Plot
Anna Holm is on trial in Stockholm for murdering an unnamed victim. Her hat conceals her face.
The first witness, Herman Rundvik, a waiter, recalls a dinner at a secluded tavern, hosted by the charismatic and profligate Torsten Barring. Guests include Vera, the unfaithful wife of plastic surgeon Gustaf Segert, and Eric, Vera's latest conquest.
The manager, Bernard Dalvik, refuses credit, and Torsten meets the proprietress, Anna. The right side of her face is mutilated, but Torsten ignores her scars and compliments her beautiful eyes. Anna forgives the bill and hints that she might be useful to him. After the party leaves, Eric returns to ask Rundvik if something dropped from his overcoat pocket. Back in the courtroom, Rundvik identifies Anna as boss of their blackmail ring. [4]
Next up is Bernard Dalvik. On the advice of her masseuse—Dalvik's wife, Christina—Vera comes to them for help: someone has her letters to Eric. Torsten calls on Anna while Dalvik is making the arrangements with Vera. Anna brings Torsten into their gang and falls deeply in love.
Vera testifies: Anna comes to sell the letters. Gustaf returns home unexpectedly; Anna trips, injuring her ankle. He wants to call the police, but Vera dissuades him. Intrigued by Anna's scars, Gustaf offers to heal her. Vera protests, and her testimony ends.
Anna is called to testify and remembers that, when she was five years old, her drunken father set her room on fire; he saved her, but not himself. When she was 16, hating the world that shunned her, she chose a life of crime. She describes a meeting with Torsten at his apartment in which she reveals much about herself. “We are both proud, both wretched,” he says. They toast their partnership.
Anna endures twelve painful operations. Gustaf wonders: Is she Galatea? Or is she Frankenstein's monster—a beautiful face with no heart? Dissolve to the courtroom: Anna removes her hat, revealing a perfect face.
Torsten is amazed by her new beauty. She reassures him: She has not joined “the saints”. He tells her that his very old, very rich uncle, Consul Magnus Barring, has bequeathed everything to his four-year-old grandson. If the boy dies, Torsten will inherit. Anna is horrified, but Torsten compels her. In the courtroom, she admits that she agreed to kill the child.
She becomes the boy's governess and goes to Barring Hall as Ingrid Paulsen. The house is in the mountains, across the river from the metal works that produces the Barring fortune. Anna becomes fond of the kindly Consul and the sweet-natured little Lars-Erik. Torsten arrives on the eve of the Consul's birthday. He dances with Anna; she is mesmerized. The house guests include Gustaf, who tells Anna that he believes in her reform and will keep her secret. The next day, Anna accidentally leaves Lars-Erik under a sun lamp too long. Her genuine distress makes Torsten doubt her, and he gives her an ultimatum: Lars-Erik must die before the next night. In the courtroom she says, “because... it was what he wanted.”
Gustaf picks up the story. The next day, Anna takes the child for a cablecar ride to the mill. Gustaf climbs aboard an ore bucket on a neighboring cable. He sees her start to pull the bolt on the gate, but she shoves it back and hugs the oblivious child. To Lars-Erik's delight, Gustaf passes them. Gustaf questions a furious Anna. The screen pans to the courtroom. He believes she was angry because he doubted her. The prosecutor accuses Gustaf of loving her; he does not deny it.
Emma Kristiansdotter, the jealous housekeeper, is next. In the attic getting robes for the birthday sleigh ride, she overhears Anna and Torsten, who scorns the ”dove” she has become and reveals his ambitions to do in Sweden “what has been done in other countries.” [5] Downstairs, Anna gives the Consul a pocket chess set, which he hands to Emma, who stops, abruptly.
The Consul recalls the sleigh ride. Torsten speeds by with Lars-Erik, lashing the horses, Anna and Gustaf in pursuit. Torsten won't stop, so Anna shoots him. He slips into the river and over the falls. The Consul believes Anna is innocent, but the judges are not satisfied. Anna protests that she left a message inside the chess set. Emma admits to keeping the letter, but she is above reading other people's mail. It is a full confession—and a suicide note. While the judges deliberate, Gustaf coaxes Anna into admitting that she loves him. He proposes. The clerk tells them that the judges are ready and adds that Gustaf should come, too.
