"Cheri" opens with jocose voice-over narration, explaining the history of French courtesans. It's a breezy summation best deduced like this: Courtesans are rich, upper-class prostitutes. One of them ...

Léa de Lonval is a highly successful courtesan considering retirement. When a colleague asks her to steer her handsome son away from a life of vice, she falls for him instead. Six years later, his ...