The Triumph of the Rat

The Triumph of the Rat is a 1926 British silent film drama, directed by Graham Cutts for Gainsborough Pictures and starring Ivor Novello, Isabel Jeans and Nina Vanna.

The film opens with Pierre comfortably ensconced as the kept man of his old sparringpartner Zlie, who has apparently made good on her previous claims that she could transform him from a criminal ruffian into a gentleman accepted by the upper echelons of Parisian society. While he appears to relish his newfound social status, Zlie attempts to keep him on a tight rein by constantly reminding him that just as she pulled him up from the gutter, so can she send him back there if he displeases her.While mixing in rarefied social circles, Pierre develops an admiration for the titled Madeleine de lOrme Vanna, which does not go unnoticed by Zlie. She taunts him that while he may have piqued her interest, a true member of the aristocracy will always be out of his reach. He assures her that if he sets his mind to it, he will be able to hook Madeleine. Zlie challenges him to prove it. He sets about wooing Madeleine, and Zlie gradually realises to her horror that he is doing it in earnest rather than just to prove a point, and moreover is succeeding rather well. Carrying through her previous warnings, she takes her revenge and Pierre finds himself consigned back to his old haunt, the sordid White Coffin Club. There he is greeted warmly by his old colleague MouMou Suedo. However things have changed while he has been away and he is no longer ruler of the White Coffin roost. He is challenged to a knife fight which, unthinkably, he loses. In his shame he feels he can no longer show his face in the White Coffin, and spirals ever deeper into despair and destitution until he is finally reduced to scavenging among stray dogs for discarded scraps of food. ........

Source: Wikipedia