l'épicier
Henri Savin has managed a trucking company for his lover, Dominique Montlaur, for many years. Now he is planning to leave her for Julie Manet, the woman he has made pregnant, and Dominique is hysterical. She first threatens suicide, then shows up at a meeting of Savin and Julie. Dominique tries everything she can think of to break Savin and Julie apart, to no avail. Frustrated in her efforts, she jumps off a cliff and dies. Savin insists that he and Julie lie to the police about the encounter, although Dominique's death was a suicide and therefore they had no direct hand in it. Detective Waldeck investigates Dominique's death.
The photograph
In 1945, as World War Two comes to a close, five small time crooks unite to form a gang. After several bold robberies they become notorious as "the front-wheel drive gang". The police attempt to stop their crime spree with little success, but how long will their luck last?
Mr. Morand, Duchemin employee
Charles Duchemin, a well-known gourmet and publisher of a famous restaurant guide, is waging a war against fast food entrepreneur Tri- catel to save the French art of cooking. After having agreed to appear on a talk show to show his skills in naming food and wine by taste, he is confronted with two disasters: his son wants to become a clown rather than a restaurant tester and he, the famous Charles Duchemin, has lost his taste!
Olga, Masha, and Irina Prozoroff lead lonely and purposeless lives following the death of their father who has commanded the local army post. Olga attempts to find satisfaction in teaching but secretly longs for a home and family. Masha, unhappy with her marriage to a timid schoolmaster, falls hopelessly in love with a married colonel. Irina works in the local telegraph office but longs for gaiety. Their sense of futility is increased by their brother's marriage to Natasha, a coarse peasant girl. She gradually encroaches on the family home until even the private refuge of the sisters is destroyed. They dream of starting a new life in Moscow but are saddled with the practicalities of their quiet existence. Despite their past failures, they resolve to seek some purpose and hope when the army post is withdrawn from the town.
Cafe customer
Elizabeth and her daughter Cecile spend their holidays at a lakeside resort in the French mountains. Elizabeth falls in love with a strange Italian, Giovanni, while young Cecile is courted by an apprentice cook. It seems that mother and daughter are drifting apart from each other, but then their holidays are over.
Directed by Mustapha Badie.
Le concierge de Denis
Complications abound in this French film, which tells the story of a filmmaker who is attempting to put his real life into a movie; his interactions with the people in the movie he is filming create reverberations in his "real" life, although the past remains unchanged. Among the complications is his growing regard for the woman who plays his cinematic wife. She may wind up replacing his actual wife in real life. One of the highlights of this film is the insight it gives into the actual mechanics of filmmaking.
Priest
Maddalena finds that her donkey has reappeared after being missing for months. However, on the same day, a donkey disappears in a neighboring village. The unfortunate coincidence leads to "war" between the two villages.
Gendarme
Betrayed by an informant, Philippe Gerbier finds himself trapped in a torturous Nazi prison camp. Though Gerbier escapes to rejoin the Resistance in occupied Marseilles, France, and exacts his revenge on the informant, he must continue a quiet, seemingly endless battle against the Nazis in an atmosphere of tension, paranoia and distrust.
Le patron du bistrot
Le bistrot ferrailleur
In this film, Albert is an eccentric inventor of missiles who comes under fire from his investors when his first prototype explodes. Even his sympathetic mistress has her doubts, as Albert lashes out in a verbal tirade condemning those of little faith in his genius.
Taxi Driver (uncredited)
A gang of four professional criminals kidnaps a wealthy teenage girl from an airport in Paris in a meticulous plan to extort money from the girl's wealthy father. Holding her prisoner in an isolated beach house, the gang's scheme runs perfectly until their personal demons surface and lead to a series of betrayals.
Albert Michel
Edmond Dantès, who was active in the resistance against the Nazis, is accused for being a Nazi collaborator and is imprisoned in the fortress of Sisteron.
These space people have cat eyes and a disintegrating pistol; and when they touch a woman 's lips with their magic kiss.
Gaston
An American (Robert Stack) talks a retired French crook (Jean Gabin) into robbing a bank, but kidnappers demand the loot as ransom.
Le charcutier
Jean-Louis Matouzec works for French National Library as an expert looking after the restoration of old manuscripts.He falsifies marriage certificates as his wife refuses divorce.
Marcel le Stéphanois
A gangster escapes jail and quickly makes plans to continue his criminal ways elsewhere, but a determined inspector is closing in.
le patron du bistro
Tulipe, is an old man who lives alone in an old railway carriage in the Argentueil region of Paris. His main passions are gardening and oil painting, but he also has a secret source of income. His godson discovers that Tulipe is actually a master forger, producing perfect copies of 10 franc notes. His godson’s girlfriend sees this as an opportunity to get very rich – but she must persuade Tulipe to forge 500 franc notes. Assuming Tulipe’s agreement, his godson and his girlfriend buy an expensive new car and luxury villa in provincial France – but there is a cruel turn of fate in store for them when Tulipe strikes up a friendship with a millionaire playboy.
