Max, an illusionist as unlucky as he is skilled, would like to marry his boss's daughter, but his boss won't hear of marriage and even threatens to fire him if he doesn't come up with an interesting act. A supplier of magic items comes to Marx's rescue, handing over his "magic clock". Marx locks himself in to experiment with it and, unable to get out, falls asleep... He has a dream in which, with the power to make false things true, he becomes the hero of extraordinary adventures that take him to an Eastern country where he is made Emperor. He calls Helen to marry him, but the deposed Emperor takes revenge by having the usurper locked up in a sarcophagus.

The Emmaüs community opened and functioned thanks to the generous impetus of Abbé Pierre Groues, bringing together a cross-section of the underprivileged: unemployed truck drivers, former paratroopers, young people leaving prison, etc., and underprivileged families. The "ragpickers" manage to make a bit of money by practicing the art of "chine", while the abbé tries his hand at winning radio games. The accident and death of one of them will unite the Emmaus companions even more.

In Bourganeuf, an old maid, Charlotte Bourdier, confesses to Marie Chassagne that she has forged a sentimental intrigue by correspondence with the presenter of the Radio Circus, Zappy Max. Marie agrees to meet him when he comes, but she in turn falls in love with him, who confesses his love to her.

A young girl, Christiane, leaves her family to join friends with whom she intends to "make a life". Two boys, Jo and Paul, look after the heroine, whose relations seem rather shady. Jo, a guide in a tourist agency specializing in nightlife in Paris, has a "shadow" of his own in the scatterbrained Annette, who is determined to marry him. While touring the capital's cabarets, Jo meets a model, Jacynthe, and her photographer, Daniel, as well as a star, Jackie, and her manager, Helios. The latter organizes a mock jewel robbery for publicity purposes, with Jackie as the victim. But contrary to expectations, the robbery takes place.

Director Claude André Lalande illustrates the theme of three songs in images. We see and hear in turn Roland Gerbeau "Himalaya", Jacqueline François "From Montmartre to the Latin Quarter" and Jean Marco "The Ghost of Aunt Anna". This mini musical is one of the ancestors of music videos.

A young opera dancer tries to help her mother financially by performing in a dubious cabaret.