Marcel Melrac

In a chaotic 19th-century Paris teeming with aristocrats, thieves, psychics, and courtesans, theater mime Baptiste is in love with the mysterious actress Garance. But Garance, in turn, is loved by three other men: pretentious actor Frederick, conniving thief Lacenaire, and Count Edouard of Montray.

On the meandering Canal St. Martin, at the Parisian Hôtel du Nord, a nearly fatal gunshot separates a dejected young couple. But, amid a sad but beautiful panorama of lively characters, love has the final say. Can life be a fairy tale?

The Marquis de la Chesnaye and his wife host a weekend gala where a variety of complicated romantic and social entanglements between guests and servants lead to tragedy, all against the backdrop of a looming war.

A married tugboat captain falls for a woman he rescues from a sinking ship.

At the end of the 19th century, during a ball in Joinville, on the outskirts of Paris, Georges, a former delinquent working as a carpenter, meets Marie, a young woman connected to a criminal gang.

Martine, who has become a major star of the song in Paris, wants to return to visit her hometown. Confronted with Merlerault, a very haughty and noble character who wants to teach her how to live, she succumbs after a time of anger, to the charms of the gentleman. They get married but she forgot to tell her husband that her father is in fact the most famous poacher in the area.

Volpone, an elderly Venetian, connives with his money-crazed servant to convince his greedy friends that he is dying, knowing that each will try to curry favor with him in order to be named his heir. He is inundated with valuable gifts, and soon finds himself entangled deeper and deeper in a web of lies.

A famous comedian decrees that his fortune will go to whoever collects as many pop star autographs as quickly as possible. When he dies, two cousins ​​embark on the race for signatures.

Inspector Dumont and his deputy Inspector Queneau investigate the murder of a young woman. They learn that the victim was pregnant before her death and that she was the mistress of Mario, a shady playboy who had dumped her while she was with child. A doctor is first suspected but is he the real culprit?

The wife of gunsmith Gaston Sarazin cheats on him with his salesman. The husband, informed, wants revenge. The culprits try to divert suspicion on the dashing Stanislas. The husband forces the straw lover to live with him. Stanislas then brings the spouses together and makes the business of the gunsmith prosper.

Eugène, who works for Radio-Europe, is a bit dim-witted. He lives in a block of flats whose caretaker is Madame Motte, and the lady is in love with the young man. Just for laughs, Eugène's friends circulate on the air the rumor that Eugène has inherited millions of francs. It does not take long before a swarm of 'friends' start mixing with him. After a while, considering that the joke has lasted long enough, the jokers reveal the truth. Eugène immediately loses all his 'friends' but not he girl he loves. Even better, Eugène actually inherits a big sum of money. He who laughs last laughs best!

After committing a murder, a man locks himself in his apartment and recollects the events that led him to the killing.

Meg decides to commit suicide to escape the marriage to which her father intends her. She is saved by Jean-Pierre, another candidate for suicide, and Léon, a tramp who was just trying to reason with him. The trio then becomes inseparable and organizes a new life based on friendship and freedom.

1948. Madeleine is the headmistress of a kindergarten in Ménilmontant. Dr Libois, the school doctor, is very close to her heart. When Rose, a new helper comes to the school, Libois is impressed at once by her understanding of the little ones and her dedication to them. Little by little, Libois grows fond of Rose while becoming estranged from Madeleine. He eventually marries Rose.

Cecile, a young girl who goes to the offices of the Judicial Police several times in a row to complain about nightly visits to the apartment she occupies with her aunt, is not taken seriously by the police until she the day she is found murdered.

Barnes, the mate of the 'Portland', is the object of the hate of the whole ship's crew. His mistress is murdered shortly before the departure and suspicion naturally falls on him. Some time later, Jeff Cooper, the skipper, falls to his death in the middle of the night. Once again Barnes is suspected and the mate has to resort to force to maintain his authority on board. During the stopover, Barnes is interrogated and finally cleared. He is even appointed captain of the 'Portland' in replacement of Jeff and can marry his best friend's daughter.

Hercule, a young peasant, inherits a Parisian newspaper with a large circulation. The editor-in-chief, Vasco, takes advantage of his ignorance to make corruption prevail. But Hercules gradually realizes the role that we make him play.

Two paintings are stolen. Amateur private detective Roland Gautier investigates.

Captain Justin Mollenard works for a company that sells armaments to the Far East. After an eventful stay in Shanghai, where he and his cargo are the victim of a malicious attack, he returns to his hometown of Dunkirk. Mollenard receives a frosty welcome from his wife Mathilde, who resents the way in which he has neglected his family for so many years. Mollenard’s only wish is to get back to sea as soon as he can, but a sudden heart-attack leaves him paralysed and entirely in his wife’s power...