(uncredited)
Marie-Chantal travels by train to her cousin's place to spend a winter holiday, when a stranger - apparently a fugitive from someone aboard - entrusts her with a jewel in the shape of a tiger with ruby eyes. Unknown to her, these false jewels contain a virus powerful enough to destroy all humankind. Doctor Kha is just one among many spies from different nations trying to get their hands on the tiger, or Marie-Chantal... It will give any nation a tremendous control over all others! Marie-Chantal, a snob girl, will evade all attacks by sheer female cunning, and shows tigerish qualities in dealing with her male, and female foes.
Inspector Péquinet
Monsieur Leroux (uncredited)
A dedicated layabout (Jean-Pierre Cassel) bounces from relationship to relationship, moving on only when the prospect of employment presents itself.
Le caissier du 'Bon Marché'
Marcel and Francis are busy people. Marcel owns a café and spend all his nights running from meetings to meetings with members from the high society... at least, that's what he say to his barman! Francis leaves his home, loving wife and adorable daughter, frequently to attend meetings and demonstration with customers. His boss trusts him so much that his agenda is always full... at least, that's what he say to his wife! In fact, Marcel and Francis' incomes come from their night job: thieves! Here at least, they are professional. Troubles arise when, during one robbery, they encounter a young, high-pitched voice, candid girl who takes the decision to become their associate in crime... for the fun!
Le concierge de l'hôtel
Gangsters from the United States try to kill a key government witness whose testimony could help land an influential mobster in jail. It's up to detective Maigret to deal with the FBI and a series of underworld figures to save the life of the witness...
Sacristain
Bad financial conditions compel an aristocratic family to do strange work.
Le garde-champêtre
Un collègue de Charles
"Les quatre vérités" aka "The Four Truths" is a movie anthology that consists of four segments, all loosely parodying fables from the 17th-century French poet Jean de la Fontaine. The US cut usually features only 3 segments.
Seven directors each dramatize one of the seven deadly sins in a short film. In "Anger," a domestic argument over a fly in the Sunday soup escalates into nuclear war. In "Sloth," a movie star would rather pay someone to tie his shoe than bend over to do it himself, and he can't be bothered to accept a starlet's sexual favors. In "Gluttony," a peasant family on its way to the funeral of a relative who died from indigestion stops regularly to eat and drink en route, arriving in time to eat some more. In "Greed," a high-class prostitute refunds the price of a cadet's lottery ticket. In "Pride," an unfaithful wife finds reason to reform. And so on through lust and envy.
Swiss at the church (uncredited)
Valentin travels to the burial of his father who died of indigestion, but stopping to eat on the way causes him to be late for the meal which follows the funeral.
Postman
"Le Dabe" retired many years ago and now he lives in the Tropics where he owns stables and horses. He is a very rich man. He was the king of all money counterfeiters. He is contacted from Paris to organize a new job. He says no. But when he finds out the the currency that should be counterfeited is the Dutch florin, he accepts immediately. He retired after having counterfeited 100 florin notes just before the Queen Wilhelmina retired them from circulation. He flies to Paris. But the gang is not to be trusted, at least not all of them.
Un journaliste (uncredited)
As Dominique Marceau is being tried for the murder of Gilbert Tellier, accounts by different witnesses paint a picture of the kind of relationship the two used to share.
Guest of the hostel
The lucky Baron wins a boat in a card game and takes off with his former lover to find new adventures. Adverse circumstances land them in a small town, where the Baron's seafaring companion leaves for more attractive scenery offered by a wealthy local man. Meanwhile, there is a certain charming cafe owner that the Baron finds irresistible -- at least for awhile.
Gaston
Le voisin d'en face
In Paris, scoundrel mates Paolo and Antoine Venturen hope to get rich quick by asking ransom fro rich Mr. Jumelin's preteen son Eric. Masquerading as Indians, the scamp's favorite game, does the trick. They soon learn such bratty rascal is more trouble then he's worth. The boy's a P.I. instead of paying, and it gets worse.
Albert, un employé du magasin
Music seller and singer on occasion, Jacques Gardel learns from master Jérôme Quilleboeuf that he inherits oil fields located in Big Bend in Texas.
Un joueur de billard
In a small provincial town, the boarding-house is run by Mathilde Belin, the overindulging and over-demanding mother of Paul. When she is told by her envious sister Charlotte that her son is having a secret affair with Catherine, a salesgirl, she becomes furious and starts doing everything in her power to separate the lovebirds.
Eugène, le patron du bazar (uncredited)
Married French lawyer Andre defends succesfully the case of Yvette, who committed a robbery. He falls in love with her, but she isn't true to him.
Mr Charretier, le concierge
le concierge
Rich industrialist Jacques Decret learns his wife Gloria is having an affair with a young actor. For revenge, he bombards her with anonymous letters, convincing her that her lover is the culprit while Gloria desperately seeks a way out.
