The factory owner Hložek is in a constant dispute with his son Jiří. Jiří wants to modernize the factory, but his father is afraid that the new machines will deprive the workers of their jobs. News of the factory modernization divides the employees into two hostile camps. To prevent unrest, Hložek offers his son money from his mother's inheritance in exchange for his departure. Jiří's biggest opponents include two older employees of the company - the correspondent Málek and the accountant Mazara...

A series of unfortunate events led the protagonist astray: even taking other people's money did not save his wife's life, she died in childbirth. After his release from prison, he did not find the strength to report to his daughter who was placed in an orphanage, and after a fight in a pub, out of fear of being prosecuted again, he even fled abroad. But, old and sick, he still longs to return to his homeland.

The main character is a newly appointed associate professor MUDr. Jakub Johánek, a psychiatrist and timid teetotaler, who decides to celebrate his appointment with friends in a nightclub. The celebration, which lasts until late and the amount of alcohol consumed causes the hero to temporarily lose his memory, and in the morning, the old bachelor Johánek is not surprised. He had been eyeing the charming neighbor, poor Kateřina, for a long time, but his innate shyness did not allow him to do more. And now, as soon as his brain has recovered from the attack of an unprecedented amount of alcohol, his neighbor's enterprising roommate informs him that he had disgraced Kateřina while drunk, in order to help his friend, who also loves the nice and well-off doctor, in a somewhat peculiar way.

Elén, a girl living with her mother and stepfather in a secluded forest, has a great singing talent. On her twenty-first birthday, she runs away from home and on the train, millionaire René falls in love with her. Their paths soon diverge, only to be reunited soon after. Violinist Pavel Sedloň falls in love with Elén, and although Elén does not love him, she is determined to marry him. At that time, René dies, exhausted from working on the operetta Srdce v delirium. However, he is saved at the last moment and everything comes to a happy ending when Oldřich Nový explains how the authors actually meant it all.

Grammar school teacher Bláha hurts himself in pursuit of a red lizard, and is lying unconscious in the lonely house of Santrucek family. The postman, who found Bláha's coat and hat in the water, announces to everyone in town that the professor has drowned. But, the venerable citizens are at that moment more interested in the theatre group with the beautiful guest actress Eva Gazdová. They demand a change of repertoire and manage to persuade the theatre manager to have the group play the musical comedy The Red Lizard instead of an established play.