Madame Freedom

College professor Jang Tae-yun (Park Am) and his wife Oh Seon-yeong (Kim Jeong-rim) live with their son Gyenog-su. To help the family’s financial situation, Seon-yeong gets a job at a Western-style clothing store. One day, she runs into an old friend from school, Choi Yun-ju (No Kyung-hee), on the street and ends up going to a dance party with her. Yun-ju, who insists that women should hold economic rights and know how to enjoy themselves,uses the funds collected through a private money pool among her friends to get in on a business involving contrabands. Seon-yeong becomes interested in her young neighbor Shin Chun-ho (Lee Min) and begins to learn dancing from him. Professor Jang finds himself attracted to typist Miss Park (Yang Mi-hee), whom he has been teaching to write in Korean, but decides to stop seeing her in order to preserve his family. Meanwhile, the owner of the clothing store, Han Tae-seok (Kim Dong-won), approaches Seon-yeong with illicit intentions, and his wife sends Professor Jang a letter instructing him to keep Seon-yeong under lock and key. Yun-ju, who is married to a well-known society figure, has been carrying on an affair with a con man named Baek Gwang-jin (Joo Seon-tae). But when he is prosecuted by the police on fraud charges and reporters flock to cover his story, taking photographs and exposing the couple’s past activities, she resorts to suicide. Seon-yeong, who had invested in Yun-ju’s venture, loses all her money. While locked in Han Tae-seok’s embrace in a hotel room, his wife barges in and slaps her, and Seon-yeong runs out into the street. She regrets her mistake and returns home, but Professor Jang refuses to open the door. When he finally relents and opens the door at his son Gyeong-su’s request, the boy runs into Seon-yeong’s arms. Weeping, she professes that everything is her fault and repents. —Korean Film Archive