Le gardien-brigadier Bricart
The holdup of the bank is a success. All happened according to plan. Now, Cyril Gad and his four accomplices must secure an alibi. What better place than a prison cell? As a result the five gangsters have themselves arrested on minor charges and start waiting until they are released. Unfortunately three of them die mysteriously, another one is openly murdered. The only man still alive, Tony, is scared. Easy to understand why...
the grocer (uncredited)
Juju, a drunken oaf who feels the need of being important to someone---anyone---and his friend The Artist are forced at gunpoint to house a fugitive, Pierre Barbier, in Juju's broken-down home. The urge for being needed is such in Juju that he gives up drinking and takes care of Pierre. But one day Juju finds out that Pierre has been making love to his girl Maria...
Le camionneur qui transporte le tableau
Arlette thinks she has made a wonderful gift to her daughter Sylvie, who has just married François Morel, a young journalist. And, to tell the truth, not everybody receives a posh little bar like the Royal Montmartre as a gift. The trouble is that Monsieur Jo, the former owner of the joint is also the boss of a gang of drug traffickers. And that he has managed to persuade the pair of naive lovebirds to drop a painting to a friend on their way to their honeymoon place. Now the picture is stuffed with drugs! The honeymoon trip promises to be eventful...
Night Watchman
Paris, 1482. Today is the festival of the fools, taking place like each year in the square outside Cathedral Notre Dame. Among jugglers and other entertainers, Esmeralda, a sensuous gypsy, performs a bewitching dance in front of delighted spectators. From up in a tower of the cathedral, Frollo, an alchemist, gazes at her lustfully. Later in the night, Frollo orders Quasimodo, the deformed bell ringer and his faithful servant, to kidnap Esmeralda. But when the ugly freak comes close to her is touched by the young woman's beauty...
Le garde chasse
"Poisoner" - After her fiancé is arrested Claire finds herself alone and forced to find work. She is hired by a country squire, Etienne de Montenoy, as the tutor of his goddaughter. It does not take long before Montenoy falls for her but a little longer before the young woman, reluctant at first, understands Etienne loves her truly and then requites his love. Etienne lives so happily with her that he decides to make her his heir. Shortly after, he is murdered by poison...
Concierge of the rue de Turenne (uncredited)
Two unlikely companions must smuggle four suitcases filled with contraband pork across Nazi-occupied Paris.
Duleux, le chef de gare (uncredited)
François Cardinaud is one of the richest shipowners in the region. But this success arouses resentment and jealousy. When Marthe, his wife, leaves the home without warning, Cardinaud sees her life cracking little by little.
L'agriculteur voisin demandant l'échelle
Judge Julien Lamy regularly deals with the welfare of children, namely down on their luck delinquents. When an orphan named Alain Robert burns down a barn belonging to his abusive foster family, Judge Lamy has no choice but to send him to a juvenile jail. There he meets an older boy named Francis Lanoux, who is desperate to escape and be reunited with his girlfriend Sylvette. The boys eventually flee the institution, as Francis goes in search of his lost love and Alain continues looking for his parents. Unfortunately, the little rebels run into some big problems once on the outside.
Le facteur
A trucker encounters a dead body on the road home. He reports the incident to the police, who suspect that Jean was responsible for the death, and his new truck is impounded. To make matters worse, the man's widow accuses him of having robbed her husband, and a gang of sinister crooks are also harassing him.
L'employé S.N.C.F. (uncredited)
Robert Langlois is now married to Catherine, the former housemaid. And they would live happily ever after if the housing crisis did not force them to live together with Gabrielle and Fernand, Robert's parents. For, despite the good will on either side, tension soon arises. What else to expect when there is too little space in their Montmartre apartment for four people (then for six then eight, the couple having... two pairs of twins!) ; the continued presence there of Fernand (who loves peace and quiet) after he is driven to retirement ; the difficult beginnings of Robert as a lawyer in a room of the apartment, etc... Other troubles follow and the harried family is on the verge of implosion...
Un prisonnier
During WW2, three prisoners escape from a labor camp.
Un paysan
Le gardien (uncredited)
Raoul De Bragelonne must uphold his musketeer father's legacy in the face of court intrigues from Cardinal Mazarin.
Le souffleur à la représentation (as Albert-Michel)
Le sonneur
It's no holds barred for Julian in pursuit of upward mobility. Although expected to channel career aspirations into the Church of the post-Napoleonic era, his intensely romantic liaisons propel him forward at a pace he cannot control.
Le réptionniste de l'hôtel rouennais
Hélène and Aldo Giovanni are a circus trapeze double act and a couple. Aldo is temporarily replaced by former-partner Alexandre when the former is injured. The two get into a fight and the following day Alexandre is discovered dead. Hélène suspects her husband is responsible for the murder.
Le patron du bistrot
A publicity-minded French mayor reunites quintuplets and their earthy father, all six played by Fernandel.
Un déménageur
Four-episode Franco-Italian omnibus film. Four men from different national and cultural background take refuge in a cabin after being sidetracked by bad weather on their way to conference.
Le soldat qui se rase
A young woman has a perilous affair with a General from the opposing side during the Revolutionary war.
