Its scenes contrast the life of the upper and lower classes to comedic effect.

[2][3] The National Board of Review in the United States considered it a Top Ten Foreign Film for 1937.

Contemplating suicide, he finds his gun missing and confronts the thief Pépel (Gabin) who plans to rob him.

Instead they share "a drink between colleagues" in a scene played as light comedy and become friends.

Pépel jokes with the police until the baron arrives to identify him as a "dear friend".

They mock a woman who reads romantic tales, and many individuals have brief character portraits.

The police inspector meets with the slum landlord Kostylev and eyes his wife's sister Natasha.

Pépel speaks with Vassilissa, regretting he never loved her but remembering their good times.

Writing for Night and Day in 1937, Graham Greene gave the film a mild mixed review.

Describing the film as "a slow agreeable undistinguished picture", Green finds the production "oddly stagy and unconvincing" in its depiction of poverty.