After twenty-seven long months spent in Algeria, Frédéric Simon, a young photographer is determined to forget this time of trouble. Now that the Army has finally discharged him he wants to live the good life. And at first, things go according to his wishes: not only does he marry Sylvie but they are invited by a wealthy man to Monte Carlo, where they spend a dream honeymoon. But back in Paris, hard times await them. Not finding work easily along with having to live in a cramped apartment make Frédéric bitter and unpleasant. When Sylvie becomes pregnant, he slams the door and finds consolation in the arms of Christine, an ex girlfriend, which he soon regrets. At last, the situation improves. Frédéric finds work and starts making money as a fashion photographer. But the good life cannot go on: one morning a policeman knocks at the young couple's door: the country wants Frédéric back in the Army.

Marcel, a simple-minded factory worker, is tricked into buying a high-priced American convertable car by a widow determined not to let it fall into the hands of her late husband's secretary/secret lover. Once in pocession of the car, Marcel only encounters one bad luck episode after another with the excessive gasoline consumtion, his wife trying to sell it to make ammends meet, getting into traffic jams, accidently riding into a car wash with the top down, and more.

Two scriptwriters argue about the fate of Henrietta, a charming and gamine shopgirl. One favors a comical path for their heroine, who is overcome with sentimental love for a young photographer on Bastille Day. The other has a more thrilling and dastardly fate in mind for her. Among the film's irresistible conceits is Hildegarde Neff as an oversexed circus bareback rider.

During the Second World War, in occupied Paris, a group of high school students is more active at selling cigarettes and silk stockings than at studying. But the day a new philosophy teacher takes charge of their class, things begin to change. It must be said that Mademoiselle Bravard is not only a gifted educator but a charming young woman as well. Thanks to her, all the students end up passing their finals.

The itinerant musician Lampluche, having found a musical score on the banks of a river and a full wallet, was taken to the neighboring town for the famous composer Maxence Leroy. The inhabitants of the small town only dream of music, so Lampluche is very well received. But Maxence Leroy arrives in the city.

A student from an elementary school accidentally breaks the glass roof of his school. His comrades decide to support it by working during the summer holidays in order to pay for reconstruction.

A film about the early part of the French Revolution, shown from the eyes of the citizens of Marseille, counts in German exile and, of course, the king Louis XVI, each showing their own small problems.