Jiro Takimura, a painter, falls in love with Marie, a beautiful married woman who is studying painting abroad in France.

Safecracker Eddie Chapman is languishing in prison on the island of Jersey when the Nazis arrive. An adept manipulator of situations, Chapman convinces the Germans to use him to spy on the British. And when the would-be traitor arrives home, he convinces the English to use him as a double agent -- in exchange for a full pardon.

A pair of Americans want to perform the greatest robbery: the treasure of San Gennaro, in Napoli.

During his childhood, a boy sees four men drown his father; now, the grown young man makes it his business to kill each member of the foursome. His last killing presents him with some challenges, as his victim is only wounded. He kidnaps the man's daughter and goes to a hideout. In the meantime, an ex-cop has been tracking them down.

The story follows the son of a millionaire from the 1920s to the 1960s. After losing his fortune in the stock-exchange crash, he teams up with an equestrienne and becomes a circus clown.

In 1827, Berthet, the son of a craftsman and a young seminarian, was tried and sentenced to death for murdering his former mistress, the wife of a noble who had hired him as tutor to his children.