Trapped in a loveless marriage to domineering Adèle, downtrodden Maurice Legrand, a conscientious cashier at a Parisian hosiery firm, seeks solace in painting. To make matters worse, after a chance encounter with young Lulu, a manipulative streetwalker fishing for gentlemen with deep pockets in Montmartre, the sad amateur artist stubbornly refuses to see beyond the obvious: it isn't love that drives statuesque Lulu; it is pure, rapacious opportunism. Now, desperate, self-destructive passion has the final say. Can Maurice escape from the clutches of Lulu's suave pimp boyfriend, Dédé?
—Nick Riganas