Un moine (segment "Jeanne") (uncredited)
Three stories, very different in space and time. Lysistrata, a dancer from ancient times, Jeanne d'Arc, medieval warrior and Elisabeth, American war widow who comes on pilgrimage in Italy.
Georges's father
A trilogy of stories of well-off youths who commit murders. In the French episode, a group of high school students kill one of their colleagues for his money. In the Italian episode, a university student's involved in smuggling cigarettes. In the English episode, a lazy poet finds the body of a woman on the downs, and tries to sell his story to the press.
Un gendarme
While Ludovic Dubois, a young summer camp monitor in Saint-Benoît, entertains the children by playing Robin Hood, the lord's niece is kidnapped by her uncle, in the castle next door. Helped by the children and the customs inspector, the last of the Robin Hoods will free the "Princess Isabelle", and will end up marrying her.
Le contrôleur de la prison
While celebrating his birthday, police inspector Basquier (Bernard Blier) recalls two of his most-celebrated cases. The first involves duplicitous moneylender Olga (Suzy Prin). The second concerns the brutal broad-daylight murder of innocent young Yvonne (Veronique Deschamps).
(uncredited)
Jacques Montet, a successful crime story writer, has already written a hundred books and would like to call it quits now to devote himself to loftier writing. But his wife, a cold-hearted, money-minded, bossy woman won't allow. All the more as she is the one who supplies Jacques with the plots of his detective stories. When Jacques, yearning for true love, meets young, pretty Muriel, he can't stand the situation any longer. Fortunately - for him - the plot of the 101st detective story imagined by his wife is about a ... perfect crime. He simply has to follow her instructions to ... get rid of her. Everything goes according to plan until Jacques discovers a scary detail: the presence of a mysterious witness on the scene of the crime.
Le facteur
A daydreaming French composer sees himself as a fine figure dashing through history.
With the help of a social worker and Isabelle, Pierre, a delinquent influenced by Marcelle, undertakes a slow and difficult reintegration.
Le second comédien en tournée
After attending to a suicidal young man, Dr Richard learns that his wife has been unfaithful for years. This comes as a shock after 10 years of supposedly happy marriage. Back home, he demands answers from Madeleine. A long night of explanations ensues.
Le brigadier (uncredited)
Anthology film with three shorts each featuring a famous detective: Monsieur Wens, Lemmy Caution and Maigret.
Cornil's son
Mr and Mrs Barbezat,Concierges are to marry their only daughter to a butcher's boy. Both the in-laws and the groom have an obsession: come what may, they are keen on honoring their engagements: promises are made to be kept is their motto. And when, on the wedding day, the unfortunate parents cannot provide the newly weds with...the "Mérinos" mattress which is part of the bride's Trousseau ,they are desperate. The husband will spend the whole wedding festivities trying to keep his word.
A famous lawyer is irritated to see his fiancée spending her time trying to educate Languille, a tramp. Wanting to discourage his Saint-Bernard side, he asks a young engineer to introduce himself to her, under the guise of a tramp. But his plan turns against him, because the young man falls in love with his beautiful.
The fisherman (uncredited)
Noël is a bachelor who inherits a matrimonial agency. After contemplating selling it, he chooses to manage it.
In 1786, Jocelyn entered the Seminary. He leaves his share of the inheritance to his younger sister Julie. In 1793, on the point of being ordained a priest, the Revolution forced him to take refuge in the Alps. There he meets Laurence, first disguised as a young boy. A great friendship binds them which turns into love when Jocelyn discovers the girl's true identity. Yet faithful to the promise he made to the Superior of his Seminary, Jocelyn will not abandon his faith.
An agent (uncredited)
A famous comedian decrees that his fortune will go to whoever collects as many pop star autographs as quickly as possible. When he dies, two cousins embark on the race for signatures.
Le 1er employé du commissariat
Henri and Jeannette Milliard, a newly married couple from Normandy arrive in Paris where they intend to spend their honeymoon. Unforfunately a wicket gate in the metro separates the couple. In panic, Henri looks for his wife across the capital. He ends up finding her at the hotel they were to put up. But it looks as if Jeannette has gone through some distressing adventure.
Un joueur de cartes
Lyria, a faded beauty who runs a seedy waterfront bar, is madly in love with Bob, a crooked attorney. Bob can't bring himself to confess his love for Minnie, the pretty daughter of Simon, a safe cracker. In order to run away with her, Bob, one of the masterminds of a big-time robbery, betrays his friends. But Lyria, who has found out what is happening, makes Minnie fall into a deadly trap.
Antoine (uncredited)
Back from the war, Marceau Le Guern remembers. Educated in an orphanage run by Dominican brothers, he fell into misery when he left it. His only asset was his good looks, which did not escape the attention of Madame Alice, a shady woman who persuaded him to pose for pornographic photos meant for lonely aging women. Marceau also served as a gigolo before the war and captivity put an end to this juicy business. Now he wants to start a new life, all the more as ha has found love in the person of a pure young lady named Dominique. But Madame Alice won't hear of it...
