"[...] Trying to make ends meet, trying to find some money then you die" also comes to mind.
Watching this film, I realized that I had it mixed up with Malpertuis, another spooky story with Orson Wells and a blond, effete sailor (Mathieu carriere). Is there a pattern, here? Well, viewers not raised on european cinema in the '70s might be turned off by the slow pace, wooden acting, and scratchy sound. As Jack noted, you also have to be able to overlook Jeanne Moreau playing 17 at over twice that age! Definitely not for the attention-span challenged or the thrill-seekers. But there is a message or two and a certain... atmosphere. Give it a chance?

So Orson Welles is this rich old coot in Macao, who's got one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel. He realizes at this point that his life's ambition of making his million has left him nothing but a Polish butler and a kitchen staff who speak only Chinese. So in a last ditch attempt grab a little humanity, he pays a 17 going on 41 year old "girl" to sleep with a sailor in his house, so he can pull a Rumpelstiltskin. Most of the story here is really in the subtext, but Welles has a way of making it work. Jeanne Moreau, who played the barmy bimbo in Jules and Jim, is back doing that self absorbed, morose, stare at the ground thing that she does, but thankfully the story is really all about Orson and at only an hour long you can abide a lot more than you normally would. It's okay, but calling this a masterpiece is a stretch, however Welles' movies deserve to be seen so watch it.