هنرمند آرشیو ژان-پل بلموندو

Episodic portrait of a criminal, from 1934 until after the war. Roberto Borgo is tough, cool, sardonic, loyal, and deadly. He comes to Marseilles to help his friend Xavier Saratov get out of jail, first killing a local brothel and casino boss to take over the businesses, and, with the help of Xavier's sister, Georgia, amass money for Xavier's defense. Xavier loses in court, so Roberto gets himself thrown in prison to be with his friend. Escape proves futile, but they are pardoned in exchange for working as sappers. After the war, Xavier is a bitter cripple, but Roberto remains detached, extorting ownership of a casino, which puts his friends at risk. Does he care?

Set during World War II, and stuck on the beaches near Dunkirk, Julien Maillat tries to join England by boat with the English Army, but cannot succeed. He, then, tries to organize the life for him and his soldiers friends between German raids and shells.

The quest for respect of a small time mob driver turns him into a notorious gangster.

A movie about a good-for-nothing stuntman called Mike Gaucher who can't do one single job without something going wrong. His fiancée wants to kill him, the film studios don't want to give him any more work and, as King Kong for a promotion in a supermarket, he winds up destroying some display shelves. The only role he plays well is pretending not to be able to hear, speak and walk in order to get money from the government. Then along comes the "beautiful" actor called Bruno Ferrari. Supposedly a fearless stuntman, Ferrari turns out to be afraid of heights once his feet leave the ground. So a stuntman is needed to prevent a scandal. And who is the man who looks most (or exactly) like Bruno? You guessed it, good-for-nothing Mike...

In 1930 Marseilles two small-time crooks join forces when they meet brawling over a woman. Starting with fixed horse races and fights, they start to find themselves doing jobs for the local gangster bosses. When they decide to go into the business for themselves, their easy-going approach to crime starts to change.

Abel Davos is a criminal, hunted in Italy. The police are closing in, so he and his pal Raymond arrange to flee back to France with Abel's wife, Thérèse, and their two young sons. Abel and Raymond commit a brazen robbery to get funds, killing two men; in the escape, more die. Abel arrives in Nice with the boys, calls his pals in Paris, and gets the brush-off. Reluctantly, they send a stranger, Eric Stark, to bring Abel to Paris, but he's getting the message he's on his own. Honor, friendship, and debt now count for little. What can Abel, a wanted man with two small children and only Stark as a friend, do? "Never give ground," he tells Eric, but how long can he hold to his code?

In Paris around 1900, Georges Randal is brought up by his wealthy uncle, who steals his inheritance. Georges hopes to marry his cousin Charlotte, but his uncle arranges for her to marry a rich neighbour. As an act of revenge, Georges steals the fiance's family jewels, and enjoys the experience so much that he embarks upon a life-time of burglary.

Francois Merlin is an espionnage-book writer. He likes to mix every-day character he can met in his book. In his book, he is Bob Saint Clar, his neighbour Christine appears as Tatiana and his editor Georges Charon as Colonel Karpoff.

Michel Poiccard, an irresponsible sociopath and small-time thief, steals a car and impulsively murders the motorcycle policeman who pursues him. Now wanted by the authorities, he renews his relationship with Patricia Franchini, a hip American girl studying journalism at the Sorbonne, whom he had met in Nice a few weeks earlier. Before leaving Paris, he plans to collect a debt from an underworld acquaintance and expects her to accompany him on his planned getaway to Italy. Even with his face in the local papers and media, Poiccard seems oblivious to the dragnet that is slowly closing around him as he recklessly pursues his love of American movies and libidinous interest in the beautiful American.

Fed-up with the inefficiency of the Marseille police, Paris sends drug-enforcement specialist Philippe Jordan to Marseille. He's supposed to assist the local law enforcement dismantle the drug networks, especially mobster Sauveur Mecacci's network. So far, Mecacci has managed to elude capture or successful prosecution by local authorities. However, Inspector Philippe Jordan's unorthodox law enforcement style may prove efficient against Mecacci if Jordan receives a free-hand green-light from the Marseille police bosses and if he survives the frequent attempts against his life, of course. Once at work, Inspector Philippe Jordan's rough style creates mayhem in the city of Marseille and triggers numerous complaints from the Mayor's Office, from outraged citizens and from the lawyers of a scared Mecacci who wants to see Jordan dead. These things, in turn, tell Jordan he's on the right track.