The servant (uncredited)
Zoé, a pretty penniless girl, decides on the advice of her neighbor to embark on gallantry. After a brief failure, she meets a young boy, Jacques Lebreton who is about to get married. After causing the failure of this arranged marriage, she will have to play the role of wife of Jacques with his family, until the arrival of the uncle from America.
le patron
A few years ago, Isabelle Leritz, a famous pianist, suffered a fit of madness, in the middle of a concert. Now recovered, she fell in love with Jacques whom she plans to marry. She does not know that he is having an affair with Caroline, his sister, director of a fashion house.
The Gendarme (uncredited)
Napoleon III, the Commune, the third Republic in the background. In the foreground, two pretty, talented sisters, Virginie and Pauline Cardinal. They are ballerinas at the Opera de Paris and very much courted by wealthy, elegant men. They will manage to climb in the society of their time, despite parents set on respectability but also attracted by money.
Le poissonnier
A diplomat and fast liver, François lives the good life until, one day, he is unfortunate enough to win...a seal in a raffle. From this day on his everyday life becomes complicated, to say nothing of his sentimental life. Gabrielle, his all too serious girlfriend, can't stand the heat and calls it quits. But English girls like charming Diana don't mind seals...!
Manservant
Max and Colette often bother the lawyer Vermorel to initiate divorce proceedings, then everything calms down. An anonymous letter escalates the disputes, it borders on disaster but living together has obvious charms.
Monsieur Marpin - un futur papa
A woman in Paris hires a taxi driver to locate her ex-lover, father to her newborn child, who left her without leaving an address.
Le charmeur d'oiseaux
Evelyne, a judge's young wife, falls in love with Rémy while vacationing in Italy. Upon returning home, she must decide between telling her husband and continuing to see Rémy.
Charlie
Prosper Bourrache, who has the gift of the gab, is natural born street vendor. Due to a mistake he gets involved in the burglary of a shady banker's house. In fact, the whole operation is a setup. But Prosper will finally get away with it, have the crooked financier arrested and pinch his girlfriend away from him.
The cafe owner
Story is primarily based on the adventures of Antoine, a young telegraph messenger on his second night of work. He is given three telegrams, one of which is for the president of the Camber of Deputies. Excited, Antoine runs his bicycle into a truck and loses the telegrams. What follows is an amusing and agonizing search for the missing messages. He is assisted first by a glum, wise-beyond-her-years little girl, Amelie; an off-duty police superintendent, a schoolmaster, a cookie-tin maker and a fireman. The harmonica musical theme is played by Flore Falvey.
Le Bail
The inhabitants of a Scottish island in the 19th century follow their own religion without need for clergy, but as strangers arrive, their faith and beliefs face a deep crisis.
Le gendarme porteur de la convocation (uncredited)
Elsa Lundenstein is accused of having murdered her lover. The jury discusses the case vividly. All members are somehow prejudiced because of personal life experience and subsequently each member reads something different into the presented facts.
The SNCF controller
Robert Bobin has been an assistant accountant for twenty years now and, although meek and obedient, is getting weary of his monotonous, limited life. He tries marriage but, unfortunately, Blanche, the nurse he marries, proves to be a shrew. One day, a miracle happens : Michèle, a young orphan and fellow-worker gradually develops tender feelings for him. But will Robert be able to overcome his mediocrity and grasp this unexpected opportunity to find happiness?
Spy
The romantic life of the head of a bandit gang, wanted by the police. Cartouche gets away with being deported to Louisiana after unmasking a plot by a Duke against the throne.
Roberto, a 10-year-old boy, is drawn to music. An old organist discovers his gifts, and begins his musical education which will lead him to the head of an orchestra.
The honeymoon in Italy of Guillaume and Eugénie de Puycharmois escorted by friend Sainfoin, a second-hand driver. Sainfoin's humor displeases Eugenie. Guillaume takes the wheel in such a way that it is necessary to hire a "driver", Yolande. Jealous, Eugenie asks Sainfoin to conquer Yolande. In the working car, two happy couples drive through the Italian landscapes.
Gaston Bernod is a Parisian bus driver. Honest, upright and hard-working, he is held in high esteem by his superiors. Gaston has always pampered "his" bus, going as far as to equip it with a fuel-saving device of his invention. Very close to his vehicle, he may have somewhat neglected his wife Paulette, who lets herself got round by the smooth words of Pierrot. The gigolo has indeed managed to persuade her to follow him to the Mont Saint-Michel, "a wonderful nest for their burgeoning love" as he says. The trouble is that Gaston, while driving his dear 84, catches sight of the car, and suddenly aware of his misfortune, sees red. He immediately sets off in pursuit of the culprits, involving his load of helpless passengers in the chase.
Gaston wants more than anything to marry the naive Simone. But where he is, there is Sidonie, a local singer romantically pursued by the police commissionaire.
