiful, Lulu is endowed with tremendous erotic charisma that utterly enchants any man in her reach. Although Schön sees disaster approaching, he cannot let go of her. (Stumfilm.dk)

This silent German film, which depicts events leading up to Danton's execution, is interesting in that all the characters get fair treatment-- NONE of them are likable. It focuses mostly on Danton, Camille Desmoulins, and Hérault-Séchelles, and the three women with whom they become involved. This leads to a few historical inaccuracies. Lucille is an aristocratic girl Camille happens to "find," and he marries her to protect her from the Revolution. She then promptly cheats on him with Danton, who is in love with her, much to the ire of his own wife, a mysterious "Julia." (His wife at the time was actually named Louise.) Meanwhile, Hérault-Séchelles has adopted a poor girl named Babette and made her over into an aristocrat. (There is a bath scene that rivals that of My Fair Lady. . . .) After his arrest, her old friends raid his house and find her. She promptly tears off her fancy dress and puts on her old clothes to be carried away victoriously by the people. Her only remorse seems to be leaving her shoes. And those six are the heroes.
The villains are, of course, Robespierre, Saint-Just, and Fouquier-Tinville, the public prosecutor. Robespierre resembles nothing so much as a turtle and denounces Danton mostly for his involvement with low-class women. Saint-Just mostly does Robespiere's dirty work, such as dealing with Westermann when he comes to plead Danton's case. The rest of the time, he skulks about looking morose. He also is the one who convinces Robespierre to arrest Camille as well, despite a touching flash back of Robespierre and Camille as kids.
Overall, the movie is fun to watch, though of little historical value. It is based on Georg Büchner's Danton's Tod, but has been altered considerably from the original play.
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