Human Desires (1924)

Joan Thayer, ambitious for a stage career, becomes a wife in name only to George Gauthier, a wealthy and influential banker. She loves Henri Renault, a young poet, but he fears to ask her to marry him because of his poverty. She cannot learn to care for her husband, and a former mistress of George's further complicates matters. When George realizes that Joan does not care for him, he secures a divorce, Joan gives up her stage ambitions, and marries her young poet, while her husband is left with his memories.