How to Keep the Red Lamp Burning

Paris, 1946. Following a strict new law banning all houses of ill repute across the country, sad brothel owner Monsieur Charles and his right-hand woman, Madame Blanche, vacate the establishment in "The Closure". As a farewell gift, Mr Charles offers each lady a souvenir, with his favourite, Lucette, receiving the front door's iconic hexagonal brass lantern. Several years later, when audacious burglars break into her mansion, the elegant Baroness Seychelles du Hautpas claims she has lost a decorative item of high sentimental value in "The Trial". What ensues is a farcical process that provides little insight into the case. Then, in "Men of Good Taste", the well-organised world of Leon Haudepin, an athletic bachelor and highly respected member of a private athletic club, turns upside down when he gallantly saves Heloise, a statuesque streetwalker. As Leon takes the blonde temptress in as his housekeeper, the grateful lady's equally charming female friends suddenly arrive to lend a hand, and the news spreads like wildfire among the guileless host's colleagues. And when a special Christmas present turns up, the three-chapter story comes full circle.