Writing
Charles Walter, a forestry contractor, has helped Noël Portal to start a new life. When Victor, the new foreman and Charles'wife's lover, is found murdered, everything points to the guilt of the deceived husband. To save his benefactor, Noël decides to accuse himself of the the crime. He is condemned to death.
Marcel Pagnol's adaptation of his own novel Manon des sources, the story of a shepherdess who exacts her revenge on the townsfolk she blames for killing her father, in two parts: Manon des sources and Ugolin.
Bienaimé, a modest postman, in love with Janine, the village postmistress, does not know that he is the illegitimate son of the old Baron de Mondésir. The Baron dies and in happy amazement, Bienaimé finds he is the sole heir to the deceased's estate. But he should be careful, for two crooks, Waldemar and Erika, are after his newly-acquired wealth.
The son of the Comtesse de Brévannes dies. She, who has never wanted to meet her daughter-in-law and who wants to take care of her grandson, goes to their house under the guise of a governess.
A waiter, Paul, likes detective novels as he identifies with the characters, before becoming a sought-after offender himself. He flees with his group and his girlfriend Jackie
A young couple discover an ancient book in the attic and start reading the story of the Malemort family: a sombre household set in the nineteenth century in rural France. The old man Deroze plays his violin and tries to seduce the maid. His elder daughter Maxime "qui tue les mouches et deguste en cachette des fruits juteux". Underneath her bourgeois facade her senses are not yet put to rest. There is the rest of this upstairs/downstairs family who is visited by a sea captain who learns of a hidden treasure The storyline of this adult fairy tale is less important than the cinematography and the lyric fairy tale atmosphere that surrounds this movie. A little masterpiece still to be rediscovered.
The practice of Dr. Julien, a GP of Marseilles, consists mainly of drug-addicts. One day, one of his patient dies at his surgery and Julien yields to the temptation : he steals the dead man's money and hides the corpse in a trunk. But the whole thing is discovered and ... misinterpreted. The doctor is condemned for killing the junkie and sent to the Cayenne convict prison, from which he escapes. The Indians give him shelter and he is soon given the opportunity to return their good deed when a yellow fever epidemic strikes their tribe. A young woman helps to fight the disease and, thanks to her, Julien starts considering that a new life is possible for him.
Lucien Bonnet, Jean Vigneron's manservant, blackmails his boss, who is having an affair with Inès de Montalban, married to Ricardo. Vigneron pays the sum but Lucien is killed by an accomplice, Baruch. Everything seems to accuse Jean who, for fear of compromising Inès, prefers to keep mum. Fortunately, his innocence will be proved thanks to a surprise witness. The two lovers flee to Congo while the husband soon forgets them, finding comfort in debauchery.
