A great provincial lawyer is found murdered with a revolver shot in the red path that leads to his mistress's home. The Advocate General accuses his own wife who was a betrayed mistress and whom he assumes guilty out of spite. But the accused's daughter finds the real culprit.

Paris, under the reign of King Louis-Philippe. Jean, a rag-and-bone man, witnesses a murder. The victim begs him to adopt little girl Marie Didier. 20 years later, in 1846, she has grown into a beautiful young lady and works as a seamstress. One night, she is taken to a party where she is insulted by the nasty Baron Hoffmann because she was wearing the dress she had made for his daughter. Dashing ...

When bored American billionaire Charles Vanel is amused by the happiness of poor railroad man Nicolas Koline, he offers him a wager: if Koline and his family can spend 20,000 francs a day (about $11,000 in current American money) for a year, then he'll give him a nice pension. The rest of the movie is about the poor man and his family's efforts to win the bet.

Julien Villandrit is the owner of the estate of Les Basses-Bruyères and its textile factory, where the manager is his childhood friend Corradin. Julien marries his neighbour Régine, unaware that Corradin also loves her. Julien is sent to gaol for a murder actually committed by Corradin. The only witness to the truth is the woodsman Rudeberg and Corradin buys his silence by paying for the education...