In this "inside look" at French filmmaking, Marechal - who is a has-been director - a producer, Vito Catene and Camile Dor, a big-name actress, have agreed to make a film about drugs, but don't have a story, financing, or any of the other elements needed to make it. This doesn't stop them; they cobble together the financing and begin shooting anyway. The producer is very fond of the leading actress, and when she gets hooked on drugs for real in the course of shooting what he feels to be a farcical imitation of a film, he gives up his shares in the film and heads off for the back of beyond (Zanzibar) to lick his wounds. To add insult to injury, the film winds up being a critical and commercial success.
Gwen is a young girl adopted by a nomad tribe in a desert post-apocalyptic world. When Gwen's friend is kidnapped, she and an old woman called Roseline embark on a trip to bring him back.
Adrien Chautard, a major industrialist from Abidjan, has been chosen to replace an expert on the official Ivory Coast delegation sent to Paris to discuss the country's association with the Common Market. Chautard is delighted at the prospect of this trip, where he will be reunited with the woman of his dreams: Elisabeth. Alas, at Abidjan airport, a nasty surprise awaits him: Berthe, his lawful wife, has decided to leave with him to consult a leading cardiologist in the capital.
Mr Jo, nicknamed "the man with the Buick", is the darling of the small town of Honfleur. But he is in fact a trafficker with a bad reputation who would like to forget about his past, now limiting himself to smuggling rubies under the cover of a charitable organization which offers underprivileged children holidays in Switzerland. However, Mr. Jo is in love with a pretty widow and, in order to marry her, he is willing to get involved in a hold-up again. And "the man with the Buick", who seemed so honorable, will surprise the inhabitants of Honfleur when Inspector Menard reveals his secret activities.
Gabriel Pelletier, sales manager for a major industrial firm, would be the happiest of men if he didn't have a family of rare originality. The day Gabriel Pelletier is asked by the firm's management to welcome and accommodate an important American industrialist who has come to Paris to handle a major contract, he realizes the difficulties that lie ahead. How will Mr. Strumberger, who has the reputation of a fierce puritan, react to the behavior of the various members of the family?
Cardinal Mazarin dies, leaving a power vacuum in which the young Louis asserts his intention to govern as well as rule. Mazarin's fiscal advisor, Colbert, warns against Fouquet, the Superintendant who has been systematically looting the treasury and wants to be prime minister. Fouquet believes Louis will soon tire of exercizing power and overplays his hand by offering a bribe to Louis' mistress to be his ally. She reports this to the king who arrests Fouquet. Louis and Colbert design a brilliant strategy to keep merchants making money, nobles in debt, the urban poor working and fed, and peasants untaxed.
Lady Chaplin is a beautiful woman, she is a fashion stylist and she owns an atelier in Paris. Zoltan is a rich American specialized in submarine researches. Dick Malloy is an American secret agent. What have the three in common? Perhaps a sunk American atomic submarine with sixteen missiles still on board? And why every other scene one, two, ten or more men are trying to kill Malloy in every conceivable way?
All sorts of spies are buzzing around Michel, whose cow, Dorothée, produces 200 liters of milk a day thanks to a treatment of his own invention. Dorothée is kidnapped and found. But now everyone disowns her. No matter! Dorothée's productivity will enrich Michel and his wife Nicole, who have opened a rotisserie; milk cocktails are in fashion.
A top-secret prototype is stolen from an American base. The man who stole it, Andersen, is murdered. The investigation is led by Jeff Gordon, who discovers in Andersen's papers a photo of a woman identified as Corinne Martin. Jeff Gordon escapes an assassination attempt on his way out of Martin's house and meets Corinne again, who denies any involvement in the robbery. Her husband, in the pay of foreign spies, is in possession of the "repeller". After several scuffles, Jeff Gordon arrests Martin and his accomplices. The prototype is returned to its base.
For 7 years Don Dionisio has been engaged to Marguerite, a young girl from a good family. Every year he comes from the distant village where he is a civil servant to spend a day with his beloved. But that evening is the last time he moves in with Don Rosario, the innkeeper: the next day he marries Marguerite. But the arrival of a troupe of music hall artists who settle in the neighboring rooms and the meeting with the pretty Paula, will disturb his projects ...
Dr. Cordelier, living in a suburb of Paris, withdraws from society to pursue research into the functioning of the human brain. His lifelong friend, Maître Joly, becomes concerned when Cordelier draws up a will that bequeaths his entire estate to a stranger, Monsieur Opale; he cannot understand why Cordelier defends him, considering Opale attacks women and children. After a colleague is killed, Joly confronts Cordelier and discovers the truth behind his friend's behavior.