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The Mistress of the World (German: Die Herrin der Welt) is an eight-part 1919 silent film made in the Weimar Republic starring Mia May in the lead role. The film, under the creative control of director Joe May, is noted for bringing together talent from across German cinema, including many who would work behind the camera during the emergence of German Expressionist cinema.
Maud Gregaards travels to China in search of a fabled treasure said to have belonged to the Queen of Sheba. Once there, she is taken captive by an evil man and nearly killed in the belief she is a witch.
Maud Gregaards tells her rescuer, the Chinese Dr. Kien-Lung, her life: Her father was an archivist in the Foreign Office who was run by the unscrupulous Dr. Frohner was blackmailed into giving him a secret Chinese treaty.
Together with Kien-Lung and the Consul Madsen, Maud travels to Kuan-Fu to learn from the old rabbi where the treasures of the Queen of Sheba are hidden. The dying rabbi entrusts Madsen with the jewelery of Astarte, who carries the plan for the treasure's hiding place.
Through the plan hidden in Astarte's jewelry, Maud Gregaards, Kien-Lung and Consul Madsen get on the trail of the Queen of Sheba's treasure. Their search takes them to Africa, where they want to know from King Makombe the location of the Fire Mountain, near which the legendary city of Ophir, the center of the Astarte cult, is said to be.
As Madsen and Maud explore the city of Ophir, they witness an ancient ritual performed by the residents. The two are discovered, and with strangers desecrating the city's sacred ground, Maud is to be sacrificed to the goddess Ophirs, while Madsen is taken to the Sabytes, an enslaved native tribe.
Thanks to the treasure of the Queen of Sheba, Maud, who now calls herself Fergusson, has become an immensely wealthy woman. The plane that rescued her and Allan Stanley from Ophir belongs to newspaper king Fletcher, who reports on the rescue operation on the front pages of his newspapers.
Billionaire Maud Fergusson lives happily with engineer Allan Stanley. Nothing stands in the way of their love wedding - except Maud's dark past. She has told Allan everything about herself, but he insists on knowing the name of her former seducer - otherwise he won't be able to marry her.
After the death of Alan Stanley, Maud Fergusson seeks revenge. On her behalf, the detective Hunt begins to investigate and proves that Murphy is responsible for the murder. Maud's revenge plan involves launching a newspaper campaign against Murphy, defaming and embarrassing him.