Maximilienne

The Raffin Commissioner investigates the murder of an industrialist and it soon becomes apparent that the activities of the relatives of the deceased all revolve around the Folies-Bergere.

Fernand Martin, a schoolteacher in Nogent-le-Roi, is in love with Jacqueline, a postal worker and the older sister of one of his pupils. He asks for her hand in marriage, but her father refuses. One morning, he receives an appointment to Tahiti.

On this beautiful May 1st, Thérèse is about to give birth. Their presence at home is undesirable, so Jean, her husband, decides to take François, their little boy, to a soccer match. Their plans change when they meet a former factory mate who seems to have made a success of his life. This man, Blanchot, decides to return to Jean a sum of money he had once borrowed. Trusted, Jean is drawn into a clandestine circle, where his apparent luck delivers him without ulterior motive to Blanchot, who is one of the ringleaders. The police interrupt the dangerous game, putting Jean, who has no identity papers, in an awkward situation.

Peter Simon, a famous American writer, deserts his girlfriend Eva to live incognito at a small Normandy inn. Eva shams her own murder for revenge. Meanwhile, a young reporter, Françoise, has tracked Peter down. The news of the crime quickly spreads and, believing Peter to be the murderer, the village is in an uproar. Despite misadventures galore, everything turns out right and Peter takes Françoise on their honeymoon.

During the Occupation, a boarding school in Moulins was placed under the rule of a headmistress committed to collaboration. It is within these walls that Michel, Arthur and Franck, escaped prisoners seeking to cross the demarcation line, find themselves stranded. Three boarders, Manouche, Jo and La Tigresse, discreetly devote themselves to them. Until the day when, aware of the danger, they alert the Resistance through the intermediary of a warden. The three men cross into the free zone, and Michel promises to find Manouche.

The Baroness de Courtebise presides over an association of mothers-in-law with grievances against their sons-in-law. Armed with her prerogatives, she forbids the marriage of her daughter-in-law to the mayor's nephew, especially as an inheritance is in doubt. The ladies kidnap, the men kidnap, the election campaign turns sour and the Baroness must capitulate. She takes revenge by falling into the mayor's arms.

A marquis organizes a matrimonial contest with the aim of enriching three spinsters.

Mr and Mrs Barbezat,Concierges are to marry their only daughter to a butcher's boy. Both the in-laws and the groom have an obsession: come what may, they are keen on honoring their engagements: promises are made to be kept is their motto. And when, on the wedding day, the unfortunate parents cannot provide the newly weds with...the "Mérinos" mattress which is part of the bride's Trousseau ,they are desperate. The husband will spend the whole wedding festivities trying to keep his word.

A Boston school teacher fights with a group of impoverished Frenchmen for possession of an inherited château. Elizabeth Rockwell is indignant when she finds her château filled with squatters, a widower with five messy children, who have no regard for private property rights.

Is it because his father was a groom that Adhémar Pomme has a long horse head and a horse- toothed smile? Maybe but the fact is that his head has invariably caused laughter whatever the circumstances, which is the tragedy of his life. After having worked as an undertaker, a theater prompter, a casino bouncer, and so on, and failing at each job, he applies out of desperation to an institution where those rejected for physical reasons can hide and live together. But Adhémar immediately starts... laughing at them and gets kicked out as a result! In the end though, he finds his way as a circus artist.