The Tenth Man recap

In an occupied French prison, wealthy lawyer Jean-Louis Chavel draws a death lot in a German reprisal. He offers his entire fortune to any prisoner who will replace him, and the dying Janvier accepts so that his mother and sister will inherit. After the war, Chavel returns penniless to his former estate under the name Charlot. Janvier's sister Therese, unaware who he is, gives him work while speaking openly of her hatred for the coward who bought her brother's life. Chavel grows attached to her and cannot confess. Carosse, a hunted collaborator and actor, then arrives pretending to be Chavel and uses the household's anger and uncertainty for his own ends. To save Therese, Chavel finally reveals his identity. Carosse shoots him, but the impersonation fails. Chavel dies after freely risking his life for Therese, turning the survival purchased in prison into a final act of sacrifice.

During the German occupation, Jean-Louis Chavel is held with other French hostages. After a resistance attack, the prisoners are ordered to choose by lot the men who will be executed in reprisal. Chavel, a wealthy lawyer, draws a marked paper and panics at the certainty of death. He offers his money, house, and possessions to anyone willing to replace him. Janvier, an impoverished prisoner already seriously ill, accepts because the estate can support his mother and sister long after his likely death. The other prisoners formalize the exchange, and Janvier joins the condemned men while Chavel survives. His life has been preserved, but only through a bargain that strips him of his property and leaves him with the knowledge that another man died in his place.

After the war, Chavel returns anonymously to the estate he surrendered in prison. Janvier's mother and sister, Therese, now occupy the house. Calling himself Charlot, Chavel presents himself as a former prisoner who knew Janvier and accepts a humble place in the household instead of revealing that he once owned it. Therese speaks freely before him of her contempt for Jean-Louis Chavel, the rich coward whose bargain sent her brother to his death. Chavel remains because he has nowhere else to go and because the life of the family he enriched has become inseparable from his guilt. As he works beside Therese, his attachment to her deepens, making the truth both more necessary and more difficult to tell.

Chavel continues living at his former estate under the name Charlot, concealing his identity from Therese as their trust grows. The fragile arrangement is disrupted by Carosse, a fugitive collaborator with an actor's confidence, who claims that he is the missing Jean-Louis Chavel. Because the real Chavel will not expose himself, Carosse can use the household's hatred and curiosity to make the false identity plausible. Therese believes the man she despises may at last be within reach, while Chavel sees another person taking control of the name he abandoned. Carosse's presence turns Chavel's concealment from a private moral failure into an immediate danger to Therese and the home Janvier bought with his death.

In prison, Jean-Louis Chavel bought his life by transferring his entire estate to Janvier, who accepted execution so his mother and sister would be provided for. Returning after the war as Charlot, Chavel became a servant in his old home and grew close to Janvier's sister Therese, even as she described her hatred for the man he really was. Carosse, a wanted collaborator and actor, then arrived pretending to be Chavel. When the impostor's scheme puts Therese in danger, Chavel finally gives up his disguise and identifies himself. He intervenes to protect her and is fatally shot by Carosse, whose false claim is exposed and defeated. Therese learns that the quiet man she had trusted was also the man she had sworn to hate. Chavel dies without reclaiming his wealth, having freely risked the life he once purchased at another man's expense; the estate remains with Therese.

Carosse's impersonation forces Chavel to face the identity and guilt he has been hiding. When Therese is placed in danger, Chavel abandons the safety of the name Charlot and declares that he is the real Jean-Louis Chavel. He protects her at the cost of his own life and is fatally shot by Carosse. The impostor's scheme is exposed and he is prevented from taking Chavel's place or possessing the household. Therese finally understands that the quiet man who lived beside her was the person she had sworn to hate, but she also sees that he returned without trying to reclaim the estate and ultimately gave his life for her. Chavel dies having made a voluntary sacrifice that answers, as far as it can, the bargain by which he once purchased his survival. The Mangeot property remains with Therese rather than reverting to him or falling to the false claimant.