Renee Dupree, who sings in a restaurant, is spotted by opera impresario Otto Mueller, who is taken with her beauty and offers her the starring role in his company's next production. She happily accepts the part only to discover later that Mueller intends to make her his mistress. Engaged to Julian, a poor but talented violinist and composer, Renee refuses Mueller's sexual advances and is fired. When Mueller finds out that Julian, who has been writing an opera for him, is Renee's fiance', he dismisses him as well. Penniless, Julian takes work in a foundry, an exhausting job that causes him to fall ill. Distressed over her lover's health, Renee agrees to meet Mueller's demands in exchange for a production of Julian's opera with her as star. As contracted, Renee goes to meet Mueller after the successful opening show but luckily finds him dead, the victim of a vengeful jilted mistress.