In 1935 Paris the penniless Madeleine Verdier and Pauline Mauléon share a rundown attic flat - the former is a struggling actress and the latter a client-chasing lawyer.
Madeleine goes to meet the theatre producer Montferrand, but she refuses his offer of a small role in a play in return for becoming his mistress.
Inspector Brun of the National Police visits the two friends' apartment to tell them Montferrand has been murdered and that Madeleine is suspected.
Madeleine gives a very moving performance of an outraged closing speech written for her by Pauline and she is acquitted by an all-male jury to the applause of many women in the public gallery.
After her acquittal, Madeleine became a popular actress, winning the lead in the play in which Montferrand had offered her a small part, and Pauline a sought-after lawyer.
Odette Chaumette, a former silent film actress who had been sidelined by the arrival of talkies, comes to meet the two women and explains to them that she killed Montferrand.
The website's consensus reads: "With alluring razzmatazz, The Crime is Mine and its superlative stars will seduce farce lovers and Francophiles.
"[8] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 74 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.