Madame X (1929 film)

Plot

Jacqueline Floriot (Ruth Chatterton) is thrown out into the street without any money by her jealous husband Louis (Lewis Stone) when he discovers she had been carrying on an affair. She is not even allowed to see their four-year-old son, and sinks into depravity. Twenty years later, she has become the mistress of Laroque (Ullrich Haupt), a cardsharp. When he finds out that her husband is now the Attorney General, Laroque decides to blackmail him. Desperate to shield her son from her disgrace, she shoots and kills her lover.

By chance, the lawyer assigned to her turns out to be her own son, on his first case. He is puzzled and frustrated when she refuses to defend herself in court. During the trial, her husband shows up in support of his son. When she sees that he recognizes her and is about to speak out, she makes an impassioned plea, not for mercy but for understanding of what drove her to murder. As she had intended, the hidden message silences Louis. When Jacqueline faints from the strain, she is carried into a private chamber. There, she kisses her still-unaware son and dies.

Academy Awards

However, these were not official "nominations." According to AMPAS, "there were no announcements of nominations, no certificates of nomination or honorable mention, and only the winners (*) were revealed during the awards banquet on April 3, 1930. Though not official nominations, the additional names in each category, according to in-house records, were under consideration by the various boards of judges."