It was her vanity that destroyed her...

In the Paris of the early 20th century, Louise, wife of a general, sells the earrings his husband gave her: she desperately needs money for a gambling debt. As the general should not know, during an opera, she acts as she had lost them. When the resulting fuss in Paris frightens the local jeweler, he tells the truth to the general. The general secretly buys the earrings back and, with disdain for his wife, gives them to his mistress, Lola. Lola sells the trinket to an Italian diplomat, Baron Donati, who buys them to impress his mistress back in Paris, Louise...

Ophuls camera glides with seemingly effortless elegance in this visually dazzling masterpiece which renowned film critic Andrew Sarris described as "the most perfect film ever made."