Summary
In a remote English parish, twin sisters Geraldine and Beatrice Hatherly are born to a modest parson. Beatrice, the reckless, flamboyant sibling, absconds to London with a scoundrel, only to be abandoned and repudiated by her father, whose health collapses under the scandal. After his death, the demure Geraldine seeks refuge with an aunt, marries the impoverished Philip Calthorpe, and is thrust into military service when his aristocratic family disinherits him. Meanwhile, Beatrice reinvents herself as the enigmatic hostess of Renard Duval’s gambling salon, earning the moniker “La Belle Russe.” She flits across Europe, bears a child with the affluent painter Robert St. Omar, deserts him for Duval, and later witnesses Omar’s descent into dueling, exile, and a fatal‑near‑shooting. A factory fire maims Geraldine; she entrusts her husband’s mementos to Beatrice, who assumes her sister’s identity in a desperate bid for security. The masquerade unravels when Omar, now a comrade of Philip’s, exposes the imposture, prompting Philip to expel the impostor and reunite with his true wife. In the denouement, Omar rescues his daughter from a convent, and the fractured family finds a tentative equilibrium.
Synopsis
Geraldine and Beatrice are the twin daughters of Hatherly, a Church of England parson in a small village. Beatrice, the more impulsive and frivolous of the two, elopes to London with a ne'er-do-well. However, when he deserts her, she returns home only to be renounced by her father, who is so scandalized that his health breaks. After his death, Geraldine, the proper daughter, goes to live with an aunt. She meets and weds Philip Calthorpe, but his titled family immediately disinherits him for marrying a girl of genteel poverty; the loss of his allowance forces him to join the army. Meanwhile, Beatrice learns to live by her wits as she travels around European cities. Returning to London, she becomes the hostess at Renard Duval's gambling house and earns the exotic sobriquet "La Belle Russe" ("the beautiful Russian"). She soon runs away to France with wealthy artist Robert St. Omar and gives birth to a daughter, but after a few years, when St. Omar loses everything, Beatrice deserts him and their child and returns to Duval. St. Omar then places their daughter in a French convent, returns to London, and wounds Duval in a duel. Thinking he has killed the gambler, he enlists in the army and is sent off to India. Later, he regains his wealth and becomes engaged to an heiress. However, Beatrice shoots St. Omar just before his wedding, and although he recovers, the heiress wants nothing more to do with him. Meanwhile, Geraldine, forced to go to work, is injured in a fire in a shirtwaist factory and, thinking she may die, entrusts her husband's photograph and letters to her sister. When Lady Calthorpe, now remorseful over the way she treated her son, advertises to find her daughter-in-law, Beatrice assumes her sister's place. Philip Calthorpe, who has been serving in the army in India, returns home and fails to recognize that Beatrice is impersonating his wife. However, St. Omar, who had befriended Philip in the army, unmasks Beatrice, and Philip Calthorpe orders her out of the house. Calthorpe reunites with Geraldine, who has now recovered from her injuries, and St. Omar reclaims his daughter from the convent.
Review Excerpt
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La Belle Russe arrives as a sprawling tableau of early‑twentieth‑century morality, a silent‑film tapestry woven with twin threads of virtue and vice.
From the opening frames, the camera lingers on the modest rectory of Hatherly, a Church of England parson whose piety is as palpable as the thatch‑roofed..."
