Sisif, a railwayman, saves a young girl named Norma orphaned by a train crash and raises her as his own daughter alongside his son, Elie. As she becomes an adult, Sisif grapples with whether to tell Norma the truth about her parentage.
In a small fishermen's village love affairs are in turmoil, amidst political meetings and revolutionary activities. Nature adds drama to the human passions with its wind- and sea-storms.
Father-and-son lion tamers, Rabbas and Léo share a mistress - Rosita, the " lovely bitch " of the film's title. She is as wild as their lionesses and, in a single night the father is injured and the son attempts suicide. Only when Rosita leaves the circus can things get back to normal.
Jean Larivière receives an impromptu visit from his future father-in-law while Lina, his mistress, learning of his marriage, has come to make a scene. The baron is seduced by Lina, and Jean, noticing that Angélique, his fiancée, is not so bad after all, is very happy to marry her.
A French film star visits Coimbra and it's old university, and breaks a poor local girl's heart, as her fiancee turns his attentions to the foreign girl. In a play within the story, one is told the sad love story of Don Pedro, king of Portugal, and Inês de Castro.
Rose is a young factory worker, seduced and abandoned by her lover. She feels compelled to abandon her baby, who will grow up in a rich family, with problems of its own. Rose lives through plenty of adventures, always repenting for leaving her child, until one day.
Philibert Bretonneau signs novels which are actually written by Moluchet, his secretary, secretly in love with Bretonneau's charming wife, Pauline... One day, Jim la houlette, the king of thieves, resurfaces in France. He steals jewels from Madame Clisson, the wife of a lawyer. Saint-Lévy,...
