On the Danube Plain, several pupils, mobilized by the example of a pioneer, adopt an exemplary school and social conduct and impose it on the undisciplined.

A certain village nobleman Amédée dies, leaving a substantial legacy, but there is a matrimonial clause. The first of two men (who do not know each other) who will marry will receive the inheritance of one million.

Mitrea Kocor, a young butler, gives up his work in the fields to join Antonescu's Romanian army, which fought alongside Nazi forces during World War II. After spending time in Soviet captivity and a prisoner-of-war camp, he returns to his home village to participate in post-war reconstruction.