A war correspondent who was stationed in Paris during WW II married a French girl who was murdered by the Nazis. After the war he returns to to try to find his son, whom he lost during a bombing raid but has been told is living in an orphanage in Paris.

Simone and Jean have just married and, looking for a home in the Paris region, are lucky enough to find a house with a garden in a residential suburb. Expecting their first child, the young couple began to observe how the parents of neighboring families were raising theirs.

The sculptor Andreas promised his seriously ill childhood friend before her death that he would take care of her daughter Heidemarie. While his application for custody is going through the authorities, the young girl comes to her uncle and his wife. Both treat Heidemarie badly so she spends most of the time with Andreas and the hunchback beggar boy Peter. Finally, the time has come: Andreas is granted custody and also takes Peter in with him.

After her mother's death, Liselotte is taken in by an old sculptor, but some distant cousins, brutal farmers, obtain guardianship of the young girl. Unhappy, she flees and finds refuge with a young shepherd living on alms.

An unpopular school teacher is left over Christmas with some of his boys.

Story is primarily based on the adventures of Antoine, a young telegraph messenger on his second night of work. He is given three telegrams, one of which is for the president of the Camber of Deputies. Excited, Antoine runs his bicycle into a truck and loses the telegrams. What follows is an amusing and agonizing search for the missing messages. He is assisted first by a glum, wise-beyond-her-years little girl, Amelie; an off-duty police superintendent, a schoolmaster, a cookie-tin maker and a fireman. The harmonica musical theme is played by Flore Falvey.

In the Mouffetard district of Paris, Jérôme Crainquebille, an affable four-season merchant, is stopped by a police officer and taken to the station, unjustly accused of shouting "Mort aux vaches!" ("Death to the cows!"). When he returns to work after a fortnight's detention, he is ostracized by his neighbors. Lonely, Crainquebille sank into despair and alcoholism. His life in prison seemed sweeter, and his attempts to return were in vain. He owes his salvation to the affection of a local kid.

Three sketches that all start in the police station, where Léa, La Pintade and the brigadier himself tell their little stories. The story of Danielle, who bamboozled the impresario Mortimer so well that he made her his wife; the story of the sad little Simon, deprived of a father and unable to stand the mockery of his friends; and the story of the daughter of an ex-convict who - by golly - steals a statue on the day of her First Communion.

Noël Rambert is overwhelmed by fate. Marthe, his wife, has left him. His son, little Jacques, sickly and touching, has psychic gifts. Life is not a happy one. A crime is committed. Poor Rambert is unjustly suspected. A good-looking man convinces him to confess his guilt. In doing so, he secures his child's future. Resigned to everything, the sad Rambert is ready for the scaffold. The little medium brings the truth to light and Mme Mortal denounces her husband, Daniel Mortal, the man behind the despicable bargain, as the murderer. Happiness returns with a bang, as the repentant Marthe Rambert continues to watch over little Jacques during the ordeal.

The adventures of a Parisian boy and his little friends, who have taken on the role of detectives to track down the shady activities of Max, a disreputable individual who is courting Sylvie, the Parisian boy's young aunt... The discovery of a priceless necklace returned to its owner, will bring an upheaval in the destiny of little Jacky. "Born of an unknown father", at the age of twelve he finds an ignored home, a happier life in which his little friends will have their share, as well as Sylvie, who has got rid of Marx and will soon find a fiancé of higher rank.

While investigating the world of Parisian tramps, journalist René Savary, himself disguised as a poor beggar, notices the strange behavior of a little boy. He follows the brat after he has sneaked out of a barge, catches up with him and takes him to his home. There, the kid tells him about himself : his name is Jean, his mother has disappeared and since then he has been left to fend for himself. Moved by the lot of the wretched boy, Savary, with the aid of his friend Pierrot, undertakes to solve the mystery.