A defendant (uncredited)
A young rogue kills an old lady to rob her. Arrested, he believes it is for this crime, hides nothing from his lawyer, who soon tells him that he is only accused of another theft prior to his crime. Sentenced to six months suspended prison sentence, he will also have to answer for the crime of the old lady.
Young Amélie is currently enjoying life as the kept woman of her reasonably well off boyfriend Étienne. But when Étienne is called off for military duty, he enlists his playboy friend Marcel to keep an eye on her....something of a problem seeing that he is currently looking for a woman with which to create a sham marriage so he can quickly inherit a large sum of money from his father. Then suddenly the Prince of Palestra enters into the picture and boldly asks for Étienne's romantic favors to assess whether or not he would consider taking her as his bride. What's a free-spirited girl to do?
Mme Beaudrier, the wife of a Parliamentary Senator, hurls a pastry at visiting King Joan IV of Cerdagne, sparking off a series of farcical events involving all levels of the government and their mistresses.
Georges, a medical student, falls in love with Louisette, his pretty neighbor, and gets engaged to her. They are as happy as Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. One small hitch is that Georges' father has serious money troubles and cannot support his son anymore. But what does it matter? Georges and Louisette just have to find work. The latter is hired by a rich tenant of the apartment building she lives in with her fiancé. Another hitch lies in the fact that Monsieur Grompat, her employer is a bit like the serpent in the Book of Genesis : he only aims to tempt her and to seduce her out of the arms of Georges. But Louisette is not Eve and she manages to emerge unscathed from the adventure. She will live happily with the man of her heart for the rest of her days.
Journalist
Satire of publishing circles, featuring a ferocious boss, Moscat, a successful but handsome author, Maréchal, another successful but bitter author, Bourgine, a writer plagued with ambition, Brégaillon and the hero, Marc Fournier Zola Prize winner. Naive, the latter quickly becomes formidable, especially since his wife's infidelities have provided him with the material for a new novel.
Le facteur
Anne seeks revenge on Jacques who betrayed her trust. She decides to poison him and the people close to him.
Un moine (uncredited)
Lovers since childhood, Sylvain and Angelina do not see their lives separated from each other. However, Sylvain is sent to war and the young woman desperately awaits his return. Years pass and the latter is forced by her father to marry Jean-Marie, a man she does not love. One day, while Angelica and her family are climbing in the Alps, an avalanche sweeps them away. Safe and sound, she comes face to face with her childhood sweetheart, Sylvain.
The inspector
In the train that takes her back home, Catheine Beryl meets concert pianist André Fuger, a childhood friend of her husband's. The musician is both good-looking and seductive and Catherine soon falls for his charms. The two young people spend the evening and the following night together. The next day, a lost powder compact gives the affair away. At a loss, Catherine runs away from her husband but she has an accident. When she regains consciousness in her hospital bed, Catherine finds Georges, her husband, by her side, pretending nothing has happened.
Un garçon de café du Négresco (uncredited)
Ronaldo, a singer with the growing reputation dedicating himself body and soul to his art, sacrificing his marriage.
Le gardien
Isabelle is a lawyer who has Flip, a private detective, convicted of speeding. But shortly after, a murder is committed of which Isabelle's best friend is suspected. To save her, Isabelle is forced, despite her reluctance, to ask Flip for help, who agrees to look for the culprit.
Advisor
Activities and exploits of firefighters in the context of a village then the capital and under the bombardments of the Second World War where the saving of lives was more important than that of factories.
The valet
For love, the singer Georges Hyverlin gives up his profession to work with his father-in-law in his car factory. When the passion for song takes him back, he manages to resume his career thanks to the support of his wife Martine.
Male nurse
A trio of criminals gradually become entangled in theft and crime. Serge is arrested, his mistress, Hélène, and his accomplice, Michel, both become lovers, try to exonerate him and use false fingerprints first, then after Serge's conviction, gloves covered with the same fingerprints of the prisoner.
Un agent (uncredited)
Everyone in Paris thinks Fantomas is dead. A wave of extortion, blackmail and murder all point to the master criminal. Inspector Juve and his reporter friend Fandor set out to find the truth.
Stamped gentleman (uncredited)
Marceline is pretty but inconstant. She has a brother, eccentric as well as invading, who serves as a go-between between the fickle young woman and her lovers. She has been the mistress of Richard for a while when Jeff, an engaging but but unrepentant dreamer, falls madly in love with her. Marceline first turns him down but finally accepts him after she breaks up with Richard. But the coquette has not given up her escapades to which the young florist, nicknamed "Jean de la Lune" for his naivety, turns a blind eye. Little time after their wedding , Marceline becomes infatuated with the good looks of a superficial young man, Alexandre. But Jeff, who has developed a fondness for Jean, intervenes to save the couple.
The aunt of Alfred Puc, a meek tax-collector in Paris, dies while riding in a moving van. The driver, not wishing to be bothered by a police interrogation, hides her corpse in a cupboard before notifying Alfred. But the van is stolen. Alfred, being the heir of a rich lady, begins a frantic search to locate the missing van and the cupboard because one can't claim an inheritance if there is no 'corpus delecti.' In his search, he gets caught up in an underworld web and finds the body of a murdered gangster in his room. He finally locates the cupboard but promptly loses it again. But, wait, it isn't "finis' time, yet.
