A struggling artist buys a talisman that gives him love, fame and wealth. The talisman is a severed left hand, and it works perfectly, in fact, magically. But of course there is nothing free in this world, and after one year the devil comes and asks for his due.

Naive and good-hearted Léon Ménard arrives in Paris, determined to find work in the capital. In a café, he meets Bob, a seedy guy, who helps him to get a job. On cloud nine, the ingenuous young man, does is unaware of how Bob manipulates him. Having become the night concierge of a hotel, the thankful Léon lets Bob and his accomplices get into the pace. Jewels are stolen as a result.When he is accused, Leon refuses to incriminate his "friend". Fortunately, Charlotte, Léon's fiancé, manages to find evidence of Bob's guilt and thanks to a premium paid by the diamond dealer the two lovebirds can buy a grocer's shop and tie the knot.

Madame Rose runs a seedy hotel in a suburb of Paris. Strong-minded but without the least moral scruple, she once killed her husband whose honesty was a hindrance to her business. Under a suspended sentence, she now indulges in smuggling. One day, Victor, one of her former accomplices hounded by the police, finds sanctuary with her. During a drinking spree, he has the bad idea to entrust to her a suitcase filled with bank notes, a loot with which Victor hopes to rebuild his life in South America. But Rose, lured by temptation, betrays Victor, who is arrested by the police. However, he manages to escape with only one thing in mind, to take revenge on Rose...

Eusèbe Bonbonneau, a solicitor's clerk, learns one day that a candidate bearing his name runs for election as a member of parliament. In fact Frazier, a crooked businessman, has urged an accomplice to impersonate Eusèbe, in order to obtain, through this straw man, authorizations for the creation of a casino in Sanceau-les-Nains and to make big money out of it. Eusébe decides to go to Paris to investigate. In the capital he meets Mariska, an exuberant actress who encourages him to try to get elected. As a result, thanks to her the true Bonbonneau becomes a member of parliament and the crook's accomplice is arrested. But Frazier is not impressed and, changing tactics, he starts manipulating Eusèbe.

Claude, who temporarily replaces his father at the head of a department store, falls in love at first sight with a pretty female customer. He finds out that she is named Solange and that she is the goddaughter of Professor Hauteclerc, who runs a private psychiatric hospital. To come closer to the girl of his dreams, Claude has a crazy idea: he pretends to be mad so as to be placed in Hauteclerc's institution.

During the Tour de France, five riders are found murdered with a red tulip near their bodies. A journalist and a police inspector lead the investigation to unmask the murderer.

Patrica is the wife of Alain de Saulieu, a handsome engineer. She unfortunately loses her husband, who is killed in action during a battle of the First World War. At least, this is only the official truth, for Alain is not dead. Patricia indeed recognizes him one day. But the inverse does not work the other way around: Alain has become amnesiac and he does not remember her. And worst of all, he lives in a conjugal relationship with Germaine, his dedicated nurse, who is now pregnant by him. What has the future in store then for the three (not to say four) of them?

Stanislas Oscar Seminario, aka SOS, is a young explorer, just back from Africa, visiting old friends: the Pescara's. But the father keeps receiving anonymous letters. And soon a mysterious murder is committed. SOS begins to investigate...

The manager of a firm has a very unusual idea : asking his employees to pose as gangsters and to hold up a bank before returning the stolen money and pocketing the reward. But things do not go according to plan and the phony thieves get stolen in their turn. They have no other choice than turning into amateur detectives to be able to pay back the stolen dough.

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.

Agnès Bonnardet leaves her parents to marry Claude Sironi, a painter who becomes famous but loses his talent. Meanwhile Agnes acquires a style of her own as an artist, which makes Claude jealous of his young wife. One day, he sends one of his own paintings to the Bazar de la Charité, a very trendy Paris department store, instead of one of his wife's works as ordered. Afraid of her being mad at him, he locks her up in the cloak room. A dreadful fire suddenly breaks out and sets the building ablaze.

The struggles of a small business owner come to light in this film by director André Cayatte. The proprietor of a fabric shop, M. Baudu faces stiff competition when a department store moves in across the street, the first of its kind in 1860s Paris. On top of the stresses associated with the rival retailer, Baudu’s niece and two nephews take up residence with him after recently being orphaned. The niece, Denise Baudu, sees the writing on the wall for her uncle’s business so she takes a job as a shop girl with his competitor and despite her success the decision does not register well with the family.

Summoned by his mother to plead, a very young lawyer has a trio of pathetic criminals acquitted. The daughter of one of them reveals to the lawyer that the three accomplices hoped to find food and board in prison. For the beautiful eyes of the young girl, Master of La Bastide attaches the three rogues to his service. Disasters, confusion, clumsiness follow one another until the planned wedding.

Julien Mortal, a singer from Portugal suffering from amnesia, made a career in France under the name of Paolo. One day, he discovers the truth about his past: a man tried to assassinate him.

Mortal is ready to do anything to obtain a divorce from his wife Nadia. To compromise her, he needs to find her a lover. He thinks he has found the ideal candidate in the person of a manly private detective by the name of Robert Arnaud. But the experience gets out of Mortal's control as, on the one hand, Robert and Nadia fall in love for good, and, on the other hand, Robert, assisted by resourceful young Toto, manages to expose Mortal as the jewel thief he is.

Josette needs to marry within a year to get her aunt's money but her fiance has left.After getting permission from her godfather for a "white wedding, " she realizes she loves the godfather instead.

Picpus is a street and a subway stop where a number of murders have been committed. Maigret tries to find the killer.

Léon Ménard, the village verger, is a decent young man whose hobby is to play the accordion. One day he is fired for having accompanied Mary Pinson, a singer deemed scandalous by the right-minded parishioners. Blinded by his love for Mary, Léon follows her to Paris where he becomes her plaything. With Mary's complicity, a gang of swindlers make him the puppet proprietor of a night club. But Léon can't live in a fool's paradise forever and soon finds himself on the street, forsaken and desperate. Luckily, the manager of a circus notices him while he is busking and he hires Léon at once. Not only will success come to him but he will win the love of sweet Solange.

Robert Montfort, happily married to Solange, is his parents-in-law's pet aversion though. To them he is a punk, a good for nothing, a small-time, untalented poet! Robert, who is more gifted than what they think, manages, following a workmate's recommendation, to debut as an entertainer in a nightclub and -even better- to please the audience. Not daring tell the truth to Solange he starts leading a double life, being Robert Montfort in the daytime and Jean Rigobert at night. Of course his wife wonders what is going on and worries about his regular night outings. Only too happy, her parents incite her to have a divorce. Fortunately, all comes right in the end.

Famous author Bretonneau gets his ghost writer Moluchet to impersonate the notorious criminal Jim la Houlette and pretend to steal a manuscript to boost the sales of their novels.