Prison Without Bars

Following the suicide of a student at a Reformatory School for Girls on the outskirts of Paris, the cruel Principal Mme. Appell is replaced by the kindly and modern-thinking Yvonne Ducroix. She tries to reform the girls by treatment of their individual neuroses rather than the heavy discipline of her predecessor against opposition from some of the other staff. Romance blooms between Yvonne and the school's medical attendant, Dr Jean Marechal, who implores her to resign and come with him to Lyons where he has been offered a new position. However, her methods are working and fearful that if she leaves the old regime will supplant all she has achieved; she is faced with the choice between her own feelings and the duty she feels to the girls.