“Ciske de Rat” belongs to the Dickensean “little man’s hard life” model and tells a deceptively simple story about a boy in modern Netherlands. Persecution, loneliness, adults’ hostility, fear, mixture of obstinacy and tenderness, and even an imprisonment. Excellent camera movement and delicate portraying of Ciske’s fragile soul put this film out of merely historical context and ensure its place in the history of great cinema.

Hugo Writley, the son of an American shipping magnate, travels to Holland accompanied by his steward, Longway. On the night of their arrival they go to a cabaret, where they get into conversation with two men and their girlfriends who, at closing time, invite the Americans to their home for a few drinks. The hosts, however, turn out to be 'land-sharks' planning to strip the two inebriated Yankees of their cash.

When Joy, the daughter of the actress Gloria Grey, is six years old, her mother realises that the theatrical life is contaminating the child. She confides in Mark Halliday, an actor who has helped her in the past and who proposes marriage. She tells him that she is still married and - in a series of flash-backs - relates her story.