Secrets of the French Police 1932

In Paris, a police officer who was murdered while working undercover is buried, as his mother receives his posthumous Legion of Honor. Gregory Ratoff embodies the chilling presence of Gen. Han Moloff, a Russian-born criminal mastermind whose reach stretches beyond the city walls. The lead detective of the Sûreté, Frank Morgan François St. Cyr, vows to uncover the killers and restore a sense of order, going so far as to masquerade as a loudmouthed drunk to mislead Moloff’s circle and protect his squad. The tension between duty and danger propels the investigation forward, even as the case grows increasingly entangled with a web of deception and new threats.

Eugenie Dorain, a charming flower girl Gwili Andre, crosses paths with her boyfriend Leon Renault, a genial thief John Warburton who shares a bittersweet chemistry with her. Her foster father, Anton Dorain Christian Rub, pushes her to return home, but tragedy strikes when he is killed in his apartment by a shadowy figure, plunging Eugenie into a perilous grip of fear and fascination. Soon after, Eugenie is kidnapped and taken to the shadowy chateau of Moloff, a place where danger looms behind every door and a grand design is quietly taking shape.

Moloff’s plan unfolds with an eerie precision. He hypnotizes Eugenie and trains her to impersonate the long-mythologized Anastasia, aiming to claim substantial trust funds set up in the name of the princess. The audacious scheme hinges on convincing powerful figures that Eugenie is a surviving royal, a ruse that could flood Moloff’s pockets with wealth while destroying the credibility of those who stand in his way.

As St. Cyr digs deeper, he grows wary of Renault’s talents as a thief, recognizing that Renault’s streetwise cunning could reveal Moloff’s moves. Renault succeeds in slipping into Moloff’s chateau and glimpses a hidden basement laboratory brimming with chemical and electrical apparatus, though he is forced to retreat before he can rescue Eugenie. Meanwhile, Moloff has already disposed of another one of St. Cyr’s operatives, a woman known only as K-31 Rochelle Hudson, whose preserved body serves as a grim statue that marks Moloff’s merciless control over his world.

The intrigue thickens when Moloff stages a meeting between Eugenie, posing as Anastasia, and Grand Duke Maxim Arnold Korff, the real Anastasia’s enigmatic uncle. Maxim quickly sees through the deception, yet Moloff slips a forged document into his pocket to seal the illusion and arrange Maxim’s supposed death in a staged car crash. St. Cyr, called to the scene, discerns the forgery and understands that the danger is far from over; the incident confirms that Moloff is more perilous than any single crime scene could reveal.

Renault, learning that Eugenie may still be held captive, bravely returns to Moloff’s domain and finds her in the throes of Moloff’s control. But Moloff captures the pair and drags them to his basement laboratory, where he intends to drain Eugenie’s blood to turn her into another of his living sculptures, while Renault is a helpless spectator to the horror. The tide shifts when St. Cyr and his men force their way into the laboratory, confronting Moloff in a final struggle.

In a dramatic turn, Moloff attempts to break free and unleash his machine, only to be electrocuted by the very device he designed to protect his illicit empire. With the villain defeated, St. Cyr offers his thanks to Renault and blesses the couple’s union, though he expresses a practical caveat: Renault must leave France to practice his unique talents elsewhere. As the couple rides away together, Renault cheekily pockets St. Cyr’s watch as a keepsake, a reminder of the narrow line between crime and justice that defined their fate.

The city finally sees the quiet triumph of truth over deception, anchored by St. Cyr’s steady resolve and Renault’s unorthodox skills, with Eugenie stepping into a future that promises new beginnings away from Moloff’s shadow.