A naive farmer named Heiri comes to Zurich’s Niederdorf to spend his calf-sale fortune and is quickly ensnared by pickpockets, seductive nightlife, and fleeting friendship, only to find himself destitute and alone. Meanwhile, a romantic entanglement unfolds involving Ruthli, her fiancé Police Officer Bruno, and charismatic entertainer André, all revolving around a stolen pearl necklace that brings the community’s true feelings and loyalties to light as everything resolves in a nostalgic and bittersweet conclusion.

Cunning genius or poor devil? Ex-office clerk Kurt is both: he uses false papers and fictitious people to collect heaps of social benefits. Papa State is a real goldmine for Kurt. But at some point the scam is exposed.

If you don't take the truth too seriously, you seem to find many things easier. Be it in your professional or private life. Rudolf Langenegger is a politician and husband and a prime example of both genres. The inventive National Councillor on the wrong track is only surpassed by his wife Sylvia. And so it happens that she meets up with her "one afternoon stand" at the same time in the same hotel as her husband with his mistress. As the unfaithful halves of the couple want to enjoy themselves door to door, i.e. suite to suite, it doesn't take long for events to unfold that send everyone involved into the dead end of their excuses at breakneck speed.