Hand-tinted Italian verison of the Shakespeare Classic King Lear.

With a friend desperate for money, a merchant takes out a loan from a ruthless money-lender. Confident that his ships will soon be bringing him great wealth, the merchant willingly agrees to conditions of the loan that put him at great personal risk.

In La morte che assolve, we see Elextra Ragio in two roles: Maddalena, a mother repudiated by her cruel husband Falco, a professional loan shark, and their daughter Erica, who is adopted by an American lady. As an adult, Erica is subjected to the advances of Count Giancarlo, who had once saved her life, and has to face a distressing encounter with the father who abandoned her. Melodrama brings out family values, and the supreme value of love.