Frisco Jenny (1933)

Orphaned and pregnant after the 1906 earthquake, Jenny (Ruth Chatterton) tries to survive in the ruins of San Francisco. After the baby is born, she meets a crooked lawyer named Steve (Louis Calhern), who introduces her to the underworld. She is jailed for one of Steve's crimes, and her son is sent to a foster home. Emerging from prison, Jenny becomes the madam at a large brothel and builds a powerful crime syndicate, while her son, Dan (Donald Cook), rises to become the district attorney.