Virtue 1932

Mae, Carole Lombard, a New York City streetwalker, is told by the police to leave New York. Instead, she steps off the train at a suburban station and enters the cab of Jimmy Doyle, [Pat O’Brien], a man who claims to know women well but doesn’t think much of them. She slips away before paying the fare, and Lil, [Mayo Methot], another former prostitute, counsels her to seek honest work.

Mae secures a loan and uses it to settle the fare with Jimmy. Their clash over money soon gives way to a mutual attraction, and Jimmy helps Mae find a job. By a twist of fate, Gert, [Shirley Grey], another former prostitute, also works there. Mae and Jimmy marry, but she keeps her past a secret. When a policeman arrives to arrest Mae for breaking bail conditions, Jimmy walks away to collect his thoughts. He ultimately agrees to try to make the marriage work, but only if Mae renounces prostitution and stays away from her old circle.

Jimmy has saved enough to pursue a partnership in a gas station. When Gert asks for money to cover a doctor’s bill, Mae siphons funds from Jimmy’s savings to help, and she discovers that Gert has lied to them. Jimmy reveals that he will need the money back, and Mae tracks down Gert, who promises to arrange the repayment. In a cruel turn, Gert has already given the money to her boyfriend Toots, [Jack La Rue], Lil’s pimp. When Gert attempts to reclaim the cash, Toots hides the issue and, in a confrontation, accidentally kills Gert. He conceals the body and waits to see what Mae will do next. Mae arrives, finds the money, and leaves, unaware of the peril surrounding her.

Trouble escalates when Mae is arrested because her bag is left behind in Gert’s apartment. Unbeknownst to Mae, Jimmy had been shadowing her and knows a man was with Gert. He learns the truth: it was Toots. Lil, however, provides Toots with an alibi, complicating the case. Yet Lil turns on Toots in the end, urging him to go to the DA’s office and lodge a complaint against Jimmy. In a final reversal, Lil betrays Toots by uncovering his role in Gert’s murder, and Toots is taken into custody. With the truth laid bare, Mae is exonerated and able to move forward.