Set in Quebec before WWII, a French-Canadian soldier nicknamed Tit-Coq (literally meaning "Little Rooster") is depressed over his illegitimate birth, a fact he can't seem to forget. A romance with the lovely young Marie-Ange changes everything for him until he's called upon to fight in the war. Marie-Ange promises to wait for him until the war is over but after many long and lonely months she succumbs to pressure from her family and marries an old admirer, the wealthy Leoplod Vermette. Tit-Coq returns home after the end of the war and is angry, bitter, and hurt over what has happened. He sets out to reclaim Marie-Ange, who is still in love with him.