Clarence Day (William Powell), is a benevolent despot of his 1880s New York City household. His wife Vinnie (Irene Dunne), is the real head of the household. The anecdotal story, encompassing such details as Clarence (Jimmy Lydon), the eldest son's romance with pretty out-of-towner Mary (Elizabeth Taylor). Vinnie tries to get her headstrong husband baptized, else he'll never be able to enter the Kingdom of God.
Franck Poupart is a slightly neurotic door-to-door salesman in a sinister part of Paris' suburbs. He meets Mona, a teenager, who's been made a prostitute by her own aunt. Franck would like to change his life and also save Mona from her aunt. Murder is the only solution he finds to achieve his goal... A very gloomy movie, exuding dispair and uneasiness, with pathetic characters.