On 9 January 1836, Pierre Lacenaire goes to the guillotine, a murderer and a thief. He gives Allard, a police inspector, his life story, written while awaiting execution. He also asks Allard to care for Hermine, a lass to whom he has been guardian for more than ten years. In flashbacks, from the prison as Lacenaire writes, from Allard's study as he and Hermine read, and from other readers' memory after the book is published, we see Lacenaire's childhood as he stands up to bullies, including priests, his youthful thieving, his first murder, his brief army career, his seduction of a princess, and his affair with Avril, a young man who dies beside him.
as Pierre-François Lacenaire
as Allard
as Jacques Arago
as Lacenaire's father
as Lacenaire's mother
as Alphonse Damoiseau
as Marmignat
as Vigouroux
as Hermine
as Pertuizet
as Canler
as Professor Tonnelier
as Baton
as Princess Ida
as The abbot of Lusignan
as The president of the court
as Poulaillon
as Avril
as François
as Doctor Brianchon
as Lebel
as Ida's husband
as The superior
as General Counsel
as Lambolley
as The big
as May father
as The first mogul
as The prison priest
as Degroot
as The head of the prison
