Romance takes a back seat to drama in this movie depicting life at the once-fashionable Parisian bordello known by its address 122 Rue de Provence. Patronized by the wealthy and powerful, this elegant house of prostitution featured a top-ranked restaurant and specialized rooms for men with unusual tastes: a railroad carriage room, a stable room, etc. In the story, two young people "on the make" bump into each other as they are arriving in the same rail station. Though attracted to one another, they are deliberately vague about their destinations. He is headed for a diplomatic career, she is an ambitious young prostitute who wants to work at the best house in France. Later, they meet at 122 Rue de Provence.

In Louis Malle's lauded drama, Lucien Lacombe is a young man living in rural France during World War II who seeks to join the French Resistance. When he is rejected due to his youth, the resentful Lucien allies himself with the Nazis and joins the Gallic arm of their Gestapo. Lucien grows to enjoy the power that comes with his position, but his life is complicated when he falls for France Horn, a beautiful young Jewish woman.

Albert is an eccentric inventor of missiles who comes under fire from his investors when his first prototype explodes. Even his sympathetic mistress has her doubts, as Albert lashes out in a verbal tirade condemning those of little faith in his genius.

A young man who has just committed a hold-up finds refuge in an old house.

Jeanne Quester is a psychologist-on-the-airwaves in a radio station. She got a raw deal when she was a child.

Village of Artigat, southern France, summer 1542, during the reign of Francis I. Martin Guerre and Bertrande de Rols marry. A few years later, accused of having committed a robbery, Martin suddenly disappears. When, almost a decade later, a man arrives in Artigat claiming to be Martin, the Guerre family recognizes him as such; but doubts soon arise about his true identity.

A great French restaurant's owner, Monsieur Septime, is thrust into intrigue and crime, when one of his famous guests disappears.

The day he is released from jail, Serge is expected by four killers sent by Count Charles Varèse assigned to make him confess where he has hidden the jewels stolen during his last stickup. On the other hand the police inspector who arrested him offers him protection on condition he gives him the same piece of information. Serge refuses and is about to be tortured by Varèse's henchmen when Michel, a friendly hood, comes to his rescue. His friendship will result in... a heap of corpses! —Guy Bellinger

Justin, a lyricist by trade, and his friend Pierre, a composer, lead a bohemian life in Paris. Justin thinks his mother Josefa is richer than she appears, and decides to swindle her out of three million centimes by using Pierre as an intermediary in a case involving an insolvent check. Josefa uncovers the ruse and refuses to help her son. However, Pierre has discovered the identity of his friend's father, who had been unknown to him for twenty years. With the help of Justin's mother, the two friends do everything they can to extort the son's missing three million centimes from his ashamed and repentant father.