A wealthy young American woman is suddenly cut off by her father while living in Paris. A philosopher, she tries to make a living as a guide in the capital. The Marquis de Cernay, who has his eye on Nancy's portfolio, engages Maurice, a hardworking writer, to follow the young woman. She learns from both of them that they are only interested in her fortune. However, when she learns of the deception, she returns to her usual social life. She will return to him when the Marquis de Cernay has betrayed himself once and for all.
Originally titled Nous Sommes Tout des Assassins, We Are All Murderers was directed by Andre Cayette, a former lawyer who detested France's execution system. Charles Spaak's screenplay makes no attempt to launder the four principal characters (Marcel Mouloudji, Raymond Pellegrin, Antoinine Balpetre, Julien Verdeir): never mind the motivations, these are all hardened murderers. Still, the film condemns the sadistic ritual through which these four men are brought to the guillotine. In France, the policy is to never tell the condemned man when the execution will occur--and then to show up without warning and drag the victim kicking and screaming to his doom, without any opportunity to make peace with himself or his Maker. By the end of this harrowing film, the audience feels as dehumanized as the four "protagonists." We Are All Murderers was roundly roasted by the French law enforcement establishment, but it won a special jury prize at the 1952 Cannes Film Festival.
Odette Joyeux plays an eccentric young aristocrat called "Chiffon", who is struggling to comply with the social conventions of the community. A widow, her mother (Suzanne Dantes) would like to remarry a rich noble. Without realizing it, Chiffon is in love with her uncle, a ruined pioneer of aviation ...
Bienaimé, a modest postman, in love with Janine, the village postmistress, does not know that he is the illegitimate son of the old Baron de Mondésir. The Baron dies and in happy amazement, Bienaimé finds he is the sole heir to the deceased's estate. But he should be careful, for two crooks, Waldemar and Erika, are after his newly-acquired wealth.
Jacques is a jolly bachelor who lives a wild life with his a mistress Wanda and all he wishes is to go on living the way he does. But Father won't allow. He demands that Jacques get married. More or less reluctantly, Jacques decides to comply but on the way to his father's home - where he is to meet the bride Dad has chosen for him - the young man comes across the charming Simone and falls in love with her at first sight. He elopes her, determined to ignore his progenitor's orders. Little does he know that Simone, the girl of his heart, is none other than the one he was supposed to marry...
Soon after the death of his first wife (whose dowry was inadequate), Charles Bovary, a country doctor in Normandy, marries Emma Rouault. In her new home, Emma finds conflict with her mother-in-law, a husband uninterested in the social whirl, and general discontentment; thereby proving an easy conquest for philanderer Rodolphe. Other lovers follow. Does tragedy await?