Victor Derval is returning home after a performance when he is hailed by Lisa, a young Hungarian woman. Her motives are mysterious; is she simply a star-struck peasant girl, or an ambitious, manipulative aspiring star? Victor is taken with her, and she soon finds herself his personal secretary and is to move into his home where his son Paul, an aspiring writer/revolutionary, also lives. Both men fall for her, who has already fallen in love with the limelight. She will eventually get her wish, but not without paying a price. Though generally beloved by all Parisians, Victor has one detractor, playwright Coste who hates that him freely edits his work on stage. Paul, enraged at his father decides to plot revenge, but cannot decide whether he should kill his father or design something a little more creative.