César (Raimu), a middle-ager of the "old school", offers shelter and comfort to sluttish Marcelle (Jacqueline Delubac). Despite his own reservations, César falls in love with the much-younger girl, remaining faithful to her even after he realizes that she cares only for his money. But when pimp Frossard (Pierre Brasseur) reenters Marcelle's life, it is too much for César to bear -- and this, coupled with the return of a mental sickness that César had contracted years earlier in colonial Africa, leads to tragedy...