Synopsis

Townspeople gather in a square, agitated by a string of gruesome murders. Cardillac, the strange but brilliant goldsmith, keeps his distance from the crowd. The Lady and The Cavalier emerge from the crowd and notice the goldsmith. The Lady promises The Cavalier a tryst if he brings her one of Cardillac's creations. The Cavalier succeeds and the two spend the night together. Before dawn, a mysterious figure steals into the room, stabs The Cavalier to death and steals the gold belt. In the morning, Cardillac's daughter's lover, The Officer, asks for The Daughter's hand in marriage. Cardillac consents, for the price of a gold chain, which he gives to The Officer. Finally alone, Cardillac implicates himself as the murderer. The next day, The Officer wears his gold chain in the square and Cardillac attacks him. The crowd forces him to confess to the murders and lynches him. As his final gesture, rather than choosing to embrace his daughter, Cardillac snatches his gold chain off of The Officer's neck.