Synopsis

It's the war. France is occupied. Marie Latour who is 33 must raise her two children, Mouche and Pierrot, by herself, as her husband has been taken prisonner and sent to war. This young woman loves to sing and dance and dreams, above all else, of becoming a great singer. This will deliver her from her messy and worn out day-to-day existence which is how she sees it. She can't be more than a sad housewife since her husband has come back from a STALAG a semi-invalid.

One day, Rachel, one of her friends disappears and so she learns about Rachel's true religion. Rachel is Jewish and she has been deported. A short time afterwards Ginette, a neighbour, decides to end her pregnancy by taking a mustard bath. The attempt fails. She asks Marie for help. She does abortions but under very bad conditions: soapy water injected with a tube, no medical instruments and even laid out on the floor. Despite all this the abortion is successful and Marie receives a phonograph as payment. This means she can sing whenever she wants. What she doesn't realise however is that she has been drawn into a trap. What was provided as a simple service becomes her profession. So she becomes an 'angels' little helper' despite Hitler's law which punishes abortionists by death, because they, and they alone, prejudice the vital force of the German people.

One morning, when she is walking near the port, Mary meets Lulu, a prostitute; they become friends. When she moves into a larger apartment Marie offers to rent Lulu a room where she can receive her clients. Thanks to the money Marie earns she can buy cigarettes and live normally

No longer in love with her husband, Marie accepts the advances of Lucien, one of Lulu's clients, who has offered her a goose he has won in a game before seducing her. In the meantime Marie receives other woman who want her to perform abortions, such as Jasmine, who already has six children and can't cope with a seventh, who pleads with Marie to operate.... She dies shortly afterwards which leads her husband, Robert, to commit suicide. Marie finds work for her husband and employs a cleaning lady, who she is prepared to pay a lot as long as she agrees to assuage Paul's ardour. At the same time Marie is constant looking out for the opportunity to be with Lucien with whom she is hopelessly smitten.

Paul, having doubts about them, comes home early and surprises them. He then decides to inform on his wife to the police and tells them what she does and her arrangement with Lulu. The police raid Marie one day and throw her in prison after she has confessed. She has to appear before the state tribunal.

Everyone, like her, awaits the deliberations and judgement of the tribunal. Will it be tolerant and give her the opportunity to redeem herself because she is a woman or will it condemn her and punish her.