Orphans of the Storm (1922) on Netflix

Two orphaned sisters are caught up in the turmoil of the French Revolution, encountering misery and love along the way.

Henriette and Louise, a foundling, are raised together as sisters. When Louise goes blind, Henriette swears to take care of her forever. They go to Paris to see if Louise's blindness can be cured, but are separated when an aristocrat lusts after Henriette and abducts her. Only Chevalier de Vaudrey is kind to her, and they fall in love. The French Revolution replaces the corrupt Aristocracy with the equally corrupt Robespierre. De Vaudrey, who has always been good to peasants, is condemned to death for being an aristocrat, and Henriette for harboring him. Will revolutionary hero Danton, the only voice for mercy in the new regime, be able to save them from the guillotine?

—John Oswalt <jao@jao.com>

The epic tale of two step-sisters, Henriette and Louise Girard, caught up in the storm of the French Revolution. Louise, the child of an aristocrat, was abandoned on the cathedral steps where Henriette's father found her and took her home to raise as their own. After Louise goes blind, Henriette takes her to Paris where she hopes her sight can be restored. They are separated however, with Louise taken in by an old hag who forces her to beg on the street. Henriette has met the handsome Chevalier de Vaudrey who, although an aristocrat, is kind and cares about his fellow man. With the advent of the revolution, both Henriette and de Vaudrey are sentenced to the guillotine and it left to Danton to plead their case.

—garykmcd

In the Eighteenth Century in France, a few years before the French Revolution, the Countess de Linieres asks her minion to deliver her baby daughter Louise to an orphanage to protect her. However he leaves the baby on the stairs of a church. A peasant finds Louise and brings her home to his wife and they find a necklace with her name and money in the basket. They raise Louise with their daughter Henriette as sisters, but years later there is a plague and they die and Louise becomes blind. Louise Girard is totally dependent on Henriette Girard and they travel to Paris expecting to find the cure of Louise's blindness. The rogue Marquis de Praille sees Henriette and becomes fascinated with her virginal beauty. He asks his men to abduct Henriette and brings her to his party. Louise is left alone in Paris and the scoundrel Mother Frochard forces Louise to beg on the streets for her. Meanwhile the noble aristocrat Chevalier de Vaudrey saves Henriette and they fall in love with each other. But Henriette explains that she had promised Louise that she would not marry until Louise could look upon her husband to approve him. Meanwhile Danton, who is saved by Henriette, and Robespierre are plotting the French Revolution that explodes on the streets keeping the sisters apart.

—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil