Les arrivistes (1960)

Agathe Bridau, née Rouget, disinherited by her father in favor of her half-brother Jean-Jacques, is left a widow with her two sons, Philippe and Joseph. The former, a former soldier under Napoleon, is reduced to half-pay after the fall of the Empire. He gambles and runs up debts, while the latter, a painter, works and tries to provide for the family. However, Madame Bridau favors Philippe, who is nevertheless sentenced to exile in Issoudun for plotting against Louis XVIII’s new regime. There, he meets his very wealthy uncle. The uncle’s servant, Flore Brazier (known as la Rabouilleuse), has him draw up a will in her favor, hoping that when the old man dies she will be able to live in comfort with her lover, Max. But Philippe challenges Max to a duel and kills him. When his uncle dies, Philippe marries Flore and takes her to Paris, then abandons her. Flore becomes an alcoholic and dies. Having inherited his wife’s estate, Philippe speculates and is ruined when Baron de Nucingen’s affairs are liquidated.