简介:Haunted by the memory of Walter Holderlin, a soldier he killed during World War I, French musician Paul Renard (Phillips Holmes) nfesses to a priest (Frank Sheridan), who grants him absolution. Usin..
Haunted by the memory of Walter Holderlin, a soldier he killed during World War I, French musician Paul Renard (Phillips Holmes) nfesses to a priest (Frank Sheridan), who grants him absolution. Using the address on a letter he found on the dead man's body, Paul then travels to Germany to find his family. As anti-French sentiment ntinues to permeate Germany, Dr. Holderlin (Lionel Barrymore) initially refuses to wele Paul into his home, but changes his mind when his son's fiancée Elsa identifies him as the man who has been leaving flowers on Walter's grave. Rather than reveal the real nnection between them, Paul tells the Holderlin family he was a friend of their son, who attended the same musical nservatory he did. Although the hostile townspeople and local gossips disapve, the Holderlins befriend Paul, who finds himself falling in love with Elsa (Nancy Carroll). When she shows Paul her former fiancé's bedroom, he bees distraught and tells her the truth. She nvinces him not to nfess to Walter's parents, who have embraced him as their send son, and Paul agrees to forego easing his nscience and stays with his adopted family. Dr. Holderlin presents Walter's violin to Paul, who plays it while Elsa acpanies him on the piano. The film's original title, The Man I Killed, was changed to The Fifth Commandment to avoid giving wrong impressions in the minds of the public about the character of the story. It ultimately was released as Broken Lullaby.展开