Father Sourire, who came to the Château de Villetaneuse to ask for alms, was forced to put on the uniform of the nephew who had fled from the barracks. A soldier in spite of himself, he knows the most frightening adventures which even lead him to a boxing fight from which he will emerge victorious.
The rise of a canning maker and then his abandonment of the factory because his ideal of social progress for his workers is undermined by the Board of Directors.
A young American businessman, tired of his hectic life, makes an unexpected inheritance which leads him to Normandy. There he discovers, with the discomfort of an old dusty century-old house, the sweetness of life, the love of a beautiful girl and the pleasure of doing nothing.
A doctor passionate about research leaves an uncle with an inheritance to die, knowing that he is the legatee. His work succeeds, but overcome by remorse, the doctor tries to commit suicide. He is saved thanks to the understanding of his wife and they both leave for the East to do research on...
Blaireau, a poacher, is imprisoned for an offense he didn't commit. An ambitious lawyer tries to exculpate and glorify him. But, once he's released, this major philosopher destroys in just a few hours the prestige painstakingly built by his liberator.
Commissioner Malaise investigates a strange crime: a mannequin, stolen from the window of a tailor, is found stabbed... But his face of wax has the features of a certain Gilbert, who died a year earlier in a family, all of whose members will become more or less suspicious to the Commissioner. He...
A prudish man becomes, by inheritance, owner of the Bal Tabarin which, according to the testamentary provisions, he must manage himself. He launches himself happily into this life of pleasures and hides it from his family.
François, a young student at a provincial college, likes Colette, the daughter of the headmaster. Turlot his colleague, who commits suicide, left a diary where he writes of his relationship with Colette.
Two bank employees like Lucie, their colleague. They steal money from the cash register to gamble. Jean wins and Paul ends up in prison for five years. When he leaves, he discovers that Jean has become a businessman and that he has married Lucie.
A parodic trial, in which one sees a merry luron, tried for trifles, rallying the whole court to him as soon as one learns that he inherits a large fortune.
Around 1750, in the Dauphiné not far from the Swiss border, a cooper, tired of the injustices affecting the peasants crushed by taxes, went into revolt. Louis Mandrin, a handsome fellow without fear and without reproach, puts himself out of the law by refusing to obey the local nobility. The...
Narcisse is a doorman for a jeweler but dreams of becoming a private detective. The Criminas agency hires him and he comes to the aid of his former boss's nephew, accused of stealing jewelry. He first passes for the accomplice of the young man but soon discovers the culprit.
Gaud Mevel, a young Paimpolaise brought up in Paris, falls in love with the rough sailor, Yann Gaos. When he knows she is an orphan and poor, he marries her. A few days later, he leaves for Iceland from where he will never return. The sea will take him back, jealous of his feelings.
Alcide Darbois, a small-time garage owner, and his sister Ursule come into a fabulous inheritance and become powerful industrialists. The cars they make a re very successful on the French market. Now a bit of a snob, Alcide decides to marry his daughter Suzanne to Marquis Gaëtan de la Michodière,...
Nicolas, the owner of a small café, has had enough of his current life. Business-wise, customers are more and more scarce. As for the love side, the situation is not any better as Jacqueline, his charming wife, not content to be spendthrift, might well be cheating on him.. To escape this harrowing...
