Paris, 1937. Winckler kills his enemy Gordon, a Chicago mobster, from the stage of a Parisian music hall, where he performs telepathy. He pays another artist, Helene, so that she tells the police they've spent the night together, which doesn't fool Callas, the police officer who investigates the murder. He hires one of his fellow officers in order to seduce Helene.
Popolka takes advantage of the absence of his shrew of a wife to indulge in the delights of single life. His manager showers him with favors because he is in love with a young woman whom he believes to be Popolka's wife. When Madame Popolka returns, the situation becomes confused...
Marthe, a robust peasant, is a single mother. For her child to be happy, she abandons him to the Duchemin household, eager for an impossible motherhood. Later, the young man is still unaware of the obscure sacrifice of his real mother.
Garadoux has beaten his wife. His lawyer Fremissin is young and very shy, and therefore, not very efficient... Two years after, Garadoux is trying to seduce Cecile, but she prefers Fremissin...
The film is based on the theatrical work of Alfred de Musset of the same name. In this version, Lysiane Bernhardt (daughter of Sarah Bernhardt) plays the role of Camille.