Acting
In late 19th century France, the Countess Louise, wife of a wealthy general, sells the earrings her husband gave her on their wedding day to pay off her secret debts, then claims to have lost them. Her husband quickly learns of the deceit, which is the beginning of many tragic misunderstandings, all involving the earrings, the general, the countess, and her new lover, the Italian Baron Donati.
Orphaned after a Nazi air raid, Paulette, a young Parisian girl, runs into Michel, an older peasant boy, and the two quickly become close. Together, they try to make sense of the chaotic and crumbling world around them, attempting to cope with death as they create a burial ground for Paulette's deceased pet dog. Eventually, however, Paulette's stay with Michel's family is threatened by the harsh realities of wartime.
Barny, although a Marxist, is intrigued by the mysteries of religion. In confession, she teases a priest, Léon Morin, but he is a young and intelligent man and ready to discuss anything.
As Dominique Marceau is being tried for the murder of Gilbert Tellier, accounts by different witnesses paint a picture of the kind of relationship the two used to share.
Brigitte, the beautiful daughter of the French premier, falls for one of her father's aides, the womanising Michel, and attempts to get him to settle down with her. However, as Michel can't curb his flirtations with other women, Brigitte makes a play to seduce the married Prince Charles, resulting in a battle of wills between the gorgeous girl of privilege and her beau.
Recently released from reform school, Élisa works at Madame Irma's before moving to Paris, where her success is growing. On a trip to the provinces, she meets Bernard, a blind man. They soon fall in love, but Élisa hides her activities from him. When he finds out, he hits her. The situation quickly degenerates.
A railway worker, Leguignon, and his wife are forced to move into a house located in a shaggy part of town. What Leguignon doesn't know is that a group of children have discovered a treasure and keeps it stored in the house. Trouble ensues when he discovers the cache and tries to claim it as his own.
A lovely young nurse finds herself framed for the murder of a hospital patient who died after she administered an injection.
Bertal, a despotic and hated theater director, is assassinated before a performance of Macbeth in which he was to play with Aurélia Nobli, his companion and Ludovic Arn, her lover. The police arrive on the scene and the investigation begins. Suspicion first falls on Sigurd, an old actor who had threatened Bertal. But parallels appear between the characters in the play and the actors who play them.
Catherine is scouted by magazine editor Judith and her co-worker/boyfriend Michel. Promoted under the stage name 'Chouchou', Catherine becomes a big asset but things become complicated when she and Michel start developing mutual romantic feelings. These are exacerbated when Judith gets the idea of doing a wedding-themed shoot, wherein Catherine plays the part of the blushing bride and Michel finds himself as the groom.
A small child, fascinated by a lighter-than-air balloon, clambers aboard. The balloon takes flight, lifting the child upward to an amazing adventure. The land-bound adults have conniptions as the balloon wafts by; the child has nothing more than a great time.
A young opera dancer tries to help her mother financially by performing in a dubious cabaret.
Count Fernand du Bois d'Enghien typifies the pleasure seeker and as such he has a mistress of course, star singer Lucette Gauthier. But now Fernand feels it is time for him to tie the knot. For that, pretty Viviane Duverger is the ideal prey. The trouble is that the explosive Lucette does not hear it that way. Fortunately for Bois d'Enghien, Urugua, a rich South American general, falls in love with Lucette.
A penniless adventurer, Eddie Morgan survives on his wits and good humor. He's a bluffer. To help the owner of an oil field, he launches a vast investment campaign, with the help of a few friends, to benefit the French people. A rival group, led by Serge Colonna and Dominique Ardan, tried to buy the land from him, because according to an expert, there was no oil to exploit. But the expert had lied, and Colonna had just signed the purchase contract. Eddie, with the help of Dominique, whom he has seduced in the meantime, snatches the famous paper from Colonna's hands. The oil can flow.
A singer tries to rescue a man drawn into the drug trade.
You never can tell. Jean had always been one of the most confirmed bachelors that kept swearing to anyone that would listen he would never put a ring on a female finger. But that was before he met Juliette, a capricious but irresistibly lovely young woman. Well, what else can you do when you fall dead in love with a creature of the kind? And too bad if their honeymoon proved catastrophic. To say nothing of their housing problems : what to do when neither husband nor wife has any money? How to build one's love nest when the housing crisis rages? How to get by when your wife has luxury tastes?
At Christmastime, the love affairs of five clothing models working for Pierre Roussel, a renowned Paris fashion designer. Marlène hesitates between two suitors. Blanche, who loves Jean, Roussel's son, wants him to talk to his father about their relationship. Catherine learns that her lover has a wife and two kids. Jeannette throws herself into the arms of an Oriental prince. In despair the fifth one attempts to commit suicide...
The evocation of Paris in the 1920s mingles with the rapid rise of the irresistible Caprice, a talented singer, and her tumultuous love affair with Jeff the composer. A photographer nicknamed Bagnolet, a gentle anarchist, gently monitors the activities of Caprice, who has become Lady Paname and, in the absence of morality, makes love triumph.
Photographer Henri Barbier is lured by his old friend Barbara to fake the theft of her jewels. It turns out that he is suspected of murder and extortion, while Barbara and her lover are the culprits, which is eventually revealed.
The Dance is a 1962 French comedy film directed by Norbert Carbonnaux and starring Jean-Pierre Cassel, Françoise Dorléac and Arletty. The film is based on the French comic strip 13 rue de l'Espoir.
