溝口健二が戦前に撮り上げた女性ドラマの名作のリメイクは、長回しを多用しないテンポある演出で、より大衆性を増した作品に仕上げられた。人気者の祇園の3芸者は、実の姉妹と姉の娘という組み合わせだ。娘役には中村玉緒が扮し、かわいく健気に演じている。彼女たちの元に、姉と離婚したはずのお坊ちゃん育ちの夫が戻ってきたことから、姉妹の間に亀裂が生じる。

Ayako becomes the mistress of her boss in order to pay her father's debt and prevent him from going to prison for embezzlement.

A servant girl is seduced and abandoned by her lover, a man from a higher social class, forcing her to navigate a harsh world as an itinerant performer to survive and raise their child.

A geisha in the Gion district of Kyoto feels obliged to help her lover when he asks to stay with her after going bankrupt and leaving his wife. However, her younger sister opposes this, thinking that they should both find wealthy patrons to support them.

1952 film by Kenji Mizoguchi