Mrs. Dubedat (Leslie Caron) loves and idolizes her artist husband, Louis (Sir Dirk Bogarde), but he is dying of tuberculosis. She goes to Dr. Blenkinsop (Michael Gwynn) and convinces him to save her husband. The doctor can keep only so many patients, and must choose who is worth saving, but is convinced that Louis' artistic talents make him worthy. But when he and several colleague meet Louis, they discover that he is in fact a smooth-talking money-grabbing scoundrel. They also learn that he has another wife, whom he has abandoned. So, the doctor has a problem: should he let Louis die, leaving Mrs. Dubedat with her idealized image, or save him and his artistic talents, but force her to face his bigamy and other flaws?