When his ancestors seem to appear in the clouds during a storm of biblical proportions, young Ingmar decides to give up his career as the village teacher and to reclaim the land and farm of his fathers. The same stormy night, the charismatic preacher Helgum arrives in the village to spread the word about the promises of the Holy Land, which turns parents and children, men and wives, brothers and sisters, against one another. Ingmar is torn between his love for the headmaster’s daughter Gertrud who is under the preacher’s spell, and the prospects of marrying the judge’s daughter Barbro in order to keep the farm.

The story is wacky – a gypsy is cursed by her father, so that she has to deny her illegitimate son in order for him to have a successful life. She gives him to a well-to-do lady who has lost her own child. Later, he has grown up to be a politician who wants to become the foreign minister. He doesn’t know that his real mother is the famous Madame de Thebes, the fortuneteller who all politicians make sure to visit! This information falls into the hands of a rival, who tries to use it to ruin his career. Meanwhile, the rival’s attractive daughter is attacked by a ruffian and needs to be rescued… There are a lot of striking images in this film. You can see the beauty of them even if the state of the print is far from perfect. The Norwegian actress Ragna Wettergreen gives a haunting performance as Madame de Thebes, with wisdom and regret – and quite a few melodramatic gestures. Understatement was not the norm in those days.

Lisa, Pontus and Herman has formed a small artists’ collective in Stockholm. The successes are rare and occasionally this sets off an irritated mood.

After a harsh argument between her and her father, a young girl with artistic talent leaves home for a new life.

Theater director Robert Walter hires the young Emma Reuter as his secretary, and soon she becomes his wife. But when Walter's old flame Countess Nora von Reimers arrives, his loyalty towards his wife is tested.

Scientist Paul Förster poison his rich uncle to get money for his research that applies to a serum. But Förster who believes that he killed his uncle is affected by severe qualifiers, leaves the research and goes to sea. Later it turns out that the uncle survived.