In southern France, in a quiet little town, the mayor, who also owns a castle with some cattle, is in the wine cellar with some other people: the pharmacist, the veterinary, and some of his employees. As they are drinking wine, they hear a terrible noise and the heat's getting higher and higher. They don't realize what's happening: when they come out of the cellar, they realize that everything has burned, and all the buildings are destroyed...

Head waiter Leopold has been secretly in love with the hostess Josepha for a long time, but she only has eyes for Dr. Siedler, a guest in the White Horse Inn. Leopold tries to get Dr. Siedler interested in the daughter of Industrialist Giesecke, who would rather see his daughter married to Sigismund.

After years of silence, Thomas reunites with his great love, Petra, and is devastated: She has married his best friend, Christoph. Thomas remains friendly but secretly schemes to denigrate Christoph as a criminal and thus reclaim the woman he loves.

Lucia, a young German married to Paolo, a Neapolitan emigrant, is raped. She tells a lie to her husband, but the day he discovers the truth a tragedy begins for the woman...

When the Paris airport management is informed by telephone that there is a time bomb on board a Canadian Atlantic Airways plane to Montréal, they initially believe it is a bad joke. But the caller answers again. Inspector Bignon gets involved...