Sans lendemain (1939)
Directed by Max Ophüls

Film Synopsis

A series of personal misfortunes has brought Evelyne Morin to her present degrading circumstances.  She married too young, to a man who was not worthy of her - an unscrupulous adventurer who left her virtually destitute when he died.  Now, alone and with a young son to support, she must earn money in the only profession that is left open to her, that of a hostess in a seedy Montmartre nightclub.  In spite of her fall, Evelyne still considers herself a good and virtuous woman, and hopes that one day she will be able to escape from the grubby world of vice and squalor that she now inhabits.  She gets her chance to do just that through a chance encounter with an old friend of hers, Georges Brandon, a Canadian of whom she was once inordinately fond.

If only she had married him, how different her life would have been!  Now, he is a wealthy and highly respected doctor - the ideal husband for any woman.  Realising that her hour of deliverance has come, Evelyne does everything she can to make a good impression on Georges.  With the connivance of a nasty piece of work named Paul Mazuraud, she obtains all she needs to convince her old friend that she is the most reputable of widows.  The deception seems to work - until Evelyne's son unwittingly gives the game away.  Now the unfortunate woman has to accept that there is no chance of saving herself.  She persuades her friend to take her son with him when he returns to Canada, promising she will join them later.  It is a promise she knows she will be unable to keep...