A French girl Noelle born from an average mother who is a "heavyset, coarse-featured peasant woman with sagging breasts and thick thighs and hips" turned out to be exquisitely beautiful -- due to her real biological father, a strapping Norwegian sailor with whom her mother had a one-night stand.
Taking advantage of her exceptional physical appearance, she began her career as a model in Paris, where she met Larry, who is an American pilot serving in the Royal Air Force during WWII. A hopeless womanizer, he knocked her up and promised to marry her after his week-long assignment in London. But Larry dumped her with no further contact.
In the meantime in Chicago, a wonky and ambitious Catherine managed to get out of her humble background by obtaining a scholarship at Northwestern University. She then grasped a chance to work for Bill, a spokesman at the State Department in DC. Almost on the verge of getting engaged with her own boss from an old money-laden family, she met Larry while he was back home. Catherine had always felt Bill was so nice that he was a bit boring and their sex was not that exciting, whereas Larry was an utterly irresistible lover. Consequently, Catherine dumped Bill and married Larry.
Meanwhile in Paris, purely for the sake of revenge, Noelle intentionally delayed her abortion until the latest stage of pregnancy, indulging the idea of murdering the child of its father. Hiring a capable private detective, she collected all personal data on Larry, including information about his marriage with Catherine. With the sole objective of attracting Larry's attention, Noelle rose to stardom and became an international movie star.
Noelle found that after WWII Larry was jobless, and made an arrangement that her paramour, a tycoon named Constantin hire Larry as his private jet pilot. Afterwards, Noelle and Larry had a clandestine affair in Berlin, her hatred turning into irresistible affection. While Larry was happily married with Catherine, that changed everything and he requested a divorce. She rejected, and Noelle and Larry schemed her successful murder. They were caught in their crime, sentenced to death and executed.
