Mother Knows Best (1928)

Ma Quail robs the till in her husband's drugstore to finance singing and dancing lessons for her eight-year-old daughter Sally. Years later, domineering, ambitious Ma Quail drives her daughter into a show-business career, guiding her from amateur nights to vaudeville and finally to the Broadway big time. Although Sally becomes a fine dramatic actress, her mother never allows her to develop her own personality and strictly forbids her any romantic life; whenever Sally falls in love with a young fellow, Ma drives him away. Eventually, Sally has a nervous breakdown, and a doctor makes Ma realize that she is ruining her daughter's life. Ma then reunites Sally with the boy she loves, and Sally returns to her former prominence as an actress.