The NEP era. Two families with the same surname, Ivanov, live in Leningrad. They are visited by American relatives, who turn out to be confused. Ivanov the draughtsman's unsuccessful plan to rob the American is replaced by cooperation, as a result of which the American finds a job at Volkhovstroy and decides to stay in the USSR.

An adaptation of Olga Frosh's novel about the life of Mihail Beideman.