Illegal refugees lead dark lives in pre-World War II Paris.

In winter of 1938, Paris is crowded with refugees from the Nazis, who live in the black shadows of night, trying to evade deportation. One such is Dr. Ravic, who practices medicine illegally and stalks his old Nazi enemy Haake with murder in mind. One rainy night, Ravic meets Joan Madou, a kept woman cast adrift by her lover's sudden death. Against Ravic's better judgement, they become involved in a doomed affair; matters come to a crisis on the day war is declared.—Rod Crawford <[email protected]>

On the eve of World War II in 1939, Dr. Revic (Charles Boyer) is living as a German refugee physician practicing in Paris without permit. Revic is haunted by the memory of the torture doled out on him by Nazi Officer Haake (Charles Laughton) and believes he sees the man on the night streets of Paris. One night as he is walking, Revic meets a young suicidal woman Joan Madou (Ingrid Bergman), upset because he lover has suddenly died. Ravic gets Joan a job singing in a nightclub where his best friend Morosow (Louis Calhern) is the doorman. Joan falls in love with Revic but the good doctor is deported and Joan becomes the mistress of Alex (Stephan Bekassy), an occupation that leads to her dissipation. When Revic returns, Joan tries to reconnect with him but the spell has been broken and Revic is too much of a realist, a manner tempered by his exposure to war and his duties as a doctor. As the Germans march into Paris, Joan and Alex clash in a life-altering lovers argument, Morosow is taken from his apartment and arrested, and Revic faces deportation again with severe life lessons.