The Goddess (1934)

The protagonist is a prostitute (called 'a goddess' at that time) and a single mother. She lives with and is controlled and bullied by a pimp. Her son is her only hope and way out of her misery. She sends her son to a school. When her identity is revealed, other parents press the school to throw her son out. The school head is sympathetic but couldn't resist the presure. She decides to leave this place with her son, but finds her only money is stolen and gambled away by the pimp. In desparation, she throws a vase to the pimp and accidentally kills him. In the end, she is sent to prison and loses her son. This is a master pieces of Ruan Lingyu's performance and Wu Yonggang's direction. The scene when the Goddess confronts the pimp is later reconstructed in Stanley Kwan's The Actress (1991), played by Maggie Cheung.