A wealthy industrialist, Roger de Vetheuil, married, feels assured of aging in peace. Then appears a blackmailer who accuses him of being a usurper, actually called Jean Pelletier, a mobster well known to police. Vetheuil, judging himself slandered, refuses to listen to his tormentor and goes to the police. The man speaks. The scandal is public soon ...

As Hélène is conveying her husband's body across the Sahara, her convoy is attacked by looters. The young widow survives only to be taken to a remote desert village called Tirzit amidst a band of lonely, ailing men. She meets her husband's partner who tries to kill her. Hélène does not report him to the police but is curious to learn the reasons for his action. Before dying of a terrible fever, the man confesses that he murdered her husband.

The brother of Jeanne Masson, a young nightclub singer, has been murdered by Brasier, a criminal who pretends to be a respectable man. Jeanne has resolved to avenge her brother but she just cannot take action herself. The way she finds is to ask police detective Pierre Leblanc to help her do it. Pierre gives his agreement and starts following the trail. He soon finds out that Brasier belongs to a gang whose boss, Cortedani, has ordered the murder.

Betrayed by his wife, a teacher proceeds to have an affair with a young and pretty student. The two women both find themselves expecting a child. The girl dies during childbirth. In a spirit of revenge and to keep his real son, the scorned husband exchanges the babies.

Cavalcade D'Amour is divided into three sections, each depicting a romance occurring within the walls of the Chateau de Champs. Legend has it that whoever marries in the Chateau is doomed to an unhappy life. This proves to be the case in 1639 and 1839, but the heroine of the 1939 segment, Corinne Luchaire, is determined to break the jinx. She is convinced that she will prove an unsuitable bride for Claude Dauphin, and he is likewise convinced that he will turn out to be an inadequate groom. But the couple's respective families will not be dissuaded, and the marriage takes place as scheduled? with unexpectedly happy results!

Maigret is called to the high-class Hotel Majestic to investigate a body. The wife of a wealthy American has been killed - but to Maigret's surprise she has a gun in her purse. He begins to follow up the handful of clues that could explain her secret life and her demise.

A couple of dancers performs in a night club. The man is jealous of Gina, his partner,and keeps making scenes to her, going as far as bullying her on the stage during their act. A man gets killed. The dancer is suspected for being jealous of all the other men. Another potential culprit could the father of Gina since he overprotected his daughter. The real culprit will be unmasked after the police detective finds the murder has something to with the Occupation period.

The Marquis de Barfleur, an unattractive man, decides to resort to plastic surgery to ensure the fidelity of Colette, his young mistress. Now endowed with a face to die for, he is about to achieve his goal. But the Marchioness de Barfleur, the Marquis' loving wife, does not hear it that way. She has her revenge claiming everywhere that her husband is... dead! An assertion people believe since they do not recognize the Marquis! When her vengeance has lasted long enough, she forgives the Marquis and husband and wife fall into each other's arms.

Two friends, mobilized together and idle, send their photos to two young workers. The photos are inverted, resulting in a real sentimental imbroglio which finds its best conclusion in the context of the Théâtre aux Armées.

For love, the singer Georges Hyverlin gives up his profession to work with his father-in-law in his car factory. When the passion for song takes him back, he manages to resume his career thanks to the support of his wife Martine.

A diplomat and fast liver, François lives the good life until, one day, he is unfortunate enough to win...a seal in a raffle. From this day on his everyday life becomes complicated, to say nothing of his sentimental life. Gabrielle, his all too serious girlfriend, can't stand the heat and calls it quits. But English girls like charming Diana don't mind seals...!

A British officer poses as a traitor in order to infiltrate a team of terrorists who are sabotaging ships, while a seductive cabaret dancer is working for the mysterious genius who runs the enemy spy ring.

Lafraise and Plumard, two rookies on the ship Le Victorieux, are on leave in the port of Toulon. At a time they get lost and in order to escape the Navy patrolmen, they disguise themselves and board a train. Now it happens that in the convoy a delegate of the government is on his way to Paris, with the mission to inaugurate a monument there. But the circumstances are such that our two friends are mistaken for the Minister and his secretary. Unabashed, the pair does the job, in other words, they deliver the expected speech, eat like horses, live it up - until they are recognized. Which eventually results in a prolonged stay in an unpleasant kind of hotel room named - the hold.

During the Second World War, Georges Masse undergoes a dangerous mission by taking secret documents from Tangiers to London.

A kind and generous village noble, specializing in good works, actually leads a double existence and carries out dishonest activities.

During the First World War, before joining a squadron at the front in 1918, Herbillon (Jean-Pierre Aumont) has a liaison with Helene (Annabella), a married woman. The young man discovers that his mistress is none other than the wife of Maury (Charles Vanel), an aviator friend.

