Marguerite and Verdurin, both employed in l'Atout Prix, a store run by Prosper Biscoton, would like to take a vacation at the beach, but they need more money than they earn. They decide to trick their boss into paying for the trip by pretending Marguerite is interested in him. Biscoton falls in the trap and puts himself in a difficult position with his own wife.
Based on a play by Pierre Wolff, about a wronged husband’s revenge on his wife and her lover, La belle de nuit is a major find, a work of uninhibited stylistic imagination that ranges from Sirkian stylization (an elaborate play of mirrors and doubles) to brutal realism (a tour of the bordellos of Marseille suggests the contemporary photographs of Brassaï).