Porte d'orient (1951)
Directed by Jacques Daroy

Film Synopsis

In the bustling French port of Marseille, a diligent customs inspector named Vaucourt cannot help succumbing to the seductive charms of Madame Valnis, an alluring foreigner.  Little does he suspect that she is an adventuress who is implicated in smuggling.  Vaucourt is soon madly in love and allows the enchanting stranger to divert him away from the path of respectability and towards some of the town's seedier nightspots.  He ends up in a thriving gambling den, where he soon loses a small fortune.

The den's owner, Zarapoulos, offers to forget Vaucourt's eye-watering gambling debts if he agrees to turn a blind eye when a large consignment of illicit merchandise passes through customs.  Vaucourt soon comes to his senses.  Not only does he renege on this agreement, he searches a yacht belonging to Zarapoulos and his gangster associates, and discovers a huge quantity of illegal contraband.  Madame Valnis betrays her former accomplices and takes the side of the customs officer she has lost her heart to.  Once the smugglers have been dealt with, Vaucourt leaves Marseille in the company of his beloved enchantress...