A simple, religious Hungarian woodcutter lives with his wife and boy child with a small community of squatters among the peaceful mountains of Transylvania until a lumber company claims their land and forces them all to become company workers or else leave the land. This 1942 Hungarian film takes a detailed and unflinching look at the hardships of mountain living, and the realistic approach proved influential to the Neorealist movement in Italian cinema. Hungarian master director Istvan Szots won the Biennale Cup at the Venice Film Festival for his auspicious debut, but the film was banned by the Nazis as "too Catholic" and not publicly exhibited until after World War II.

In 1910, István Primusz, a master carpenter, was living in a small street in Óbuda with his three beautiful daughters, known locally as the "three doves". Guszti Groll, the wealthy master builder's full-grown son, courts the eldest daughter, Manci, and arranges a six-room apartment for her. But Manci loves the young and penniless baron. The young man only begins to woo the girl at the behest of his wealthy employer to seduce her for him, but eventually falls in love with her himself. Guszti Groll then quickly moves on to the middle girl, Ica, but soon finds out that she is already engaged to the apothecary. Now only the youngest girl, Stefi, is free, but she happily agrees to move into the six-room apartment with Guszti.

Tibor Ákos, an intrepid and dreamy Hungarian count, embarks on an incredible adventure when he accepts the inconceivable challenge set by the eccentric Professor Sirius, who has invented a peculiar machine.

After a heart attack, landowner Ferdinand Kerekházy summons his son Ferko Kerekházy from abroad, who, to his conservative father's dismay, sends a wagonload of machines ahead to set up an irrigation system and turn the saline, barely productive fields into fertile ones. The old count doesn't want to hear about his son's plans, and wants Ferko to marry Baroness Zólyomi. Since his son refuses, he disowns him. With persistent work, and the support of the mayor and a young engineer from Pest, the irrigation plan is realized. When the old count, who is always dreaming of grandchildren, realises that his son and the mayor's daughter have fallen in love, he reconciles with Ferko and asks her to marry him.

A celebrated actress's life begins to unravel when her husband begins an affair with a movie extra.