Arlette and her brother are penniless orphans; as the man is to leave for Africa to work for a long time, the young girl is forced to live with her cousins, four spinsters, who place virtue over everything.

On the morning of January 30, 1889, the Archduke Rodolphe de Habsbourg and his mistress Marie Vetsera were found dead. The remains of Rodolphe are discreetly repatriated to Hofburg, while that of Mary is hastily thrown into the depths of a tomb.

"Olivia" captures the awakening passions of an English adolescent sent away for a year to a small finishing school outside Paris. The innocent but watchful Olivia develops an infatuation for her headmistress Julie and through this screen of love observes the tense romance between Julie and the other head of the school Cara in its final months.

Noël Rambert is overwhelmed by fate. Marthe, his wife, has left him. His son, little Jacques, sickly and touching, has psychic gifts. Life is not a happy one. A crime is committed. Poor Rambert is unjustly suspected. A good-looking man convinces him to confess his guilt. In doing so, he secures his child's future. Resigned to everything, the sad Rambert is ready for the scaffold. The little medium brings the truth to light and Mme Mortal denounces her husband, Daniel Mortal, the man behind the despicable bargain, as the murderer. Happiness returns with a bang, as the repentant Marthe Rambert continues to watch over little Jacques during the ordeal.

Cyrano, poet and cadet from Gascony, is afflicted with an excessively long nose which makes the beauties smile. He is no less in love with his cousin Roxane.

The inhabitants of a small provincial town are requisitioned to take part in the French army's major maneuvers. A foreign spy takes advantage of these maneuvers to steal secret documents. The pursuit and capture of the spy and his accomplices are successfully carried out by all those taking part in the maneuvers.