In Marseilles, the fisherman Tonin closely monitors the actions of the wreckage workers led by a certain Mr. Léon. Could these bizarre individuals have something to do with the double murder at the Grand Hotel?
Norbert
A group of political exiles conspire in France against their government. They are pursued by Daminoff, head of the intelligence service of the country of origin of the conspirators, who uses Nadia, a singer who soon betrays him by taking up the cause of his compatriots. Dramatic chases ensue until Daminoff, having tracked down Nadia and her friends, fires on Chief André and seizes the secret plans. But these are false. André, injured, is stricken with amnesia. Seeing Nadia again, he will become himself again and marry her.
12-year old Armand-Pierre embraces the French Revolution and leaves his mother to enlist in the army.
L'amico di Frossard
Caesar, a senior French colonist returned home after many years of absence, knows a girl, Marcella, who is in full depression because she was abandoned by her lover. Caesar welcomes her into his home and surrounds her with paternal attention so that he can quickly forget the past. Slowly his feeling turns into a love that Marcella seems to reciprocate. However, when Cesare realizes that the girl feels only gratitude for him and is in love with a younger man, he loses control. Blinded by jealousy, he plans to kill Marcella's lover but, in the face of the girl's vulgarity and indifference, he realizes that he has been teased and turns his anger towards her.
Armando
Frossard's Friend
Middle-aged Georges of the "old school" who offers shelter and comfort to Marcelle. Despite his own reservations, Georges falls in love with the much-younger girl, remaining faithful to her even after he realizes that she cares only for his money.
Prefect
An officer saves the life of a foreign prince who is in France to buy seaplanes, while pursued by his enemies.
"Les Trois Valses" traces the love story of two people over three eras. In the first waltz (music based on Johann Strauss I), Yvonne is a sensitive Parisian ballet dancer, whose romance with a dashing officer is brought to an abrupt end by his family. She goes off to Vienna to become a big star. In the second waltz, her daughter, an even bigger star, but now of Paris music halls, has a brief flirtation with the rakish man-about-town who is the son of suitor number one. She throws him over pretty quickly for a chance to shine at a Gala performance. Finally, in the third waltz, the two get together, when she is a movie star, and he is posing as an insurance salesman.
L'inspecteur #2
Outwardly, Monsieur Victor would appear to be the model citizen. A respectable Toulon shopkeeper, he has a devoted wife and is courteous and considerate to all who know him. However, beneath this veneer of respectability hides a notorious receiver of stolen goods, who trades with hardened criminals. Victor manages to keep up his double life without any difficulty until the fateful day when one of his partners in crime threatens to expose him. Fearing a scandal, Victor kills the crook in a moment of panic, using a shoemaker's tool. Naturally, the murder is blamed on a local shoemaker, who is sentenced to ten years' hard labour. Seven years later, the former shoemaker reappears in Toulon, having escaped from prison. The first person to recognise him is Monsieur Victor...
A businessman on the verge of bankruptcy, Mercadet, is harassed by his creditors. To keep them waiting, he invents a fictitious partner, Godeau, who has gone to make his fortune in India and who should return laden with gold. The heart of the plot is therefore this famous Godeau whom we spend our time waiting for, and who never comes. While waiting for Godeau, Mercadet has a rich idea: to marry his daughter Julie to Monsieur de la Brive, whom he believes to be very rich.
The gratuitous murder of his father and the misery of the people, aggravated by a succession of bad harvests, lead Gaspard, a great admirer of Mandrin and blacksmith by profession, to revolt. With his companion Samplan, he finds himself at the head of a handful of soldiers dissatisfied with their fate and a band of brigands. They steal money from the rich to give it to the poor, like highwaymen, vindicators with a big heart. In their eyes, things cannot go on like this, in this country which seems given over to the decadence of the nobility and the whims of an indolent king. Gaspard and his troupe are responsible for making it known.
Silvio
A respected gangster, Justin, finds himself in a deadly feud with his rival, the unscrupulous Esposito. The latter plans to steal a cargo of opium bound for China and to have Justin killed.
Maurin, an accomplished lady seducer, has acknowledged Césariot as his son. Tonia, Maurin's mistress, is jealous of his love for the boy and follows him one night as he attempts to protect Césariot from the customs officers. But Maurin is shot and dies in Tonia's arms. Based on Jean Aicard's novel.
