De båda bedagade skurkarna Max och Riton, lägger vantarna på guldtackor värda 50 miljoner på flygplatsen i Orly. Max är trött på gangsterlivet och vill lägga av. Pengarna från guldet, Le grisbi, skall vara hans pension. Men vänskap kan i vissa fall vara ett hinder, istället för en resurs. Efter Albert Simonins roman.

Victor Le Garrec, a former boxer, runs a gym in Paris while dreaming of finding an aspiring champion who will reach the goals he was never able to achieve.

At the Conservatory of Vienna the students only have eyes for their beautiful singing teacher, tenor Eric Walter.

Antoine Fournier, a language teacher at a secondary school in Lille, was disgraced by four young men he had caught stealing money from a charity collection. Dismissed from the teaching profession, Fournier found a job as a porter in a Monte Carlo palace through his wartime friend Ansaldi. A few years later, when he became the first concierge, the "man with the golden keys", chance brought him into the presence of the young men, married but as Machiavellian as ever. He won't take revenge on them, but their baser instincts will.