Zeus

Writers:

Harry Hervey, Hector Turnbull (silent film script)

Stars:

Tallulah Bankhead, Harvey Stephens, Irving Pichel

 

This Depression-era melodrama chronicles the travails of a wealthy family that is nearly destroyed by a wife's compulsive gambling. The trouble begins when the Long Island housewife loses 10-grand while gambling in a club. Trying hard to conceal this enormous loss from her hubby, she embezzles from a charity fund and tries to win back the fortune by playing the market. Unfortunately, it fails and she is forced to take money from a wealthy fellow who has just come back from Asia. When her husband finds out, he pays the money to the cad, but he wants the wife instead. When he insists, the wife shoots him dead. A trial ensues, and there, the devoted husband sacrifices himself by taking the rap until his wife bursts in and admits her wrongdoing.