Pre-World War I Paris: Polish countess Elena drives men of all stations to fits of desperate love. When she elicits the fascination of a famous general, Elena finds herself at the center of political scheming, with the hearts of several men—as well as the future of France—in her hands.

In a role created especially for her, Ingrid Bergman simply radiates elegance and eroticism as the 19th-century Polish princess in search of her prince. Renoir uncharacteristically eschewed melodrama—Hollywood’s preferred mode for Bergman—for this bright romantic comedy that bubbles over into farce.