Father La Fraise
The City of Hope is the place where left-behind artists subsist by scraping by. When one of them is accused of murder, all try to find the real culprit.
The story of the Swiss soldier, Henri Dunant, who was responsible for the founding of the Red Cross, and who was offered the first Nobel Peace Prize.
Monsieur Coignard - le sous-directeur de la banque (uncredited)
A beautiful young pianist falls for her mentor.
The bosun
Kohlman, the attorney for the Fournil bank, diverts money from the institution. To hide his malpractices, he imagines to remove the director, the young and overconfident Clement Fournil, during a cruise at sea on the yacht Emile Frechisse.
April fools in a studio where a radio host pretends to shoot dead all the performers....till a true crime occurs.
Loiseau the pharmacist mistakenly mixes potassium cyanide into a batch of cough syrup and sells five bottles. With horror he discovers his mistake and sets out to find the buyers. He finds only four. The fifth, not a regular customer, comes back to the pharmacy...
Maitre de Latour Martin had been reported missing during the war. Peace returned, he finds his two wives. Guilty of bigamy, he shelters the ladies in his home and a third woman arrives whom a dowry hunter had married thanks to the papers lost by the lawyer. Life at four is stormy and Maitre Latour regrets his life as a soldier.
Albert
Georges, hunted by the Germans, had taken refuge with his brother, Commissioner PJ Paris. Once released, he teams up for the sake of a girl with the lackluster Zattore. A bank is robbed, but the police is fast and Georges will either lose his life.
In France during World War I, Marthe waits for her husband, Jacques, while he fights on the front lines. Marthe then begins a tempestuous affair with 17-year-old François, with whom she had a dalliance before marrying Jacques. Jealous François struggles with the fact that Marthe is married, while she tries to prove her devotion to her young, hotheaded lover. Things become even more complex when Marthe becomes pregnant with Jacques' baby.
Rather than commit suicide, it is better to stay at the clinic of Professor Patureau-Duparc. This practitioner experiments on his clients with a serum that modifies their personality. Thus Yolande and Albert become new Romeo and Juliet. They end up marrying each other after having regained their primitive selves. Their married life is then a hell and they welcome with joy the proposal of a new injection of serum.
L'habilleur
Rather than commit suicide, it is better to stay at the clinic of Professor Patureau-Duparc. This practitioner experiments on his clients with a serum that modifies their personality. Thus Yolande and Albert become new Romeo and Juliet. They end up marrying each other after having regained their primitive selves. Their married life is then a hell and they welcome with joy the proposal of a new injection of serum.
Gustave
Martine is a lonely girl in an exclusive boarding school who conjures up a glamorous existence in order to make her dull life tolerable and to impress the other girls. One of her flights of fancy is a love affair with Brevannes, a famous composer. She leaves the school and goes to the French Alps to find the life she's only dreamed about, where she meets Brevannes and a December-May romance develops until she meets a young mountain guide, Henri Vidal.
Zanzi
Emile is a French film producer at the beginning of the century. One of his friends leaves his daughter Lucette in his house, when he is starting a tour through France. Emile falls in love with her. Problems starts when his younger friend Jacques come back from military service and after complaining his misfortune with women, follows Emile's advice in starting affairs with women and he meets Lucette.
Le porteur
A traveller is stuck in an unknown town because his connecting train will only arrive in six hours. He decides to kill time by taking a stroll. He is not prepared to get confused with somebody else. In fact the citizens are eagerly awaiting the visit of a famous man and the clueless traveller is his doppelgänger. Soon he experiences what that means.
Le pompier de service (uncredited)
1946, a man walks in Lyon. He makes a pilgrimage to the places of his childhood. Another man, Edmond Gonin, recognizes him. It was Jean-Jacques Sauvage, whom he had ousted in a "radical" way with a young heiress. Only Savage is not dead, and here he is on the scene of his first love.
Hélène, a young waitress working in a bar frequented by German soldiers, saves the life of Pierre, a Resistance fighter. Her jealous lover has her arrested first and then released. Later on, Hélène is wounded while walking in the streets. Pierre has her transported to friends with the hope of taking her to London with him. Unfortunately, owing to lack of space in the plane, Pierre has to fly alone. Hélène has to wait several weeks before being able to board a new plane. When the day comes at last, the Germans are waiting for the plane on the clandestine airfield.
A mechanic
Jérôme owns a boat with his crook of an uncle, La Rose de la Mer. They sail with a band of crooks hired by the uncle to scuttle the ship and collect the insurance premium.
