Jean Renoir's acclaimed drama, based on Russian author Maxim Gorky's play, follows the denizens of a Paris slum as they struggle with their lives and loves. Among the miscreants are the thief Pépel (Jean Gabin), a baron (Louis Jouvet) whose gambling habit has cost him his wealth, a miserly landlord (Vladimir Sokoloff) and his shrill wife (Suzy Prim). Compare Renoir's somewhat lighthearted version to Akira Kurosawa's 1957 take on Gorky's play.