During an evening in a bar, Roger, a friendly cognac salesman and connoisseur, overhears a telephone conversation that intrigues him, then worries him: "... a few bullets to the head and she'll be dead in a minute...". Distraught, Roger follows the stranger who has taken his car. A relentless pursuit ensues. Roger arrives at a mysterious property where the "assassin" disappears to commit his crime. Knocked unconscious by the killer he fought and prevented from carrying out his crime, Roger regains his senses, comfortably installed in the living-room of an old colonel, Colonel Van Booren.

A lieutenant, at the head of a commando ready to land in France, finds among his men a maquisard who had tried to kill him in the past.

A Prime Minister kidnaps three comedians from Paris to make a frowning princess smile for a royal photo, all while secretly dealing with a prisoner hunger strike. The King remains unaware of his mischievous plan.

The short stories of Guy de Maupassant enjoyed a renaissance in the early 1950s, thanks in great part to the Max Ophuls production Le Plaisir. In Trois Femmes, three De Maupassant stories are dramatized, each conveying the central theme of women falling in love. In the first, a black female carnival entertainer causes an uproar when she falls in love with a white soldier. In the second, a young bride is pressured into having a baby to collect a huge inheritance. And in the final episode, a pregnant girl is "adopted" and protected by a small circle of friends. In standard De Maupassant fashion, each of the three stories in Trois Femmes is capped by a surprise twist.

Brussels in the year 1568, as the Flemish people are fighting against the tyranny of the Spanish occupiers. Led by Count de Rysoor, the revolt against the ruthless Duke of Alba, is meant to help Prince William of Orange to get into the city and come to power. Now, the count's lieutenant, has an affair with Elisabeth, Rysoor's wife. For the time being, the count, who thinks of his homeland first, turns a blind eye. But such a relationship might well undermine the whole rebellion movement.

A Russian emigrant sings in a Shanghai nightclub under the assumed name of Kay Murphy. All she dreams of is a peaceful life with her daughter Vera. But this is only a pipe dream as she has been forced by her former lover Ivan to work for a secret criminal organization, "The Black Dragon". Vera, who studies in a Hong Kong boarding-school, knows nothing about her mother's past. When Ivan, who is also Vera's father, resurfaces and blackmails Kay, the young woman is determined to fight back...