Set in pre-WWII Paris, the film stars Charles Boyer as Dr. Ravic, a brilliant German surgeon who has fled to Paris to escape the growing power of the Nazis. There he meets Joan Madou (Ingrid Bergman), a depressed, unemployed cabaret singer. Ravic finds her a job and they fall in love. Suddenly, after being unable to produce his passport, he's deported. When he's finally able to return to Paris, matters come to a crisis.