Acting
A self-assured businessman murders his employer, husband of his mistress, which unintentionally provokes an ill-fated chain of events.
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.
Armand, a boastful womaniser, makes a bet that he can seduce any girl he wants. He soon crosses paths with a beautiful Parisian divorcee, who is nothing like anyone he has ever met before.
Jour de FĂŞte tells the story of an inept and easily-distracted French mailman who frequently interrupts his duties to converse with the local inhabitants, as well as inspect the traveling fair that has come to his small community. Influenced by too much wine and a newsreel account of rapid transportation methods used by the United States postal system, he goes to hilarious lengths to speed the delivery of mail while aboard his bicycle.
Identite Judiciare stars Raymond Souplex as wily French police inspector Basquier. The villain is Berthet (Jean Debucourt), a high-ranking government official. Basquier suspects that Berthet is a vicious murderer, but is unable to prove anything thanks to bureaucratic interference. Thus, the good inspector plays a waiting game a la Columbo, hoping for that one fatal slip on the part of the killer. Certain portions of Identite Judiciare proved a bit too intense for American audiences, and were accordingly snipped by the censors.
Juju, a drunken oaf who feels the need of being important to someone---anyone---and his friend The Artist are forced at gunpoint to house a fugitive, Pierre Barbier, in Juju's broken-down home. The urge for being needed is such in Juju that he gives up drinking and takes care of Pierre. But one day Juju finds out that Pierre has been making love to his girl Maria...
A daydreaming French composer sees himself as a fine figure dashing through history.
Police Commissioner Jules Maigret returns to the small village where he spent his childhood at the request of the Countess of Saint-Fiacre, who has received a disturbing anonymous letter.
Malou, a prostitute from Montmartre, and her pimp, have found a well laid scheme : whenever she (or he) wants to get rid of a lover, she announces to him in a tearful voice that she is pregnant. The reaction of the fall guy-is invariable: he gives her compensation money and disappears. But there is always an exception to the rule. And, as it happens, the exception is a widowed insurer, Monsieur Archibald. Indeed when he is told by Malou that he is going to be a father, he is...elated!
Toinet, Girelle and PĂ©nible fish for sardines in Marseille. To dazzle their conquests, they present themselves as rich can manufacturers, while the little flower girls play movie stars. A ridiculous suitor wants to discuss a business deal, a potential sponsor appears and the whole tohu-bohu reclaims the songs of Vincent Scotto.
Proud, eccentric, and antisocial, Monsieur Hire has always kept to himself. But after a woman turns up dead in the Paris suburb where he lives, he feels drawn to a pretty young newcomer to town and discovers that his neighbors are only too ready to suspect the worst of him.
Roland Lasserre is a shy boy, which would be nothing if he weren't also prone to the violent tantrums that have earned him his nickname "Soupe au lait". It's when Francine announces her engagement that he decides to declare his love for her. Francine is not at all keen on the husband her parents are forcing on her - a wealthy record manufacturer - but she gives in under their pressure and asks Roland to give her up. But fate has other plans. A car accident provokes the young man's anger, and with Francine on board, he chases after the hit-and-run driver and ends up in a ditch, luckily undamaged, 50 km from Paris. Torrential rain, lack of transport, welcoming hostelry. All Roland and Francine have to do is confess their guilt, and for the sake of honor, get married... All would be well were it not for René, the neglected fiancé, who provokes "Soupe au lait" and triggers a scandal during the ceremony.
The scene is set during the Second Empire. Captain Bitterlin watches jealously over his lovely daughter Madeleine but he cannot prevent nature from demanding its rights and Madeleine soon finds herself a suitor in the person of Mario, a dashing young songwriter. Bitterlin, who wishes his daughter to "evade the grip" of the young man, takes her away to Monte Carlo. There, the captain does what he had sworn he would never do, he gambles in a casino. And even more upsetting: Mario might well be hereabouts...
Lucky Baron Jérôme Napoléon Antoine wins a boat in a card game and takes off with his former lover in search of new adventures. Adverse circumstances land them in a small town, where the Baron's seafaring companion departs for more attractive scenery offered by a wealthy local. Meanwhile, there's a certain charming café owner that the Baron finds irresistible – at least for awhile.
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 thinks that, in spite of Dr. Furnelle's conclusions, Gilbert's death was not natural. But finding the cause of death and the identity of the possible culprit will require more than a mere intuition.
Sénéchal, an actor touring the provinces with the "Tournées Carlini" does not meet the success he thinks he deserves. One night in Dreux, he finds himself without his luggage and dressed up as a Foreign Legion officer, he is invited to a party thrown by a colonel. He creates a sensation there and does not leave the colonel's wife ... indifferent! Back in Paris, Sénéchal goes through a similar experience. This time around, wearing tuxedo and top hat, he gets mistaken for a diplomat and charms the guests of a wedding party. Arrested by the police, he chooses to do without an attorney at his trial and his brilliant eloquence has him acquitted. A question remains unanswered though : will all those people who give an ovation in real life ever go to see him on stage ?
A trio of criminals gradually become entangled in theft and crime. Serge is arrested, his mistress, Hélène, and his accomplice, Michel, both become lovers, try to exonerate him and use false fingerprints first, then after Serge's conviction, gloves covered with the same fingerprints of the prisoner.
Daniel Gelin and Juliette Faber star as a blissfully happy honeymooning couple. They are so happy that they arouse the jealous attentions of Satan. The Dark Prince sends an emissary to beak up the romance, but his advocate is promptly challenged by a representative from "up above."
La Hurlette and Carmen are a pair of philosophical tramps who enjoy simple pleasures in the company of the cheerful Sosthène. As in the fairy tales, La Hurlette learns that he has just inherited a tidy fortune, provided he can find a job. By dint of hard work, he manages to do so, and a banquet brings together his disinherited friends. Determined to live the high life, La Hurlette and Carmen lose all their inheritance at the Cabourg casino, and end up as philosophical as ever on their favorite bench.
When she sets sail for Lisbon, Catherine Laurence, a famous classical singer has but one wish: to be left alone. Unfortunately she soon gets bothered by a rude, invading man. Later she gets to know him better and becomes susceptible to his charm. She realizes that Michel is in love with her and it is not long before she goes beyond her disastrous first impression. Although not quite sure he is a perfectly honest man she entrusts him with a delicate assignment: keep her precious pearl necklace coveted by Van Coolart, a fake Dutch diamond-merchant, and give it back to her in Paris. If he is a robber himself, so much the worse for her. But if Michel keeps the Paris rendezvous love is in store for both of them. Nevertheless there is a crucial factor she regrettably disregards, composer Raymond Aubour, a faithful friend who has been her suitor for ten years.