On a rainy night, eccentric tramp Mr. La Souris finds a corpse. But the body soon vanishes in his car leaving only his wallet. While the police start investigating a missing person report, La Souris concocts a plan to secure his find.

Hervé is a tough sea captain in command of the "Duchesse Anne", a rum-trading ship. But the sea dog hides a tender heart and he allows Marie-Douce, a poor slum girl who dreams of seeing the wide world,on board. To have her accepted by the crew, he passes her off as his niece. A seasoned master like him, wise enough to ban alcohol use on his ship, should have known better : a beautiful girl on the deck cannot but unleash the savage instincts of all those men without women.

Janvier, an embittered teacher, is fed up with his colorless, monotonous life. One day he breaks away and ends up becoming a circus clown. In his new world, he meets a beautiful acrobat nicknamed Lili and grows fonder and fonder of her every day of his life. The trouble is that the lady bestows her favors to two different lovers : wealthy married man Chardeuil and good-looking but listless young Antonio. He now considers his duty to make Lili recover her dignity.

Even back in 1951, boys knew more about cars than their dads.

With a hand of steel, Hélène efficiently runs a big luxury perfume factory in Grasse. There is no room for fun in her dull businesswoman's life. Then, a car accident drops Claude Dubois, a painter, into her lap. But the artist will have to deploy all his subtle wiles and clever tricks to rouse Hélène's feelings and get her to enjoy the cozy life of a cherished wife.

A famous singer disappears in a plane crash. Her two little girls are given a new home by their grandfather. Unfortunately the good man has an old housekeeper who goes out of her way to make their lives impossible. In desperation the two brats run away to Paris. Meanwhile, the girl's father manages to steal important documents. In the end, Gaby and Ginette track down their mother who had not got killed at all. All is well that ends well.

Cambo, a banker, has been in trouble since a certain Parizot has tried to extort stocks from him. Following the advice of his friend Quincampoix, Cambo decides to trade places with Bardac, a painter, who happens to be his lookalike. Bardac slips into Cambo's shoes with delight although he does not really live up to his task. But Cambo, who manages to ruin Parizot, makes a 100% profit on the situation. There are of course some misunderstandings when one man is mistaken for the other, notably as concerns Lulu and Geneviève, respectively Bardac's and Cambo's sweethearts, but things finally return to their initial state.

Schomberg, an enigmatic psychiatrist runs a nursing home. He is forced to close his clinic and disappear to escape the police. But he wants revenge on his wife's lover, Didier Laurent, a former RAF fighter pilot. Didier meets a young trapeze artist, Paula, with whom he falls in love. The happiness of the two young people is disturbed by the assassination of Irene, strangled by Schomberg who casts suspicion on Didier. Fortunately for them Commissioner Ulysses knows the truth and forces Schomberg to commit suicide.

The aunt of Alfred Puc, a meek tax-collector in Paris, dies while riding in a moving van. The driver, not wishing to be bothered by a police interrogation, hides her corpse in a cupboard before notifying Alfred. But the van is stolen. Alfred, being the heir of a rich lady, begins a frantic search to locate the missing van and the cupboard because one can't claim an inheritance if there is no 'corpus delecti.' In his search, he gets caught up in an underworld web and finds the body of a murdered gangster in his room. He finally locates the cupboard but promptly loses it again. But, wait, it isn't "finis' time, yet.

The son of an industrialist is in love with a saleswoman employed by his father. The latter coos with an ingenue from whom he hides the age of his son. A department manager involved in all this has his sentimental disappointments. A double marriage puts a happy ending to the plot.

Loiseau the pharmacist mistakenly mixes potassium cyanide into a batch of cough syrup and sells five bottles. With horror he discovers his mistake and sets out to find the buyers. He finds only four. The fifth, not a regular customer, comes back to the pharmacy...

A rich businessman living alone is deprived of the nephew he was to have brought up decides on his doctor's advice to search for the four illegitimate children he once fathered, which leads him to accept responsibility for his actions.

In 1939, in a maternity ward, a young man visits his mistress who has just given birth to a little girl. He tells her that he is married and that for him the outcome of this adventure was not really planned. The mobilization separates them but the young man will end up divorcing and with the relentless help of a friend, will find his mistress and his child and will be able to marry her in spite of the chaos of the war.

A young woodcutter turned into a boxer, learns the sad fact that some of his triumphs have been stage managed, and confronts his nasty manager.

To inherit from his late uncle, Narcisse Pigeon is obliged to pass his pilot's license.

"Menaces" deals with the months before WW2 in a hotel :t he fear of the impending war never leaves the guests of an hotel in Paris.