Serenade for Mariam

Charles Walter, a forestry contractor, has helped Noël Portal to start a new life. When Victor, the new foreman and Charles'wife's lover, is found murdered, everything points to the guilt of the deceived husband. To save his benefactor, Noël decides to accuse himself of the the crime. He is condemned to death.

The almost financially ruined French gentleman Gaston Dewalter spends several days in Biarritz before going off in the Hispano-Suiza, a luxe car which was a present from his friends. George becomes the lover of Lady Stéphane Oswill pretending he is wealthy. Then Stéphane spends the remaining funds with which the now desperate George hoped to rebuild his fortune in Senegal.

A petty thief works his way up the absurd hierarchy of Goto, an archipelago cut off from civilisation by a tumultuous earthquake. His dream is to possess Glossia, a stifled beauty trapped in a loveless marriage to a melancholic dictator.

Accused of dealing in counterfeit, Paul entrusts his daughter Brigitte to the care of a friend, Jean Clary. The girl, a walking catastrophe, finally wins Jean's heart. They unmask the forgers, clearing Paul's name and can now concentrate on their love.

Monsieur Eloy, his wife and their ten-year-old son, Zizi, are off to their country home for the weekend. When they arrive, the two men settle into the garden, while Madame gets down to her cooking. When an embassy official and his wife invite themselves for lunch, the whole household is in an uproar.