The Bells (1911 film)

The Bells is a 1911 Australian featurelength film directed by W. J. Lincoln. It is based on the famous stage melodrama by ErckmannChatrian adapted by Leopold Lewis, which had been adapted for the Australian stage by Lincoln.

Mathias Arthur Styan is an innkeeper in a village in Alsace, happily married to Catherine Miss Grist and with a daughter Annette Nellie Bramley. However he is greatly in debt so on Christmas Day 1833 murders a Polish Jew Mr Cullenane who visits the inn for his gold. He uses this to pay off his debts and rise in society, becoming the burgomeister of the town however he is always tormented by guilt.Fifteen years later on Christmas Day, Mathias becomes delirious and hears the sound of the Jews sleigh bells. He dreams he is being tried for the murder and is found guilty. He awakes and dies, leaving his family none the wiser. ........

Source: Wikipedia