A man once rejected by a young woman returns twenty years later to take revenge.

The duel between a Czarist general and a lieutenant, over the general's wife, is postponed with war approaching. Years later, the rivals meet again but the general realizes his wife has been faithful to him after all.

A thousand-franc bill passes from the pocket of an old rentier into the purse of an obscure star, then into the hand of a gigolo, back to its first owner, back to the star and ends its round in a dustbin, scorned by a beggar.

A visitor from the western front tells young children, in a sober commentary, about the battle of Verdun.

A very rich businessman, knight of the Legion of Honor, bets that he can start his career from scratch. After all kinds of adventures, he climbs the ladder of society and, having become rich again, finds love and a new fortune.

Georges Vinot nicknamed Bouboule, a colorful but naive Parisian, falls prey to a gang of diamond thieves. Not only do they manipulate him into smuggling stolen precious stones into Senegal but they have bought life insurance on his head, which means they are prepared to do anything to liquidate him. But Bouboule succeeds in thwarting all their traps and eventually decides to settle down in a Senegalese village, of which he becomes... king!

When the war is over, a captain finds it very difficult to reintegrate into civilian life. Nothing happens, neither in journalism nor in insurance.

19th Century Russia. State prosecutor Fedor Andreiev is presiding over the trial of a man who murdered his wife's lover. Despite a robust defence from the brilliant young lawyer Serge Rostoff, the accused man is found guilty and will be deported to Siberia. Having spoken to the condemned man, Fedor Andreiev sees a disturbing parallel with his own life...

During the students ' rebellion against Nicholas the Second in Russia, Viana tries to kill the governor but it's her lover who is arrested and sent to a sinister fortress : hence the title. To help the prisoner,Vania marries the officer who commands the place. There the convicts have really a bad time, but Vania manages to communicate with her dear captive. But beware of informers.