François Vidocq has been sentenced to eight years' hard labor for a crime he didn't commit. Escaped with the help of his faithful friends Desfossés and Fil de fer, the convict is pursued by his lifelong enemy: the policeman Flambart. Between scams and disguises, Vidocq initially leads an undercover life in 19th-century Paris. Eventually, the two men team up to fight criminals... And Vidocq succumbs to Annette's charms.

The Marquis Rodolphe de Sombrueil accidentally runs over a working man with his carriage and helps his widow -- unjustly accused of robbery -- to find her missing daughter.

Sophie Mallet is the lively manager of a detective agency, assisted by Emile Gachit, her conscientious but not very effective right-hand man. One day a fellow named David entrusts her a pack of cigarettes that she is supposed to hand over to a certain John Smith. But David soon disappears while John Smith is murdered. Moreover, a lot of dubious characters prove "very interested" in the pack of cigarettes... Which will keep Sophie and Emile for some time...!

A robbery of 10 billion is successfully carried out by a Corsican gang led by a man called Toussaint. The heist is also the start of a war with a rival gang.

A nightclub owner and his stripper girlfriend take a country ride, meet another rival underworld guy along the way, and team up to thwart a third gangster who's on their tails.