Frisco Jenny

Frisco Jenny is a 1932 American pre-Code drama film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Ruth Chatterton and Louis Calhern. Its story bears a resemblance to Madame X (1929), Chatterton's previous hit film. Plot In 1906 San Francisco, Jenny Sandoval, a denizen of the notorious Tenderloin district, wants to marry piano player Dan McAllister, but her saloonkeeper father Jim adamantly is opposed to it. An earthquake kills both men and devastates the city. In the aftermath, Jenny gives birth to a son, whom she names Dan. With financial help from crooked lawyer Steve Dutton, who also came from the Tenderloin, she enters the vice trade, providing women on demand. Jenny has one loyal friend, the Chinese woman Amah, who helps take care of the baby. At a party in Steve's honor, he catches gambler Ed Harris cheating him in a back room. In the ensuing struggle, Steve kills him, with Jenny the only eyewitness. The pair are unable to dispose of the body before it is found, and they are questioned by the police but not charged. The scandal forces Jenny to temporarily surrender her baby to a respectable couple who owe Steve a favor in order to prevent the forcible removal of the child by a children's welfare society with a court order.