Synopsis

The beautiful Mary Conway marries the much older stock exchange broker Jackson Harber – partially due to the pressure coming from her mother. She cuts ties with her lover, the painter Harry Lighton, and as a result he attempts suicide. She leads a life of luxury and leisure, without much ethics and problems. As expected, this doesn’t continue for all too long, especially when Mary consciously ignores the first warning signs. Just as the visions take on biblical proportions and get worse and worse, she stops her reckless behaviour. Sodom and Gomorrah from the year 1922 was the most expensive film piece of its time, staged by Michael Kertesz, who later changed his surname to Curtiz and became an international Hollywood phenomenon, going on to direct films such as Casablanca, Mildred Pierce and White Christmas. Kertész’ wife, Lucy Doraine, played the main role. The film was partially shot on a hill at the southern edge of Vienna, as the grand backdrops were so monumental that they could not fit into Sascha Film’s Studios in Sievering. The film was produced under the owner Sascha Kolowrat’s supervision, who, having been to the United States shortly before, wanted to see first hand if such monumental films would indeed attract an audience. More than 3,000 extras took part in this production, many of which – the likes of Willi Forst and Hans Thimig – became famous actors much alter on.