An aging out of work clown returns to his small hometown, resigned to spend the rest of his days in a drunken stupor. But when his passion for clowning is reawakened by the local amateur circus he finds his smile.

The actress Desiree Armfeldt becomes entangled with multiple intersecting love affairs, which all converge for an evening at the Viennese country estate of her mother, a former courtesan.