Prison clerk
Marie Leroux, who is married to Charles, an honest, understanding country doctor, lives an uneventful, rather monotonous life.Her husband is a kind man but he does not give her any thrill or excitement. One day, Marie meets Olivier Dumas-Beaulieu, a handsome industrialist, who is in the process of leaving his fiancée Corinne, despite her being pregnant by him. It is easy for the confirmed womanizer he is, to seduce Marie, who very foolishly thinks she has found true love. Shortly afterward Charles is shot dead by Olivier while the two men were having a quarrel about Marie. The latter, who finds the corpse, believes her husband has committed suicide. Which is not the police's opinion and Marie is arrested and condemned to ten years in prison. Annihilated by such unfair treatment and, worse, by the separation from her beloved eight-year-old daughter, she still manages to survive and to serve her sentence.
Stutterer traveler in the train
The scene is set during the Second Empire. Captain Bitterlin watches jealously over his lovely daughter Madeleine but he cannot prevent nature from demanding its rights and Madeleine soon finds herself a suitor in the person of Mario, a dashing young songwriter. Bitterlin, who wishes his daughter to "evade the grip" of the young man, takes her away to Monte Carlo. There, the captain does what he had sworn he would never do, he gambles in a casino. And even more upsetting: Mario might well be hereabouts...
During the Second World War, in occupied Paris, a group of high school students is more active at selling cigarettes and silk stockings than at studying. But the day a new philosophy teacher takes charge of their class, things begin to change. It must be said that Mademoiselle Bravard is not only a gifted educator but a charming young woman as well. Thanks to her, all the students end up passing their finals.
Correspondent from Holland
June 1944, a French town towards the end of the occupation. Following several attacks perpetrated by the resistance, the inhabitants who listen to English radio are rounded up by the Germans in a prison and considered as hostages. In one of the cells are found men from all walks of life: an aristocrat, the Viscount of Saint-Leu, Doctor Noblet, a resistance fighter, Béquille the wanderer with a wooden leg, and a strange character nicknamed "Black Market". The latter arouses mistrust among the prisoners, because it could well have been introduced by the enemy.
A teenager becomes fixated on a painting of the handsome suitor who died in a duel for her grandmother's love. On her sixteenth birthday, her father hires three men who pretend to be the ghost of the suitor to entertain her. Little do they know, the ghost of the suitor himself is roaming the castle halls.
Accused farmer
An episode in the life of the tumultuous poet who murdered his rival, in love with Catherine de Vauselles.
(uncredited)
The knight Henri de Lagardère wants to avenge the death of his friend, the duke Philippe de Nevers assassinated by the prince de Gonzague, a few years before.
This woman's melodrama pivots around a child that a famous actress had in her youth, but whom she has concealed from the wealthy businessman she is now with.
Allilaire's butler
A Corsican fisherman is the victim of a vendetta, when he was wrong to date the niece of a businessman proposing to create a seaside resort, much to the anger of the islanders.
An aristocrat instigates divorce proceedings against his son-in-law, a commoner and the ex-owner of night club "La Vie de Plaisir".
Un membre d'équipage (uncredited)
Gohelle, escaped from prison, seeks to flee occupied France for Argentina. The captain of a cargo ship is willing to smuggle him out out France for a price but Gohelle has no money. His mistress, Marie-Angel tries to charm the money out of wealthy Alain Ginestier who seems the ideal pigeon but Marie-Angel falls in love with Ginestier.
In Paris in 1887, Irène works as a governess to Douce, the grand-daughter of the dowager Countess de Bonafé. Douce believes she is in love with Fabien, the handsome manager of the estate. However she cannot hope to marry him because of their class difference. Douce's widowed father, the Count de Bonafé, has a wooden leg, and is infatuated with Irène. Douce discovers that Fabien is planning to flee to Quebec with Irène, and also finds out that the Count has asked Irène to marry him. So Douce tells Fabien this and convinces him to run away with her, causing consternation in the family.
A boat passenger
In 1906, François left the Basque country with his father, who had decided to settle in Argentina following an incident between him and Esteban. Having become a powerful industrialist, he returned to France in 1940 on the occasion of the signing of a contract. He learns that the Haut-le-Vent estate, occupied by his aunt Anna, is his. Greeted with mistrust by the villagers, he manages to make himself sympathetic and decides to stay on the estate with Gisèle, Esteban's daughter.
Un employé au commissariat (uncredited)
Robert and Françoise Monier make a hot air balloon to fly to the stratosphere. After a visit to Venus, they return home, but have only aged 15 days whereas 25 years have passed on Earth.
Despite a perfect marriage and a superb career as a singer, Jean Dupray cheats on his wife. She dies while listening to the song he dedicated to her, "Maria". He then retired to the south where he led a life in complete anonymity. But his best friend's fiancé recognizes him and seduces him. Following a fight with his best friend, he decides to return to order by becoming a monk.
For 15 years after Waterloo, a baron refuses to accept the defeat. He reluctantly marries one of 2 Bourbon sisters but lands up dueling with the wife's former lover. Finally he gets a chance to prove himself again in battle.
Returning from America where he received a large inheritance, Alaric would like to have a wedding before returning to the family home where his sister, who is as cantankerous as she is uncompromising on principles, awaits him. He asks a “porter” from the station who looks like him to replace him.
