René Hiéronimus

He travels to Aladdin's village, identified as being near the border with China, where he enlists Aladdin's help by pretending to be his long-lost uncle and offering to leave his wealth to Aladdin. At one point, the Magician character tells the story of his travels to China, India and Persia and we see a montage of these adventures and it's kind of interesting because of the way it invokes other cultures of the era. There is some unnecessary padding throughout as characters break into songs that do nothing but tell parts of Once upon a time, somewhere in Africa, a local magician dreamed of owning the Magic Lamp. Thanks to a Magic Ball he learned that the Lamp could be found in an Asian village and that only the innocent hand of a young person could snatch it. He traveled to the place, a village called Three Hill City, close to the Chinese border. There lived Aladdin

A young, talented and ambitious journalist, Louis heads off to try his luck in Paris. He's spotted by Walter, editor-in-chief for a major daily newspaper, who takes to him and furthers his career. What he doesn't realise is that Louis is ready to betray anyone to achieve his ends...

Marc, a motorcycle brigadier, is engaged to the charming Véronique. But his future brother-in-law, the clumsy Roger, leader of a Sunday motorcycle gang, has set his sights on joining the motorcycle police.

As Jean is walking across the countryside in search of work, he helps and befriends a young woman, Françoise, who is having trouble controlling the cow that she is leading. Jean finds work at a local farm, but he soon finds himself caught in the middle of the conflicts in Françoise's family.

Rejecting the union of her daughter Brigitte with a modest worker, Madame Magnin invents an adultery for the lover, then introduces Brigitte to a good-looking man working on the famous RTF entertainment show 36 Chandelles. The show ultimately seals the reunion of the two estranged young lovers. The story features a parade of music-hall stars from the era: Charles Trenet, Charles Aznavour, Georges Guétary, Juliette Gréco, Roger Pierre and Jean-Marc Thibault, Fernand Raynaud, Georges Ulmer and many more.

At trial the prosecuting attorney makes a startling confession: the defendant is his son whose pitiful fate led him to murder. The attorney left the young man's pregnant mother, and the unwed poor thing had to fight against a hostile world.

Hoping to scare wealthy young Bernard into getting married to his longtime fiancee Georgette, a phony fortune-teller is hired to inform Bernard that he is to die very soon. But thanks to a case of mistaken identity, the fortune-teller delivers this message to middle-aged gym instructor Étienne. Instead of heading towards the altar, however, Étienne decides to live his last few months on earth to the fullest -- and as a result becomes a millionaire at the gaming tables of Monte Carlo. Upon learning that he isn't going to kick the bucket after all, our hero pretends to be at death's door anyway, all for the purpose of patching up the rocky romance between Bernard and Georgette.

A soccer enthusiast like his father, Martin Lambert is the (gifted) goalkeeper of the local team. He falls in love with Jeanette and soon marries her. Alongside a happy marital life, Martin becomes a successful professional. Which proves a mixed blessing since fame makes him vain and haughty and his marriage gets seriously affected. But the Second World War breaks out and Martin is drafted. Taken prisoner a few months later, he is sent to a camp. When he is released, he tries resume his career but his wounds hurt too much and he has to give in. But not soccer: he will now proudly train young shoots.