Babette on AllMovie

Why this film is named after Peggy Hyland's character is a mystery because she doesn't have much to do in this picture. All the action belongs to Marc MacDermott), who plays Raveau, a gentleman crook, who is inspired to go back to living an honest life when he falls for Babette, a jailer's daughter. After evading detective Guinard (William R. Dunn), Raveau and Babette move to the city where he tries his hand at being a painter, his profession before he fell into criminal activity. But his paintings don't sell and he makes ends meet for a while by gambling. Along the way he saves a woman from suicide by returning her gambling losses back to her. Finally, all of Raveau's money is gone and, with a pregnant wife at home, he is forced to steal from a stranger. Guinard is apprised of the theft and is dying to make an arrest, but it turns out the victim is married to the woman Raveau had saved. So the stranger refuses to make an identification and instead gives him some money to help him out until his paintings start selling. Babette, meanwhile, has been oblivious to all of this, and remains blind to her husband's crimes to the film's end.