AllMovie

Marie la Misere (Destitute Mary) was based on the stage play by Jean Felise. Pierre Renoir plays a business executive who supports impecunious heroine Madeline Sologne's musical aspirations. When he gets too busy to pay attention to the girl, Renoir allows her to live with impoverished musician Raymond Pellegrin. By and by, Sologne and Pellegrin fall in love, which results in profound emotional complications when Renoir sends the girl a huge cash amount to subsidize her career. It develops that Sologne is only truly happy when she's poor -- something that Renoir never learns, much to his regret.