Act of Love

Robert Teller arrives by bus at Villefranche, a small town in the French Riviera. Although briefly sidetracked by a fellow American tourist who thinks they have met, Bob goes directly to the Hotel Belle Rive and requests a specific room. A little later, a woman joins him at an outdoor café table so she can avoid being propositioned by U.S. Navy sailors on shore leave. During their conversation, Bob recalls that he first visited France in World War II: During the U.S. Army liberation of Paris, Bob kisses Nina, one of many French women rewarding American soldiers with affection. Nina insists that he remember her name and gives him her address. After some time on the front, Bob returns to Paris and is put to work as a clerk in an Army office. Bob becomes reacquainted with vivacious Nina, who trades his German camera on the black market so he can pay to rent a private room in town. When Nina decides to move to Cannes with an American captain with "good teeth," she tells Bob he can rent her apartment over a café as long as he will share it with her friend, Lise Marie Elisabeth Greifonnet, a beautiful and melancholy woman who has lost everything in the war. Nina hopes that the brash but war-weary American will fall in love with Lise. Lise, however, is resolutely unaffected by Bob's charm, and resents that they must pretend to be married so that the owners, Adele La Caux, her husband Fernand and their war-embittered son Claude, will allow them to remain. Like Claude, Lise is offended by the arrogant Americans who have overtaken their city, yet Claude sneers at Lise as another French woman who has sold herself to the Americans. Lise is unable to find employment with the U.S. Army and, when she follows up on a tip from two well-meaning women, suffers a humiliating interview with a Latin American official who dismisses her upon learning she will not date him. Destitute, Lise is about to pawn a necklace when she is caught in a police round-up of black marketeers, but she is quickly released. Bob is delighted when Lise returns to the flat, despite her distrust and sullen demeanor. After Bob humbly admits that he was nothing more than a classified advertising salesman before the war and kisses Lise, she melts and offers her first smile. Bob and Lise, now a happy couple, visit the palace at Versailles and later attend a USO square dance. During their trip home on the subway, Lise reveals that the happiest time of her life was during a family vacation at the Hotel Belle Rive, where she stayed in a room with rose-patterned wallpaper, and dreamed of the day she would return with a lover. Bob is forced to return to the barracks before curfew, leaving Lise alone on the dark streets where she is rescued by Claude from the unwelcome attention of British soldiers. Having seen the genuine love between Bob and Lise, Claude now puts his faith in her and gives her a special gift: a German bullet extracted from his skull, strung like a pendant on a chain. The next day, French and military police come to the café to question Adele and the others because Adele had referred an American soldier to a woman who then robbed him. Lise is ordered to verify her documents with a magistrate because she has no marriage certificate. When Lise does not return, Fernand goes to see Bob at his office and tells him what must be happening to her as he speaks: Lise is arrested because her own papers are two years out of date and she is unable to provide proof of marriage. She is incarcerated with a group of tough, bullying prostitutes and the experience terrifies her. Hours later Lise is given a medical examination, is fully documented and released, but will ever after have a tarnished reputation with the police. Lise returns home in a daze, only to endure more punishment from the disappointed Claude, who grabs her and threatens to cut her throat. Bob rescues Lise before she is hurt and pledges to marry her despite her protests that she made an unfair bargain for love. Bob seeks out his commanding officer, Henderson, to approve the marriage but Henderson refuses because he thinks Bob has made the decision in haste. Henderson believes that he is doing Bob a favor by having him transferred immediately. Bob makes a desperate bid to keep his promise to Lise by jumping from the transport truck so he can meet his sergeant, who has promised to provide false paperwork allowing the marriage. Bob is caught, however, and fails to keep his appointment with either Lise or the sergeant. A military police officer agrees to call Lise on Bob's behalf, but his message is cryptic, and Claude appears unexpectedly and tells her she has been used. Lise walks to a bridge by the river and disappears. Bob's thoughts now return to the present. The tourist, Henderson, approaches him again, finally remembering their prior relationship. When he inquires about Lise, Bob says that she was found in the river a long time before. In the hotel room with rose wallpaper, Bob recalls Lise's voice.