Acting
At the beginning of the 20th century, the destiny of Félicie Nanteuil, a young girl from the provinces who became a big star on the stage thanks to a comedian who committed suicide out of love for her.
Aubrey is a debt-ridden man. One day, he has the idea of faking his death and taking on the role of a deceased cousin about to receive a beautiful inheritance. This idea will, however, lead him to very difficult situations.
Returning by train to the French port of Le Havre, Jacques Lantier, a tormented railwayman, meets by chance the impulsive stationmaster Roubard and Séverine, his wife.
Minne is a very imaginative young lady. She pretends to have had lovers and can't think of anything better to do other than... to tell Antoine, her husband, the day she marries him. Bad beginning for the couple... As the marriage is not consummated for years, Minne feels frustrated and tries to find elsewhere the carnal knowledge she does not find at home. But Antoine is a kind-hearted man and on the occasion of a trip, a sexual balance is at last found between the two partners.
During a transvestite ball, a young provincial meets Fanny Legrand. A great love is born between them. Later, the young man learns that Fanny was a great coquette. He leaves her, he comes back, he forgives. But when he embarks for America, Fanny does not follow him.
A father falls in love with his son's mistress whom he has forced to emigrate to force him to break up. More carefree than a schoolboy, he ruins himself for the beauty who soon chases him away. The family will soon be reunited permanently.
Orphan Virginia is left destitute following her father's death and her uncle's alcoholism; she finds refuge with bohemians but is forced to flee, eventually finding romance and a life-altering experience that triggers surreal dreams.
Monsieur Bouladou pretends to be mad so he can get a divorce.
It is only the prospect of having a child that draws the otherwise strictly urban new wife, Suzanne, to a family farm, she really doesn't care for the countryside of for her in laws.
A one-night stand with an entertainer threatens to destroy a woman's marriage after she gives birth to a black child.
The maid of a doctor, he had some canvases he didn't care for bestowed on him once by an unknown artist, thankfully has saved them as the paintings are now worth some money and others want them.
Germaine Moreuil's insane jealousy triggers such violent marital quarrels that the spouses file for divorce. When Germaine's parents find out, they sham a fierce spat to disgust their daughter and her husband with the pathetic spectacle of a couple at loggerheads. But just as their farce is on the brink of becoming a tragedy, events combined with the blunders of all four happily reconcile everyone.
Jacotte, a little orphan, is adopted by two single uncles who are looking for a governess for her. Monique hides that she is very rich to be hired because she is seduced by the little girl. Her father, chocolate manufacturer and competitor of the uncles, decides to sink them. But everything works out when Monique marries one of the brothers.
Flipotte, driven out of his band of burglars, takes the name, personality, house and checkbook of Monsieur Pardigon. When the real Pardigon returns, he doesn't stop him because he has learned from Flipotte that money can make people happy.
Unhappy with her humdrum life as a provincial schoolteacher, Audrey Greenwood marries Major Carter, an officer in the British Army whom she does not love. Not long after the wedding Carter is on his way to Malaysia, accompanied by his wife, to take up a post in the British colony. During the long sea voyage, Audrey becomes acquainted with the handsome Prince Selim, the heir to the Malaysian throne. Life in the province of Malacca soon proves disagreeable to the free-spirited Englishwoman and she becomes a social outcast when her amorous affair with the prince is discovered.
Having pulled off a robbery with his friend Maurice, Olivier leaves his mistress Lola and hides out in a small village in the country. He finds work, thanks to a young man named Gilbert, who introduces him to his sister, Monique. Once the robbery has been all but forgotten, Olivier intends to head back to Paris, but before he goes, he steals money from his employer. In Paris, Olivier wants to say a proper goodbye to Lola, but she is being blackmailed by Jérôme, an antique dealer who has recognized a necklace stolen by Olivier. Before returning to Monique, Olivier calls on Jérôme to recover the necklace.
A short love story between a young girl and a worker in the shoe industry. Social differences will be the undoing of this union.
A couple of refugees arrives in a village: he is a cabinet maker, she's pregnant and the innkeeper refuses to give them a room; they wind up in the cowshed of a farm where she gives birth to her baby, the very night of Christmas.
On the very day of his wedding, Valentin Le Barroyer sees the one he was to marry fly away. Hélène has always loved her cousin André, to the great displeasure of her aunt who had combined the failed marriage. The two lovers take refuge in the Dordogne at the home of Hélène's grandmother who believes them to be really husband and wife. Valentin finds the young couple too late, he only has to console himself with a friend of Hélène's.
A young woman is in love with a young writer, winner of the Prix Goncourt. Married to a banker, she must face her husband's anger and the blackmail of a former suitor.
