Hercule

A scientist who have discovered how to turn salt water into petrol dies before he has revealed his formula. By mistake it's assumed that his assistant knows it although he does not.

Sénéchal, an actor touring the provinces with the "Tournées Carlini" does not meet the success he thinks he deserves. One night in Dreux, he finds himself without his luggage and dressed up as a Foreign Legion officer, he is invited to a party thrown by a colonel. He creates a sensation there and does not leave the colonel's wife ... indifferent! Back in Paris, Sénéchal goes through a similar experience. This time around, wearing tuxedo and top hat, he gets mistaken for a diplomat and charms the guests of a wedding party. Arrested by the police, he chooses to do without an attorney at his trial and his brilliant eloquence has him acquitted. A question remains unanswered though : will all those people who give an ovation in real life ever go to see him on stage ?

Following a broadcast on the radio, each of the listeners remembers these "little nothings" (the title is borrowed from a play by Mozart), which have often changed their lives. Each of these stories told will prove that a tiny detail in life can change an entire destiny.

For 25 years now, under the Provence sun, Antonin, a farmhand, has shared his work and everyday life with a horse named Ulysse. What a shock when Pascal, the farmer, tells him he has decided to sell Ulysse to a picador for being too old. Not only will he be separated from his faithful companion, but he is well aware too that the arenas of Arles mean death for Ulysse. Being unable to stand such injustice, Antonin runs away from the farm in the company of Ulysse. Together, they go through the Lubéron, the Baux de Provence, the Alpilles, the Crau and the Vaccarès. Yet, their journey is no pleasure cruise, specially when it comes to crossing National Road 7. After a visit to Marcellin, an old friend of his, Antonin sets off again with Ulysse, this time towards the Rhône River.

Auguste, a somewhat simple-minded Provençal fisherman, loves and admires Mireille. This concerns only Maurice, son of an important wholesaler, whom scruples do not stifle. Seduced and abandoned, Mireille moves Auguste who tries to mend his poor happiness. The local priest, with wise words, leads Mireille to offer her hand to Auguste.

A young man is hit by a car on a zebra crossing. The pretty driver drives him home, takes care of him and falls in love with him. She has a fat, selfish, boorish husband whom she abandons to her imaginary illnesses to marry her nice wounded man.

Two friends, Tricoche and Cacolet, are partners in a detective agency. Chance has it that Cacolet is hired by Van der Pouf, a rich banker who wants him to watch over his wife Bernardine while the latter, on her part, seeks the services of Thicoche.

Pursued by a rival gang after a violent robbery, Toni escapes with nearly thirty million francs. On the train to Paris, to avoid arousing suspicion, he has no choice but to threaten an honorable philosophy professor, Justin Mignonnet, with his gun, so that he will carry the loot for him. To make sure he returns the money, he takes his papers and makes him promise to be present at the exchange appointment at the Pigalle Hotel the next day. Completely lost, Mignonnet decides to obey orders, but just as he is about to return the money, a young woman, a member of the enemy gang, comes to collect it.

A man is too shy to ask a girl out and decides to kill himself. While lying in the road he is rescued by a Doctor who tries to cure him by implanting the heart of a rooster into him, something which suddenly makes him irresistible to women.

Now Gisèle Bourjeon is the mistress of the count Hubert Martin de Kardec.After a long journey abroad Henri Lévrier, a champagne producer has come back and meets again his friends Hubert and the Bourjeon family.And surprise, Henri doesn't drink alcohol anymore.He says Gisèle that he was drinking because he loved very much.Henri and Gisèle feel well together and become lovers.

As the driver of a garbage truck in Arles, Marc-Antoine leads a quiet life with his wife, Mélanie, and their two children. When Amédée's "Fanny" is stolen from the bouliste club, Marc-Antoine offers to repaint another one. As soon as the work is finished, he becomes a local celebrity and, intoxicated by his new-found fame, leaves his family to go with Hélène, the young waitress, to his friend Septime's house in the Camargue to take up painting. Eventually, Marc-Antoine realizes that he is dissatisfied and that his success seems dishonest. He realizes that happiness awaits him with his wife, children and friends, and resumes his simple life without remorse.