Joe Martin, a quiet American, lives a quiet life in the South of France renting boats to tourists. He is happily married to Fabienne and has a twelve-year-old daughter named Michèle. But the quiet man has a past: ten years before, Joe (then Moran) had escaped with four other convicts, among whom the sadistic ex-mercenary Katanga. Seeing the latter brutally kill an M. P., Joe had abandoned his accomplices and left with the car. One night, Captain Ross, Katanga, Whitey and Fausto re-appear..

Episodic portrait of a criminal, from 1934 until after the war. Roberto Borgo is tough, cool, sardonic, loyal, and deadly. He comes to Marseilles to help his friend Xavier Saratov get out of jail, first killing a local brothel and casino boss to take over the businesses, and, with the help of Xavier's sister, Georgia, amass money for Xavier's defense. Xavier loses in court, so Roberto gets himself thrown in prison to be with his friend. Escape proves futile, but they are pardoned in exchange for working as sappers. After the war, Xavier is a bitter cripple, but Roberto remains detached, extorting ownership of a casino, which puts his friends at risk. Does he care?

Set in Europe during WWII, a group of American soldiers are in the process of being shipped off to military prison for a variety of infractions...