The wife of a dull-witted miller is in her deathbed and the miller must find a new woman to marry. He is expected to marry the sister of a local forester, a refined woman he wants to love. She is gentle and motherly, though a rather austere Christian. But the miller lusts after his maidservant, Lise, a ruthless and calculating woman determined to climb up the social ladder. Lise tries to use her lower class sensuality and a bit of magic to entice the miller.

Movie star Georg Wilck has grown tired of the attention that comes with being a celebrity, and travels incognito to the seaside resort Viken to get some privacy. He assumes in the name of Fred Palmer, a name that belongs to a schoolmate whom he believes has died in America. However the good-for-nothing Palmer has just returned to Sweden and has hatched a plan to earn some easy money by hustle the Viken ladies.