The plot concerns a comet hurling toward Earth on a collision course and the different reactions to people on the impending disaster.

Miquette is a young woman whose beauty and vivacity increase the clientele of her mother's tobacco shop. A Barrymoresque actor believes that Miquette has star potential, but he hasn't sufficient capital to finance her theatrical debut. He manages to get the money by practicing a bit of genteel blackmail on an aging marquis who has romantic designs on the heroine.

Harsh Parisian judge Gaetan (known as Monsieur Maximum), chafing in the idleness of retirement, leaves for a seaside holiday. But Gabriel the chauffeur has his mind on his girl, not the car; Gaetan and wife Nathalie are stranded in the country, where they find shelter in a low class bistro patronized by cheerful jail birds. Once the ice is broken, they have a wonderful time, but as the judge tries to trick his new friends into reforming, inevitable exposure approaches...

A small town gentleman learns that his prim and proper wife was once a showgirl, and that, even worse, he had enjoyed a one night stand with her in the Orient.

Professor Charles Buisson, astronomer and Nobel Prize winner, has just discovered a nova. He informs the other observatories by telephone. Just as he thinks one of them is calling back, he finds himself on the line with a young woman threatening suicide at the Ruban Bleu cabaret, if her lover hasn't joined her by midnight. Intrigued, the professor decides to go and prevent the unfortunate woman from committing suicide. One of his students, who earns her living as an understudy in a knife act, helps him in his investigation, while the school principal and a policeman suspect him of being a prankster or even of selling drugs. For the scientist, it's an opportunity to discover a world of music-hall that he'd never known before: "I thought I knew the sky chart by heart, but there's one planet that was totally unknown to me: Earth. I'll be back!

When a measles epidemic forces the temporary closing of a child care center, the son of a film star and her estranged husband, a concert pianist, is mistakenly delivered to a touring musician.

Auguste, a somewhat simple-minded Provençal fisherman, loves and admires Mireille. This concerns only Maurice, son of an important wholesaler, whom scruples do not stifle. Seduced and abandoned, Mireille moves Auguste who tries to mend his poor happiness. The local priest, with wise words, leads Mireille to offer her hand to Auguste.

Georges Gauthier is an electrician who lives with his mother and his sister Madeleine. He is the son of a womanizing singer who made his mother miserable. For all that, Georges is attracted to show business all the more as he falls in love with Jeanne, the daughter of singer Lormel. Georges is spotted by Cartier, the manager of the Folies Concert and makes his debut as a singer under the assumed name of Jean Papillon.

Léon, a humble civil servant, has the unusual ability to walk through walls, however thick they are. One day, he falls madly in love with a charming hotel thief by the name of Suzan.

"Easiest Profession" - Tistin is the only unemployed man in Clochemerle. Obliged to use their tax money to keep Tistin alive, the other guys in town insist that he find some sort of work. Tistin obligingly takes a few jobs, working for the various ladies in town. Before long, the menfolk become convinced that Tistin is using this cover to play the field, and they're angry at him all over again.