Major Labourdette receives an accommodation ticket to spend the night with the widow Martin. Now, there are two Martin widows in the small garrison town, and one of them keeps a house of promiscuous girls. Labourdette gets the wrong landlady and ends up at home. He will keep an unforgettable memory of this night.

Le Bouif is a popular figure on the Parisian racetrack. He has the patter, the aplomb, the bonhomie, which allows him to pass on indestructible pipes to the racegoers. The amazement is general when he is accused of murdering the person of his son-in-law and then suspected of having suppressed the owner of a stable. Faced with the stubbornness of the examining magistrate, but helped by sympathetic young people, the Bouif proves his innocence and, back on the lawn, measures his popularity.

In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France.

Boule de Gomme is a child actor. On the set of the film he is shooting he gets on the nerves of the director and of the all crew by being off the beat when he is asked to cry or to laugh. Nobody manages to reason with him, with the exception of a grip who uses the rough way. A good beating and everything comes right in the end. The grip is promoted to the rank of production manager.

Blaireau, a poacher, is imprisoned for an offense he didn't commit. An ambitious lawyer tries to exculpate and glorify him. But, once he's released, this major philosopher destroys in just a few hours the prestige painstakingly built by his liberator.

Father Sourire, who came to the Château de Villetaneuse to ask for alms, was forced to put on the uniform of the nephew who had fled from the barracks. A soldier in spite of himself, he knows the most frightening adventures which even lead him to a boxing fight from which he will emerge victorious.

Doctor Planturel who is leaving for a vacation, hires a new servant too hastily. Now, Victor, the alleged domestic, is in fact a robber whose only aim is to burglar the doctor's house. But when a client comes to consult Planturel, he must keep up the appearances. That is why he asks his accomplice Fanchonnet to play the role of the doctor.

Honorin is the simple and naive stage manager of a traveling theatre troupe, whose one ambition is to once play the role of the cavalier in the opera "Francis I, or the Loves of the Beautiful Ferroniere". A hypnotist puts him to sleep and in his dreams he is transplanted to the days of the Renaissance. There, among other items, he is made a Duke by Henri VIII, fights a duel and survives a series of medieval tortures, while also bestowing some 20th century blessings on the court of Francis I.

Philémon, a wealthy dilettante, is going to do his military service in the provinces under the authority of a colonel friend of his father. Lucien, a lieutenant and Jeanne, the colonel's daughter, are secretly in love with each other; but the colonel plans for his daughter a marriage with Philemon. In the meantime, Folette de Saint-Pageot, a coquette, arrives in the village to claim money from the colonel, while also coveting that of Philémon. To protect himself, the colonel makes Folette pass for Lucien's fiancée. Out of spite, Jeanne decides to marry Philémon. They all find themselves in Folette's room, where they have a frank explanation which clarifies all their links. The lieutenant will marry Jeanne, and Folette will be maintained by Philémon.