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.

A man plans to kill his wealthy wife for her money and so he can be with his beautiful young mistress. However, things don't turn out exactly as he had planned.

Italy during the Napoleonic wars: A French General and his Adjutant are separated from their unit get beyond the enemy lines. There they meet Carlotta the resolute daughter of an Italian Count, who cannot withstand the charm of the French.

While visiting her father, an American teenage girl is thrown into London society during its final "Debutante Season."

Antoine Saint-Just, comrade of Robespierre and youngest member of the Committee of Public Safety, is drawn into the tempestuous political & military conflicts of France under the Terror.

Bastien du Boccage is a repeat offender: hasn't he been sent to jail no fewer than six times? But he is no ordinary criminal mind you. As a matter of fact he is a newspaper editor and should have no problems with justice. The trouble is that he has a sister, Lucrèce, who is agony aunt in his newspaper and who tends not to mince her words. To make matters worse, Francine, his daughter, has fallen in love with Bruno, a penniless student and Lucrèce is prepared to do anything to prevent her marriage..

A trucker encounters a dead body on the road home. He reports the incident to the police, who suspect that Jean was responsible for the death, and his new truck is impounded. To make matters worse, the man's widow accuses him of having robbed her husband, and a gang of sinister crooks are also harassing him.

The Marquis Rodolphe de Sombrueil accidentally runs over a working man with his carriage and helps his widow -- unjustly accused of robbery -- to find her missing daughter.

An American agent disappears after a scuba diving reconnaissance mission in Corsica. The Secret Service sends agent code name OSS 117 to investigate.

Seven directors each dramatize one of the seven deadly sins in a short film. In "Anger," a domestic argument over a fly in the Sunday soup escalates into nuclear war. In "Sloth," a movie star would rather pay someone to tie his shoe than bend over to do it himself, and he can't be bothered to accept a starlet's sexual favors. In "Gluttony," a peasant family on its way to the funeral of a relative who died from indigestion stops regularly to eat and drink en route, arriving in time to eat some more. In "Greed," a high-class prostitute refunds the price of a cadet's lottery ticket. In "Pride," an unfaithful wife finds reason to reform. And so on through lust and envy.