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.

A scandalised Frenchman returns from Africa where he has been involved in illegal trading of mines (resulting in the deaths of many African miners). His bourgeois family are wary of the shame that he will bring so he must try to redeem himself and his family's name.

Gentleman gangster Max and his partner, Riton, pull off their last, most successful heist and find themselves comfortable enough to retire in the style they enjoy. However, Max confides the details of the theft to his younger mistress, Josey -- who has secretly taken up with ambitious young rival gangster Angelo. Angelo then has Riton kidnapped and demands the stash of gold as ransom, which threatens Max's dreams of the perfect retirement.

A sinister fortress on an island where the sun never seems to shine. An officer whose values have long gone a thing of the past.

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.

Denise Moret joins her husband, Pierre, in Mongolia where he works as a civil engineer. One night she loose a lot of money on the roulette and therefore is forced to borrow money from Prince Lee-Lang. The Prince immediately begins to flirt and make advances towards Denise. Advances she rejects.

The mysterious vigilante Milton has warned Scotland-Yard of his intention to kill the lawyer Maurice Meister who is the cause of his sister's suicide. Police and detectives watch over the lawyer's home, but on the day and at the appointed time Meister is murdered.

Denise, a young employee of the mine, is courted by the engineer Risay while she is engaged to Daniel, a simple underground worker. A betrayal has occurred that compromises the mine. An accident occurs and about fifteen workers, including Denise's fiancé, are buried under rubble in a collapsing shaft.

Julie and Désirée Clary are courted by the brothers Joseph and Napoleon Bonaparte. Joseph marries Julie and Napoleon is affianced to Désirée. When Napoleon breaks the engagement and marries Joséphine de Beauharnais, Désirée becomes involved with General Bernadotte.

Out of love for an actress, Isabelle, the Baron de Sigognac joins a traveling troop en route to Paris. When an actor dies, he takes over his role: that of Captain Fracasse.

1824 in Issoudun. A bourgeois, Rouget, lives as a husband and wife, La Rabouilleuse, who holds him in her power. The old man's nephew, ex-Colonel Philippe Bridau of the Imperial Guard, swears to hunt the intruder.

To teach a lesson to his young wife who dreams of the famous "voiceless singer", a husband enters a radio station and manages to make people appreciate his voice.

Fabienne believes herself to be cheated on by her husband Claude and divorces her. He leaves for America and does not return until eight years later. He then meets his daughter.

In Central Europe, resistance to the Germans in growing. But the partisan leader is denounced and killed. His daughter and the son of the traitor love each other. Condemned by his comrades, the informer commits suicide in front of the young couple.

Portrait of a two-faced man. By day he is rich, brilliant and respectable financial officer Lussac; at night, he becomes "Mirror", a ruthless gang leader in Marseilles.

Inès, a gypsy, pregnant by a rich breeder who abandoned her, finds refuge with a band of smugglers and thieves, led by an old woman nicknamed "the Spider". It is among them that she raises her daughter, Dolores. But her past catches up with her when the wealthy landlord reappears in her life.

The life of Adrien Wettach, famous in the annals of the circus under the name of Grock, world famous Swiss clown. A series of images from Épinal, retracing the career of a European artist, within the framework of world history. Lots of children, wars, an eccentric Russian countess, Countess Barinoff, who grows old admiring the clown, and a very long quibble about a party wall, all serve to highlight the star's final number.

Two scriptwriters argue about the fate of Henrietta, a charming and gamine shopgirl. One favors a comical path for their heroine, who is overcome with sentimental love for a young photographer on Bastille Day. The other has a more thrilling and dastardly fate in mind for her. Among the film's irresistible conceits is Hildegarde Neff as an oversexed circus bareback rider.