Reflecting the filmmaker's passion for automobiles, who in his youth participated in car races, the film portrays the attempt to manufacture a new model in the Ford factory in the city of Porto.
The underage Rosemarie is still too young to run her inherited farm by herself; but she's more than aware that her foster father and the farm's administrator, the farmer Schlieker, is constantly skimming from the farm's finances to line his own pocket.
In the village of Sableuse, the local manor has been bought out by a nouveau riche, Emile Cousinet. When his wife Lisette, a former music hall actress, flees to Paris with young Pierre de Sableuse, Cousinet asks Father Pellegrin, the village vicar, to bring the lost sheep back home.
A cocky young Marine who's alienated many of his fellow soldiers with his smart-aleck, wiseguy attitude gets a "wake-up call" when his unit comes under attack by bandits.
After losing a coveted role in an upcoming film to another actress, screen queen Mona Marshall (Lola Lane) protests by refusing to appear at her current movie's premiere.