Lean's adaptation of the story starred his wife, Ann Todd, with Ivan Desny as her character's French lover.

Norman Wooland played the respectable suitor and Leslie Banks the authoritarian father, both of whom are unaware of Madeleine's secret life.

The film dramatises events leading up to the 1857 trial of an otherwise-respectable young woman, Madeleine Smith (Ann Todd), for the murder of her draper's-assistant and lover, Frenchman Emile L'Angelier (Ivan Desny).

Their eldest daughter Madeleine claims the basement bedroom so she will have easy access to the servants' entrance and be able to entertain her lover without her family's knowledge.

The relationship continues and the couple becomes secretly engaged, but L'Angelier begins to press Madeleine to reveal his existence to her father, so they can marry.

During the time that Madeleine has been seeing L'Angelier, her father has been encouraging her to accept the attentions of a wealthy society gentleman, William Minnoch (Norman Wooland).

Clive Donner, who worked on the movie as an editor, thought the main flaw was there was no character in the film for the audience to identify with.