A provincial ingenue leaves her mother’s tobacco shop with dreams of a life in the Parisian theater, only to become entangled in relationships with a lecherous aristocrat, his starry-eyed nephew, and an old ham actor.

Catherine Hubscher, who washes the shirts of young Napoleon and other soldiers fighting the Revolution, falls in love with Sergeant Lefebvre. Circumstances bring Lefebvre a noble title and even more -- Napoleon decides to make him the local ruler over a large territorial fiefdom. But trouble brews when Madame Sans-Gene, now elevated to the nobility along with her man -- cannot keep her frank observations under control.

Gemma, caught between her desires and reality, struggles to navigate her marriage and personal ambitions.

Beautiful housekeeper Babette travels to England after the Nazis invade France. There, British intelligence devise a plan for Babette to sneak back home, where she could use her feminine charm on key Nazi officer Schulz, gleaning valuable information for England. However, Babette, although willing and spirited, is naïve and untrained, making her less than ideal for matters of national security.

There is a lot of excitement in the high society of Venice: An Arab prince, who always travels incognito, is said to be in the city. By chance, the elegant Isabella gets to know the handsome heir to the throne - and it does not take long for her to fall madly in love with him. Isabella has no idea that her dream man is really the impostor Gérard, who looks remarkably like the prince and was hounded by the sleazy crook Alfredo on Isabella to steal their precious jewelry.

Having recently moved into her new apartment, Irène Cazenave, the widow of a well-known police officer, is forced by one of her husband's colleagues to take part in an investigation. The building's provocative concierge has been found murdered. We watch a parade of suspects, only to learn at the end that Irène killed the janitor under blackmail. She kills herself.

Michel Piccoli plays a police inspector whose best friend is murdered on the orders of gang boss Charles Vanel. The inspector knows full well that Vanel is too crafty and well-connected to ever stand trial for his crime, so he carefully lays a subtle trap for his adversary. Unfortunately, both Piccoli and Vanel are thwarted by a pair of scheming females.